Cac Card Reader on a Mac

DaSvenska

DaSvenska


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Wasn't quite sure where to post this so don't holler at me, I am leaving the PC for a MBP 15", 2.8, back up nuke reactor, etc... Question, I use a Cac Card reader with my Federal ID card to access my mail which lies on an exchange server, with my Pin #, I can access it. Will I be able to find the Active Client Security software for my MBP? Apologies beforehand if I give you a headache with this one.
 
baggss

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The Active Client program doesn't support the Mac platform that I know of. However OSX does support the CaC card reader. If your command allows you to do Outlook Web Access you should be able to get your E-Mail that way. I know there were issues with NMCI for a while, but I know folks who are doing this from their Macs now, although I have yet to mess with it.

EDIT:

I was wrong!

ActivClient for Mac OS X

However, the ActivClient CaC software doesn't support OSX. Not sure if the above will work or not. Not surprisingly, it's not free.

OWA may still be the best way to go.

Also this: CAC on a MAC: Setting up a DOD Common Access Card Reader on the Macintosh OS X Operating System

This: Mac OS X 10.4: Enabling smart card login

and this: AKO: Setting up CAC access on your Mac

and this: CAC for Mac
 
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DaSvenska

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Baggss, good info, the web page you included got a visit from me awhile back, I will plug my Cac Reader into my MBP, (once it arrives) and go from there. I should probably post back when I find something. Thanks again.....
 
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DaSvenska

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Plugged in the reader, it just blinks the green light on the reader. I did not get a warning of a device being installed, etc... I wasn't sure if I should or will the OSX just immediately install it without hesitation. Will keep looking though. By the way Baggss, the link for "Cac on a Mac" is broken, sorry. Any help will naturally be most appreciated.
 
MacTrooper

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I've had no luck in four months of trying. While support of the reader is native to Mac OS, I haven't been able to get the reader to function with any CAC-enabled DoD websites.
 
baggss

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MacTrooper said:
I've had no luck in four months of trying. While support of the reader is native to Mac OS, I haven't been able to get the reader to function with any CAC-enabled DoD websites.
Click to expand...

I think the problem is most of them are tied to IE. I can't even get them from my NMCI machine when I try with FireFox with all of the certificates installed/available.
 
TomServo

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I'm a DoD employee and BootCamped Win7. I use my CAC all the time, can access any site that requires a CAC and now I can use other software not currently support on a MAC I need. I had to take two days of vacation last month during snow days. All my co-workers worked from home.

Good luck

Tom
 
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Mac CAC

Thursby PKard for Mac supports all CAC cards, OS X 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 for $30.

If you need to solve your smart card integration problem simply and easily, knowing where your software came from and who is standing behind it, come see us.

The 'free' stuff worked in the past for some people, sometimes but has huge holes for new cards and Apple itself refers to it as a 'science project' given incompleteness, lack of support and lack of roadmap. Worth a whirl if you've time to burn and Mac isn't directly connected to a DoD network, otherwise try the professional stuff.
 
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DaSvenska

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I downloaded the Thursby PKard for my MBP running Lion, works wonderfully. This word needs to get out to the Masses as a lot of Military including myself use Mac's and this would end a lot of frustration. Thanks again.
 
TomServo

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thursbysoftware said:
Thursby PKard for Mac supports all CAC cards, OS X 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 for $30.

If you need to solve your smart card integration problem simply and easily, knowing where your software came from and who is standing behind it, come see us.

The 'free' stuff worked in the past for some people, sometimes but has huge holes for new cards and Apple itself refers to it as a 'science project' given incompleteness, lack of support and lack of roadmap. Worth a whirl if you've time to burn and Mac isn't directly connected to a DoD network, otherwise try the professional stuff.
Click to expand...

Are ALL CAC Reader's supported?

I would be issued a Cherry model ST-1044U CAC reader.

Tom
 
JUKE179r

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From the Thursby website and forum, it shows the following usable CAC card readers:

Alxalto Reflex USB v3
OmniKey CardMan 3121
SCM Microsystems SCR3310 v2.0
SCM Microsystems SCM SCR331 v1.0

You might want to contact them to see if your Cherry model will work.
 
baggss

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Good info. Thanks to everyone for sharing!
 
JUKE179r

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Sorry for bumping an old post...

Just for the heck of it, I hooked my up my SCM Microsystems SCR3310 v2.0 CAC card reader to my MBP (w/ OS 10.6.8) and it WORKED!!!
I haven't had my CAC card working on my MBP (other than on my Bootcamp partition of Win7) since I upgraded to SL 2 years ago.
Honestly I don't know what happened (recent Apple updates to keychain??? Safari updates???) that made it work but now I can access the AF Portal, OWA webmail and other DoD websites that I need while I'm deployed. Success!!!!

Now I'm little aprehensive about upgrading to Lion or ML since I may not be able to use my CAC again on the newer OS' without purchasing Thurby app. :\

--------------
EDIT
--------------

I did try my other CAC card readers: SCM SCR-3500 & IOGear's GSR-202 and both worked also on Snow Leopard.
 
fearlessfreap24

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JUKE179r said:
Sorry for bumping an old post...

Just for the heck of it, I hooked my up my SCM Microsystems SCR3310 v2.0 CAC card reader to my MBP (w/ OS 10.6.8) and it WORKED!!!
I haven't had my CAC card working on my MBP (other than on my Bootcamp partition of Win7) since I upgraded to SL 2 years ago.
Honestly I don't know what happened (recent Apple updates to keychain??? Safari updates???) that made it work but now I can access the AF Portal, OWA webmail and other DoD websites that I need while I'm deployed. Success!!!!

Now I'm little aprehensive about upgrading to Lion or ML since I may not be able to use my CAC again on the newer OS' without purchasing Thurby app. :\

--------------
EDIT
--------------

I did try my other CAC card readers: SCM SCR-3500 & IOGear's GSR-202 and both worked also on Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

be careful on picking your certs. sometimes if you pick the wrong cert it will give you an error page and then it is a pain to get rid of the cert and pick a new one.
 
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Yeah, I just got my MBP yesterday and I'm learning that trying to get my CAC reader working is not just plug and play. If only that was my only hang-up... I'm learning though!
 
O

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*Bump* CAC login

People keep conflating CAC readers and reading/writing secure email or browsing sessions with the need to force CAC login at the MAC login screen with typically integrates with Active Directory.

Does PKard support this? I wouldn't imagine so, since it has to be enabled at the policy level and/or the OS-level if the Apple how-to posts from version 10.4 are still reliable.
 
C

chas_m

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And what would be wrong with purchasing the Thursby app? It's a good quality product that works and is well worth the money (from a company that made a considerable effort to cater to folks EXACTLY LIKE YOU).
 

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