Samsung developed the DeX dock to create a mobile thin client using a variety of Samsung phones and, now, a tablet. Some customers, such as the U.S. Department of Defense and the health care industry, cannot quickly adopt new client hardware because of their need to support smart card (CAC) authentication.

To solve this problem, Citrix has partnered with Samsung and BAI to provide USB smart card reader support for the Samsung DeX dock.

Before I go further, I want to remind you that the DeX dock only has two USB type-A ports. You must have one of those available for the smart card reader. If you are leveraging both for a USB keyboard and USB mouse, it’s time to invest in BT variants, a wireless combo with only one dongle, or a USB hub. I am told the Galaxy Tab S4 will support a USB hub, but I have not yet tried it myself.

The back-end Citrix environment needs no special configuration other than what is normally required to support smart cards. CAC support is not yet based on Citrix’s Smartcard v3 virtual channel, so there is also no VDA version requirement.

On the Samsung device, install the Citrix Workspace App (CWA) and BAI’s Credentials 4E (C4E) middleware app (licensing required). For more information on the Credentials 4E licensing, contact your Citrix sales engineer.

After the C4E app is installed, it will prompt you to use the USB smart card reader when connected. Choose to use the middleware with the reader by default.

Associating BAI middleware with the USB smart card reader

When opening CWA to add a server address, make sure the smart card is inserted. This will enable smart card support.

Enter the server address and CWA will prompt for a certificate and then the PIN. Use the same certificate you normally use to log into the environment. Once the account is added, launch applications or a desktop as normal. If you hit any issues detecting the smart card, completely close CWA before trying again.

Contact your Citrix sales engineer if you have any additional questions, and for more information about Citrix and DeX, click here.

Connection to a Server 2016 VDA using Samsung DeX