XenApp and XenDesktop

Pass-through authentication and single sign-on with smart cards

February 10, 2022

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Pass-through authentication

Pass-through authentication with smart cards to virtual desktops is supported on user devices running Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise and Professional Editions.

Pass-through authentication with smart cards to hosted applications is supported on servers running Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.

To use pass-through authentication with smart cards hosted applications, ensure you enable the use of Kerberos when you configure Pass-through with smartcard as the authentication method for the site.

Note: The availability of pass-through authentication with smart cards depends on many factors including, but not limited to:

Your organization’s security policies regarding pass-through authentication.
Middleware type and configuration.
Smart card reader types.
Middleware PIN caching policy.

Pass-through authentication with smart cards is configured on Citrix StoreFront. See the StoreFront documentation for details.

Single sign-on

Single sign-on is a Citrix feature that implements pass-through authentication with virtual desktop and application launches. You can use this feature in domain-joined, direct-to-StoreFront and domain-joined, NetScaler-to-StoreFront smart card deployments to reduce the number of times that users enter their PIN. To use single sign-on in these deployment types, edit the following parameters in the default.ica file, which is located on the StoreFront server:

Domain-joined, direct-to-StoreFront smart card deployments — Set DisableCtrlAltDel to Off
Domain-joined, NetScaler-to-StoreFront smart card deployments — Set UseLocalUserAndPassword to On

For more instructions on setting these parameters, see the StoreFront or NetScaler Gateway documentation.

The availability of single sign-on functionality depends on many factors including, but not limited to:

Your organization’s security policies regarding single sign-on.
Middleware type and configuration.
Smart card reader types.
Middleware PIN caching policy.

Note: When the user logs on to the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA) on a machine with an attached smart card reader, a Windows tile may appear representing the previous successful mode of authentication, such as smart card or password. As a result, when single sign-on is enabled, the single sign-on tile may appear. To log on, the user must select Switch Users to select another tile because the single sign-on tile will not work.

The official version of this content is in English. Some of the Cloud Software Group documentation content is machine translated for your convenience only. Cloud Software Group has no control over machine-translated content, which may contain errors, inaccuracies or unsuitable language. No warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, is made as to the accuracy, reliability, suitability, or correctness of any translations made from the English original into any other language, or that your Cloud Software Group product or service conforms to any machine translated content, and any warranty provided under the applicable end user license agreement or terms of service, or any other agreement with Cloud Software Group, that the product or service conforms with any documentation shall not apply to the extent that such documentation has been machine translated. Cloud Software Group will not be held responsible for any damage or issues that may arise from using machine-translated content.

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Pass-through authentication and single sign-on with smart cards

February 10, 2022

Contributed by:

C A

February 10, 2022

Contributed by:

C A

Pass-through authentication and single sign-on with smart cards

Pass-through authentication

Single sign-on

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