Smart card authentication

By using IBM® Rational® Performance Tester 9.1.0.1 or later, you can record and play back web pages that require authentication through a smart card. A smart card authentication is a form of client authentication that uses an SSL client digital certificate (X.509).

The required certificates and the PIN code for the authentication are included within the smart card. You must have a smart card reader connected to the machine that has Rational® Performance Tester. When you record or play back an application, the product reads the available certificates in the smart card through the smart card reader.

The IBM® Common Access Card (IBMCAC) enables applications to use standard APIs to access the United States Department of Defense Common Access Card. By default, the IBMCAC provider is enabled. If you record or play back a smart card supported application without inserting the smart card in the reader, an error message is displayed.
Note:
  • Unattended playback such as through command line or UrbanCode™ Deploy is not supported for smart card authenticated applications.
  • Currently, you can record and play back smart card authenticated applications only for one user. For mult-user playback, you can use digital certificates. See Digital certificates overview.
  • Currently, only Internet Explorer 11 is the supported web browser.
  • Only IBM Java Development Kit is supported for this feature.

To record a smart card authenticated application, see the Recording an HTTP test topic.

To play back a test that requires smart card authentication, see the Running a local schedule or test topic.