PCSCD(8)

NAME
pcscd - PC/SC Smart Card Daemon

SYNOPSIS
pcscd [options]

OPTIONS

-a, --apdu
    log APDUs and SW using the debug method (see -d)

-c, --config file
    Specifies the file file as an alternate location for /etc/reader.conf

-d, --debug OUTPUT
    display debug messages. OUTPUT may be:
     stdout (imply --foreground),
     stderr (imply --foreground),
     or syslog

-f, --foreground
    Runs pcscd in the foreground (imply --debug stdout)

-h, --help
    Displays information about the pcscd command line

-v, --version
    Displays the program version number

DESCRIPTION
pcscd is the daemon program for pcsc-lite and the MuscleCard framework. It is a resource manager that coordinates communications with smart card readers and smart cards and cryptographic tokens that are connected to the system. pcscd is normally started at boot time from /etc/init.d/pcscd. It allows applications to access smart cards and readers without knowing details of the card or reader. pcscd coordinates the loading of drivers for card readers and plug-ins for different card types. The purpose of pcsc-lite is to provide both a cross compatible API for migrating Windows based PC/SC applications to Unix and to provide a pluggable architecture for supporting smart cards and cryptographic tokens through high level API's. At startup, pcscd loads the smart card reader drivers specified in the /etc/reader.conf file (or specified using -c file). When a smart card is inserted into a reader, pcscd uses the ATR string from the card to identify this card. The /usr/local/pcsc/services directory contains plug-ins for the card. These plug-ins are searched. If the ATR string matches, the client library loads that plug-in for that token.

SERIAL SMART CARD READER DRIVERS
Smart card reader drivers are placed in the /usr/lib64/readers directory. Each driver is simply an .so file. pcscd locates the driver using the /etc/reader.conf file. See the reader.conf(5) manual page for more information. Drivers are available at http://www.musclecard.com/drivers.html.

SMART CARD PLUG-INS
pcsc-lite uses plug-ins to handle different types of smart cards. There is a plug-in for each smart card type. Plug-ins are installed in the /usr/local/pcsc/services directory. Plug-ins for cards/tokens are available from the MUSCLE web site http://www.musclecard.com/.

FILES
/etc/reader.conf : Reader configuration file /etc/init.d/pcscd : pcscd startup script /usr/lib64/readers : directory containing bundles for USB drivers

BUGS
None known.

SEE ALSO
bundleTool(8), formaticc(1), reader.conf(5)

AUTHORS
David Corcoran <corcoran@musclecard.com> and Ludovic Rousseau <ludovic.rousseau@free.fr>