Using Dell Smart Card Reader in VirtualBox guest via RDP

I've had a bunch of issues getting my VirtualBox guest machine to use the built-in Dell Latitude E6520 smart card reader. It seems to be a known issue with VBox, but basically the internal guest OS just doesn't see the device, or if it does, it can't use it. I've been working around the problem by purchasing an external USB smart card reader (SCM Microsystems SCR3310) to read my CAC.

My setup is as follows:

• Host: Dell Latitude 6520 laptop running Windows 7 64-bit, 8GB RAM, dual-core/dual-thread Core i5 to provide 4 virtual processors. Using latest copy of VirtualBox.
• Guest: Windows 2008 R2 Server, 4GB RAM, 3 processors.

I found a new trick that works. Instead of using the graphical console that VirtualBox gives me, I boot the VM into headless most (using command line), then use Remote Desktop Protocol to connect directly to the virtual machine. Note that I'm using the RDP service provided by Windows Server, NOT the RDP service provided by VirtualBox. That is, I RDP into the virtual machine and NOT to the RDP service offered on the host laptop that VBox intercepts. My exact steps were as follows.

• Configure the VM with a Bridged network adapter so it gets a similar address on your local network as your laptop. This could also probably be done by adding a "local only" network adapter. I don't think it will work properly with a NAT network. (I run both a NAT and a Bridged at the same time sometimes)
• Boot the Windows Server VM. Do NOT enable "Remote Display" in the display settings. You can either use the command line "VBoxHeadless -startvm my_vm" command, or just start it from the GUI and ignore the console.
• Make sure RDP is enabled in your Windows Server. Use the Server Manager and/or initial configuration wizard to do it, or just go through the control panel.
• Use CMD.exe with 'ipconfig' to make note of your IP address on the bridged network. (Example: 192.168.40.2)
• From the host laptop, start an RDP session
• Use host: 192.168.40.2 (or whatever the bridged address was)
• On the Local Resources tab, use "More..." and turn on "Smart Cards" check box

When it connects, you should now have access to your Smart Card. Additionally, it will detect the insert/remove events if you re-insert it (another thing that it doesn't do, even when I have my external smart card reader attached).

NOTE: In my case, I also had ActivClient installed on my Windows Server VM so that I could manipulate the smart card. I'm not sure if you need that or not.

HOWTO Create Ant build.xml file from Eclipse Java project

I searched around and couldn't find an easy answer for this, but accidentally found it in Eclipse while doing something else. Basically, I created a simple Java program in Eclipse. I wanted to be able to build the program from the command line with ant, but didn't want to hand create the build.xml file when I knew that Eclipse should be able to generate a basic one for me. I kept looking in the "Project" menu and "New" menu for a way to do it.

Answer: It's in the "Export" menu. If you do Export > General > Ant build file, everything works fine.

Beware: it automatically over-writes any build.xml file that may exist with no warning. Don't make modifications unless you figure out a way to preserve them when things change.

Similar task: if you want to produce a runnable JAR file from your project, you can use Export > Java > Runnable Jar to do so. This can also create a custom Ant build file that automatically packs all the Jar stuff you need. NOTE that one of the things this does is re-pack any dependent Jar files you have into one big jar so you can run it with "java -jar."

If you have additional rules in the file that you would like to include in the generated build.xml, you can make Eclipse automatically import these files.

In the same directory, create "build-custom.xml" with the following lines:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>
<?eclipse.ant.import?>
<project default="all" name="Create runnable JARs for everything">
  <target name="all" depends="build">
      ... more stuff ...
  </target>
</project>

Then export the build.xml file from Eclipse. It will now include a line

<import file="build-custom.xml">

near the beginning. All rules you define in your custom XML file will appear
as part of the build.xml file. You could now execute "ant all" to invoke your "all" rule from the main command line.

NOTE: I think your filename must start with the word "build....xml" in order for Eclipse to find it.

Using Dell E6400 built in WebCam

Apparently, this stupid E6400 latitude laptop doesn't come with a Dell-specific camera application. It's got a built in webcam on the top, but nothing to use it.

I figured out that I could just use Start > Accessories > Scanner and Camera Wizard and it takes simple pictures. You can use the Dell Webcam Central utility at the same time to control zoom, brightness, etc. It's rudimentary, but works well enough, I suppose.