Authenticate using Common Access Cards

You can use Common Access Cards (CAC) to authenticate connections to Dimensions CM servers.

Dimensions CAC protocol

Use the dimensionscac protocol:

dimensionscac://<servername>[:<port>]/<base database>@<connection>/<product>/<stream>[/<folder>]

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Supported security providers

The following table lists supported security providers.

System Git Client version Security provider
Windows 2.2 (and later)

ActivClient 7.1

ActivClient 7.0.2 hotfix 409
Linux 2.3 (and later)

ActivClient 4.0 hotfix 1704011

OpenSC 0.17 (and later)

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Use CAC card

You can use a CAC card to authenticate when cloning content.

To use a CAC card:

  1. Insert a CAC card into the reader.

  2. Run a clone command, for example:

    git clone dimensionscac://myserver/cm_typical@dim14/qlarius/java_brancha_str .

  3. If promoted, enter the card’s PIN.
  4. If there are multiple certificates on the card, select one.
  5. The content is now cloned.

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Change location of security provider libraries (v2.2)

The installer automatically detects your security provider installation and configures Git Client 2.2 to use it.

To manually configure the location of the library:

  1. Edit this file: %GIT_HOME%\mingw64\libexec\git-core\start-git-client

    Note: The location of start-git-client on your system may be different.

  2. Specify the name of the security provider:

    export SECURITY_PROVIDER_NAME="ActivIdentity"

  3. Locate this line:

    export ACTIV_PATH=

  4. Edit the path that points to the location of your security provider file:

    export ACTIV_PATH=C:\Program Files\ActivIdentity\ActivClient\acpkcs211.dll

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Change location of security provider libraries (v2.3)

The installer automatically detects your security provider installation and configures Git Client to use it.

To manually configure the location of the library:

  1. Edit this file:

    • Windows: %GIT_HOME%\mingw64\libexec\git-core\start-git-client
    • UNIX, Linux, and MacOS: /usr/libexec/git-core/start-git-client

    Note: The location of start-git-client on your system may be different.

  2. Specify the name of the security provider:

    • ActivClient: export SECURITY_PROVIDER_NAME="ActivIdentity"

    • OpenSC: export SECURITY_PROVIDER_NAME="SunPKCS11-OpenSC"

  3. Locate this line: export PKCS11_PATH=
  4. Edit the path that points to the location of your security provider file:
    5. System Security provider Example
    Windows ActivClient export PKCS11_PATH=C:\Program Files\ActivIdentity\ActivClient\acpkcs211.dll
    Linux ActivClient export PKCS11_PATH="/opt/hidglobal/ac.ac4linux.pkcs11/lib64/libac.pkcs220ong.so"
    OpenSC export PKCS11_PATH="/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opensc-pkcs11.so"

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Change location of security provider libraries (v2.3.1.1)

The installer automatically detects your security provider installation and configures Git Client to use it.

To manually configure the location of the library:

  1. Edit this file:

    • Windows: %GIT_HOME%\mingw64\libexec\git-core\setup-git-dm
    • UNIX, Linux, and MacOS: /usr/libexec/git-core/setup-git-dm

    Note: The location of setup-git-dm on your system may be different.

  2. Specify the name of the security provider:

    ActivClient export SECURITY_PROVIDER_NAME="ActivIdentity"
    OpenSC export SECURITY_PROVIDER_NAME="SunPKCS11-OpenSC"
  3. Locate this line: export PKCS11_PATH=
  4. Edit the path that points to the location of your security provider file:
    5. System Security provider Example
    Windows ActivClient export PKCS11_PATH=C:\Program Files\ActivIdentity\ActivClient\acpkcs211.dll
    Linux ActivClient export PKCS11_PATH="/opt/hidglobal/ac.ac4linux.pkcs11/lib64/libac.pkcs220ong.so"
    OpenSC export PKCS11_PATH="/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/opensc-pkcs11.so"

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