Is there any alternative to GlobalPlatform Shell for Java Cards? - javacard

Question

I know that GP Shell is a tool for testing I/O to Java Cards.
But, it is very cumbersome to work with.
Is there any alternative to GP Shell which doesn't need written scripts?

Answer 1

Yes, there is.
1-
You can use GlobalPlatformPro.It's an opensource, well-documented and easy use tool for card's content management.
Quoted from its website:
Load and manage applets on compatible > JavaCards from command line or from
your Java project with a Do What I Mean
approach.
2-
For sending APDU commands and communicating with the card you can use another opensource easy use tool named OpenSC-Tool.
Quoted from its website:
The opensc-tool utility can be used
from the command line to perform
miscellaneous smart card operations such
as getting the card ATR or sending
arbitrary APDU commands to a card.
3-
There is another GUI tool named JCmanager for installing applets on the card and managing authentication keys. But this tool is old and not meant to be used anymore (It still works fine by the way.)
4-
You can also make your application to communicate with smart cards using available libraries. Java has javax.smartcardio package, and Python has PySCard library.

Answer 2

You can use the tool pyApduTool to manage your smart card resource:
List packages/applets;
Upload package;
Install applet instance;
Delete packages /applets;
Select applet / card manager;
Send other apdu command to your card;
Run APDU script in *.scr file;
Change GP key to your own;
Link to pyApduTool

Answer 3

A complete list of tools for managing JavaCards was compiled here by Martin P. creator of GlobalPlatform Pro (the best tool by these testimonials):
This is a copy-paste, refer to GlobalPlatform Pro page for latest updates
• gpj (the grandparent) - http://gpj.sf.net (LGPL)
o written in Java
o continued as GlobalPlatformPro
o harder to use from the command line
o no new features or standards
• GPShell + globalplatform library - http://sourceforge.net/projects/globalplatform/ (LGPL)
o written in C
o often referred to as the de facto open source GlobalPlatform implementation
o several components need to be compiled and installed before usage
o requires more complex "script files" and does not provide a direct command line utility
• jcManager - http://www.brokenmill.com/2010/03/java-secure-card-manager/ (LGPL)
o written in Java
o has a basic GUI
o old and not maintained
• gpjNG - https://github.com/SimplyTapp/gpjNG (LGPL)
o fork of gpj with minor additions, mostly a "script mode" that makes it similar to GPShell
• Ruby smartcard module - http://smartcard.rubyforge.org/classes/Smartcard/Gp/GpCardMixin.html (MIT)
o written in Ruby
o does not seem to expose all functionality (key diversification, key change etc)
o no command line utility
• JGPShell - https://sourceforge.net/projects/jgpshell/ (GPL2)
o written in Java
o GPShell-style scripting goal
o not really usable and also abandoned
• OPAL - https://bitbucket.org/ssd/opal (CeCILL, GPLv2 compatible)
o written in Java
o claims to have SCP03 support (but no tested cards)
o looks "heavy" and over-engineered
o smoke tests give exceptions and doesn't work on OSX nor Debian.
• gpcomm - https://code.google.com/p/gpcomm/
o written in Java
o incomplete and abandoned
• globalplatform.net - https://github.com/sepulo/globalplatform.net
o written in c#
o unclear license (missing)
o only supports SCP01 and SCP02
• GlobalPlatform.NET - https://github.com/jamesharling/GlobalPlatform.NET (GPLv3)
o wirtten in c#
o only supports SCP02
o fluent interface
• asterix - https://github.com/suma12/asterix (LGPL 2.1)
o written in Python
o SCP02, SCP03
• LuaGP - https://github.com/bondhan/LuaGP
o written in Lua
o unclear license (missing)
• JCOP tools, RADIII, JCardManager4, JLoad, PyApduTool etc
o not publicly available cross-platform open source projects and thus not suitable for this comparision