Session timeout in ASP.NET

Question

I am running an ASP.NET 2.0 application in IIS 6.0. I want session timeout to be 60 minutes rather than the default 20 minutes. I have done the following

1. set in web.config
2. Set session timeout to 60 minutes in IIS manager/Web site properties/ASP.NET configuration settings
3. Set idle timeout to 60 minutes in application pool properties/performance.

I am still getting a session timeout at 20 minutes. Is there anything else I need to do?

Thanks

Answer 1

That is usually all that you need to do...

Are you sure that after 20 minutes, the reason that the session is being lost is from being idle though...

There are many reasons as to why the session might be cleared. You can enable event logging for IIS and can then use the event viewer to see reasons why the session was cleared...you might find that it is for other reasons perhaps?

Try these links for event logging http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc786887.aspx http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc784734.aspx

Answer 2

I don't know about web.config or IIS. But I believe that from C# code you can do it like

Session.Timeout = 60;

Answer 3

Do you have anything in machine.config that might be taking effect? Setting the session timeout in web.config should override any settings in IIS or machine.config, however, if you have a web.config file somewhere in a subfolder in your application, that setting will override the one in the root of your application.

Also, if I remember correctly, the timeout in IIS only affects .asp pages, not .aspx. Are you sure your session code in web.config is correct? It should look something like:

<sessionState
    mode="InProc"
    stateConnectionString="tcpip=127.0.0.1:42424"
    stateNetworkTimeout="60"
    sqlConnectionString="data source=127.0.0.1;Integrated Security=SSPI"
    cookieless="false"
    timeout="60"
/>

Answer 4

Well the thing is you might did something wrong so better copy and paste your Web.config session part here.

Check it's :

Answer 5

Are you using Forms authentication?

Forms authentication uses it own value for timeout (30 min. by default). A forms authentication timeout will send the user to the login page with the session still active. This may look like the behavior your app gives when session times out making it easy to confuse one with the other.

<system.web>
    <authentication mode="Forms">
          <forms timeout="50"/>
    </authentication>

    <sessionState timeout="60"  />
</system.web>

Setting the forms timeout to something less than the session timeout can give the user a window in which to log back in without losing any session data.

Answer 6

Have you tried recycling the application pool?