Session time out setting in ASP.Net

8
votes

I have set session time out to 9 hours in web.config file something like this:

“<sessionState mode="InProc" timeout="540" />

But often users complain that they are facing time out in less than 9 hours of inactivity and the time interval after they are timed out also varies.

I was wondering if session time out is dependent on any of the below settings in IIS:

  1. Session time setting
  2. Idle- time out setting for Application pool
  3. Recycling setting.

Please advise. Also, how do I check session time out setting in IIS 7.0?

3
asp.netiis-7iis-6session-statesession-timeout
are you using forms authentication? – AMember

3 Answers

11
votes

The session will be lost when the ApplicationPool recycles. That's one of the IIS settings that you mentioned. To set only the timeout in the web.config will not be enough. You need to adjust the setting in IIS.

Here is a link I found while I was looking into the same problem.

Also, this question was very useful: Losing Session State

0
votes

If you are using Forms authentication you should make sure your FormAuthentication Cookie is set to expire at the same time as your Session.

If not make sure your IIS is not getting recycled. ( put a logger in your Global.asax to verify the application end events compared to your users complaints.)

0
votes

It is not enough to set session time out in your web config. If the server on which your site is hosted is having less time out value set in IIS setting, your session is time out according to the server session time out value.

also if you are deleting any folder from the server directory, this can also cause your AppPool to recycle unexpectedly.

so please check the server session time out value and if it less then ask your hosting to increase it as per your requirement.