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?

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?

You can also read the documentation for event messages and the associated table of events.

Answer 2

You can find the setting here in IIS:

It can be found at the server level, web site level, or app level under "ASP".

I think you can set it at the web.config level here. Please confirm this for yourself.

<configuration>
   <system.web>

      <!-- Session Timeout in Minutes (Also in Global.asax) -->
       <sessionState timeout="1440"/>

   </system.web>
</configuration>

Answer 3

IIS sessions timeout value is for classic .asp applications only, this is controlled on IIS configuration. In your case For ASP.NET apps, only the web.config-specified timeout value applies.

Answer 4

if you are want session timeout for website than remove

<authentication mode="Forms">
      <forms timeout="50"/>
</authentication>

tag from web.config file.

Answer 5

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 6

In my situation, it was Application Pool. It is set to restart when idle for xx mins. When I set it to not restart, it seems to use value from Web Config.