configuring session timeout

TS 6.5
Sol 8

Taken from the UI guide


To configure the ContentCenter GUIs to issue non-persistent session cookies, so that users
will be automatically logged out from TeamSite whenever they close their browsers, edit
application_custom.xml:
<applications>
       <param id="iw.common.authentication.cookie_lifetime" value="0">
       </param>
</applications>
No other values, besides 0 and infinite, can be specified (1). This behavior can not be
overridden at the application level(2).

1) Does this mean we cannot specify how long before an idle session should end?
2) Does this suggest there is another "level" where this can be configured?.. Any pointers?

Thanks.

John Cuiuli

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Comments

abackenr

i can give you a good answer for 2, but not a good answer for 1. 2 means that this parameter cannot be set independantly for ccstd vs ccpro. whereas with other parameters in application.xml you can set one value for ccpro and another for ccstd, this parameter is global.

as far as the value of the parameter, from what i can tell, the value will be interpreted as the number of minutes before the session will expire. so if you set it to 1, you'll need to log in every minute. i'm not certain that this is supported, and i'm guessing that that is why it was omitted from the documentation.

ariel

staff engineer @ interwoven

Johnny

Great... thanks for the responses.

Strange that they only provide 0 or infinite.

And this isnt related to idle time is it?..
This is a specified duration right?..

John Cuiuli

jonwood

Thanks for the advice. However, the code snippet from the documentation does not appear to work with SP1. We're running TS6.5 SP1 on Sol. 9.

Adding the code you mentioned from the documentation produced syntax errors when running make_toolkit.ipl. I had to change "param" to "default-param" and only then would make_toolkit run sucessfully and the cookie setting take effect.

In summary, here's what I had to use for TS6.5 SP1:

<applications>
<default-param id="iw.common.authentication.cookie_lifetime" value="0">
</param>
</applications>

Hope this helps,
Jon Wood

carnix

I've specified "infinite" there, and my users are prompted to login, regardless of activity, every so often (never timed it). Literally, you could be working in TeamSite clicking around, and then, the next click displays a login screen... Very annoying to say the least... happens on various browers, so it's not limited to some single configuration.

Since we require a VPN connection to access TeamSite, there isn't any need to have further login requirments outside of network authentication (TeamSite is a domain member). I'd prefer to configure TS to work, as related to session handling, as TeamSite 5.5.2 did.

I'll try specifying some very large number in that parameter and see whether it works that way.

(I'm on TS 6.5 SP1)

Thanks
-mike

Michael Langford, Webmaster - CARE USA
151 Ellis Street, Atlanta, GA, 30303
http://www.care.org/

lhdavis

Have you checked out the settings in the [authentication] section of iw.cfg? Check the admin guide for information on the ui_login_lifetime and cookie_lifetime settings.

Disregard as this is not in the 6.5 manual (did not see your version).

Edited by lhdavis on 09/14/05 08:50 AM (server time).

carnix

I set the value to 525600 which is 1 year in minutes, and then checked the expiration data of the IWAUTH cookie, and lo and behold, it was 2006. This should be in the documentation, it crazy that it's not.

-mike

Michael Langford, Webmaster - CARE USA
151 Ellis Street, Atlanta, GA, 30303
http://www.care.org/

JanPeterMeyer

I Have checked out the settings in the [authentication] section of iw.cfg but in TS 6.5 SP2 there is no information in the admin guide.

Anyone has an idea how to set the ui_login_lifetime/cookie_lifetime?

pranav

Hi,

Try out these ones inside [AUTHENTICATION]

#cookie_lifetime=5
#ui_login_lifetime=5

For setting time periods use this information.....

# ui_login_lifetime only applies to the WebDesk UI. Does
# not apply to WebDesk Pro.
# If not specified, ui_login_lifetime defaults to 1 day
# Any word starting with "inf" will cause the session to
# expire only when the UI session key is regenerated.
# If only a number is specified it is assumed to be in minutes.
# The accepted format is of the form 1Y2M3D4h5m6s

Best of Luck!!!

-Pranav

Adam Stoller

Did you read the earlier post in this thread from jonwood?
It's not set in the iw.cfg anymore.

--fish
Senior Consultant, Quotient Inc.
http://www.quotient-inc.com

pranav

Hi,
Ohhh !! i had no idea about this.But starngely i have implemented this thing on my TS6.5 box recently and it worked fine.Anyway, i would try to implement the current procedure.Where can i find the details about this apart from the earlier post ?
thanks fish

-Pranav

JanPeterMeyer

I had read this. The Problem was, that the Snippet from John wasn´t running on TS 6.5 SP2.

The working solution is: TS_HOME\local\config\lib\content_center\customer_src\etc\conf\customer\application_custom.xml
<applications>
<default-param id="iw.common.authentication.cookie_lifetime" value="0"/>
</applications>

Best regards,
JP

http://www.compactnet.de

Antharix

Did you read the earlier post in this thread from jonwood?
It's not set in the iw.cfg anymore.

--fish
Senior Consultant, Quotient Inc.
http://www.quotient-inc.com

What is the default timeout value? how can it be restored? Is there another way of setting the session timeout apart from running the make_toolkit.

TS users often complain that they are forced to login into teamsite frequently.

Your suggestions are highly appriciated.

nipper

I am rather confused here. I changed iw.cfg for TS 6.7 on DOS, timeout is disabled and I *never* have to log in.

I checked and I have nothing in the application_custom.xml file. So it *appears* that TS uses both. At least mine does.

The default is supposed to be 24 hours. However I have seen cases where the server had trouble reading the cookie and required logins more often.

HTH

ANdy

Adam Stoller

I am rather confused here. I changed iw.cfg for TS 6.7 on DOS, timeout is disabled and I *never* have to log in.

I checked and I have nothing in the application_custom.xml file. So it *appears* that TS uses both. At least mine does.

The default is supposed to be 24 hours. However I have seen cases where the server had trouble reading the cookie and required logins more often.

HTH

ANdy

I stand corrected - the cookie lifetime is specified as per the UICG - the authentication lifetime is specified in the iw.cfg (via the ui_login_lifetime parameter - which appears to have been documented from 5.0 through 6.1, but is apparently missing from all versions of the documentation since then).

My understanding of the documentation is that if the cookie lifetime is less than the authentication lifetime, the authentication will expire with the cookie.

The default for the cookie lifetime is "infinite" - but it can be set to "0" in order to ensure that anytime the user closes their browser, they will have to re-authenticate when the try to access TS again.

Thus the default is an infinite cookie with 24-hour authentication expiration.

From the 5.5.2 manual (on the assumption that this is still valid):[indent]Setting Login Authentication Expiration[indent]If users log in to WebDesk, then close the window, then reopen WebDesk again within the same user session on a machine within a 24-hour period, TeamSite recognizes them from their previous login and does not require them to re-enter their username and password. This is important for users of the Casual Contributor interface, who will be transferred directly to the relevant part of WebDesk if they have previously logged in within the authentication period.

The default login authentication expiration is 24 hours. To change this value, edit the ui_login_lifetime setting in the [authentication] section of iw.cfg using the following syntax:

Migrateduser

Environment : TS 6.5 SP1 / Solaris 8 / Livesite 2.1

I wanted to increase the session timeout for 24 hours, since the users were complaining about session timout and they have to login to Teamsite every few hours.

1) First i tried by adding an entry in application_custom.xml as shown below :
default-param id="iw.common.authentication.cookie_lifetime" value="infinite"

Then i run the make_toolkit.ipl

But the above change did not solve the problem.

2) So i went with the second method. I tried by adding the following in the iw.cfg

[left][authentication] [/left]
ui_login_lifetime=1D
cookie_lifetime=1D

Even the second solution did not solve the problem.

Both the cases did not work for me. Any suggestions on this please ?

Adam Stoller

Environment : TS 6.5 SP1 / Solaris 8 / Livesite 2.1
[...]
2) So i went with the second method. I tried by adding the following in the iw.cfg

[left][authentication] [/left]
ui_login_lifetime=1D
cookie_lifetime=1D

Even the second solution did not solve the problem.

Both the cases did not work for me. Any suggestions on this please ?

Did you do an iwreset -a after making the above change to the

iw.cfg

file?

I'm not sure if the '-a' is needed, but it would eliminate questions that would follow if no flag, or '-u' didn't work.

Also - are you sure that the user's browsers have cookies enabled?

Migrateduser

Fish,

I have ran the command iwreset -a after modifying the iw.cfg file.
And also the user's browsers have cookies enabled.

The documentaion on some topics are not covered in detail by Interwoven :mad:

Adam Stoller

Fish,

I have ran the command iwreset -a after modifying the iw.cfg file.
And also the user's browsers have cookies enabled.

The documentaion on some topics are not covered in detail by Interwoven :mad:

Then open a support case with them and ask to have the documentation updated with the results of the resolution of your case.

Antharix

Then open a support case with them and ask to have the documentation updated with the results of the resolution of your case.

What about Cookies on the Clients browser will that be updated when the session timeout parameters are change and an iwreset -a or make-toolkit is executed?

Vani, I suggest please check if resetting of cookies on the client system will solve the problem. It should.

Lex

I'm sorry to revive such an old thread, but I've been searching in vain for a way to configure the session expiration in TS 6.7.1 SP1. Does the ui_login_lifetime=1Y trick in iw.cfg still work for current versions of TS? Thanks.

report.zip

nipper

I have 6.7.1 SP1 (upgraded from 6.7) and use the iw.cfg change to set it to infinite. I have never been prompted for a login. Actually is kind of a pain since i have to change my PW every 90 days and I need to logout and log back in (preview fails)

Andy

Lex

Good news. Thanks for the confirmation.