Strange Timeout in Sitecore 7

Question

I've been using Sitecore version 7.1 for a few months now and have noticed that the Sitecore client logs me out after being idle for around 20 mins. Also other users have reported these issues whilst content editing.

I'm using Windows 7, IIS 7, .NET framework 4.5.

I've checked the error log for anything and can see no obvious errors and the keepalive service is running - I get this information in the logs:

ManagedPoolThread #14 12:47:24 INFO Scheduling.UrlAgent started. Url:http://testsite/sitecore/service/keepalive.aspx

I get some of these in the log, but could this be related?

WARN  Memory usage exceeded the MemoryMonitor threshold

When I go back to the site after leaving it for say 20 minutes. I get these entries in the log.

952 15:08:28 INFO  AUDIT (sitecore\grahams): Logout
952 15:08:28 WARN  Protected page accessed with no current user
6440 15:08:28 INFO  AUDIT (sitecore\grahams): Logout
6440 15:08:28 WARN  Protected page accessed with no current user

Any body seen this happening before or have any suggests of how I could get to the bottom of this?

Thanks in advance

Ian

Gaskin

Hey golden grahams. i am also working on workflow related task.can i have your skype id to get help – Oversold

Answer 1

We are also experiencing the same or similar problems since upgrading several of our web sites to Sitecore 7.1. We have continued to investigate all of the settings mentioned above but have as yet to find an explanation.

This may help, depending on your situation...Sitecore has confirmed a new issue was introduced: when multiple users login with the same credentials, and one of them logs out, all the others are also logged out automatically.

They have released a temporary hotfix package designed specifically for 7.1 rev. 140130. You should ensure your solution is updated to this version before installing:

https://dl.sitecore.net/hotfix/Sitecore%20CMS%207.1%20rev.%20140130%20Hotfix%20405020-2.zip

Use the Install Package Wizard to apply the hotfix. Hopefully this will be included in the next 7.1 Update package.

UPDATE

I continue to have discussions with sitecore support on this issue and although they have not given me a definite fix or patch, there does seem to be a way to increase the timeout. This is not without it's side effects but it is at least an option at this point. I am in the process of testing this out myself but I will share for now and update everyone on my progress.

Change or add the following three settings in your web.config (in the example below the timeout is 2 hours):

Client Timeout

<setting name="Authentication.ClientSessionTimeout" value="120" />

Forms Timeout

<authentication mode="None">
    <forms name=".ASPXAUTH" cookieless="UseCookies" timeout="120" />
</authentication>

Session Timeout

<sessionState mode="InProc" ... timeout="120" />

Hobnail

Hi Kevin, changing those settings definitely seems to work and the session doesn't time out any more. This was not required for Sitecore 6.5 and the Keep alive session just seemed to handle it. Would be interested to know if it is a bug. Thanks Ian – Gaskin

I have also confirmed this worked for me as well. I will let you know if I hear anything else back from support. – Hobnail

What are the possible side effects? And can these timeouts be extended to a day? (A clients wish). – Pleuron

Answer 2

There are a couple of configurations you need to checkout.

There is a client timeout setting in Sitecore:

<setting name="Authentication.ClientSessionTimeout" value="60"/>

Check that this is not set to 20 minutes.

Further you should check your session timeout here:

<sessionState mode="InProc" stateConnectionString="tcpip=127.0.0.1:42424" sqlConnectionString="data source=127.0.0.1;user id=sa;password=" cookieless="false" timeout="20"/>

Shari

Hi Jens, thanks for your reply. I've checked the settings, ClientSessionTimeout is set to "60" and the sessionState is set to "60". I did another test and after 35mins the client timed out. A bit odd. Thanks Ian – Gaskin

Hmm... Could it be that someone kicked you, from the kick user dialog? – Shari

No, couldn't be that, I'm the only user logged in. The only other activity I can see in the log is the master search index being updated, wondering whether it could be that. I'll disable the indexing and report back. Thanks Ian – Gaskin

There's definitely either a new timeout in 7.1-Update1, or a bug that causes this. – Weig

Answer 3

I've experienced this is issue with Sitecore 8.2 rev 170728 (Update 5). In my case, the cause of the issue was that I was accessing the site through HTTP while the following setting in the web.config file was not allowing it:

<httpCookies httpOnlyCookies="true" requireSSL="true" />

The issue can be fixed by either making sure you access the site through HTTPS or by setting the attribute "requireSSL" to "false" in the above setting.

Singlestick