How to increase the timeout value of Elements sessions

Some activities in Elements can take longer than the default 30 minute timeout to execute. Some examples are: running basic reports on departments that have many users, and uploading large files to your repository.

To extend the timeout, do the following:

1. Find the web.config file on your server (<Main_Installation_Folder>\Website\web.config). Open it in a text editor such as Notepad++.

2. Find the "login-duration-seconds" setting (which is a child of the <appSettings> element) and modify its value attribute to the desired time expressed in seconds:

   <appSettings>
       ...
       <add key="login-duration-seconds" value="1800"/>
       ...
   </appSettings>

   For example, for a session length of one hour, edit it to

       <add key="login-duration-seconds" value="3600"/>

3. Find the <sessionState> element (which is a child of the <system.web> element) and modify its timeout attribute to the desired time expressed in minutes:

   <system.web>
       ...
       <sessionState timeout="30"/>
       ...
   </system.web>

   For example, for a session length of one hour, edit it to

       <sessionState timeout="60"/>

If you decide to do this, please be aware that:

• The change will affect all the users of your system.

• The change will not be preserved when updating/upgrading/patching your system: the same procedure needs to be repeated.

• When you apply the change, any user currently logged in will be automatically logged out, losing any unsaved changes. We therefore suggest that you wait till the end of the day before making the change.

1. Start Internet Information Services.

2. Check which Application Pool is being used to run the Elements website (found in "Advanced Settings..." for the website)

3. Open "Advanced Settings..." for that Application Pool

4. Edit the "Idle Time-out (minutes)" value to match the setting in web.config

5. Restart the IIS server to apply the changes. (See also last dot point above)  

Note: It is possible, but unlikely, that you may also need change the "Recycling..." settings for the Application Pool, as the Idle Time-out cannot be longer than the Regular Time Interval that specifies the time interval between Application Pool recycling events (i.e. restarts).