How timeout settings in MicroStrategy Web and the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server affect users in MicroStrategy Web

When a user logs into MicroStrategy Web , there are two timeout settings which come into play.
1.The first is the 'Web User Session Idle Time' setting.
This generally located under MicroStrategy Intelligence Server Configuration -> Governing -> General, as shown in the image below. This setting limits the time, in seconds, that users can remain idle before their MicroStrategy Intelligence Server session is ended.


2. The second setting is the 'timeout' setting in the web.config file. This file we can found in the default directory C:\Program Files\MicroStrategy\Web ASPx. This can also be configured graphically through IIS manager. You can check Configure IIS for timeout . 
 A small section of the file including this setting is shown below:

<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"
/>


MicroStrategy Web saves the information for user sessions in a .NET session object. A .NET session objects provide their own session management and define a timeout This works independently of the value entered for the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server's governing 'Web user session idle time' setting. Users are prompted for their login information because of a timeout of the session object in the .NET infrastructure.

A third security setting that should be kept in mind for session timeouts for MicroStrategy Web is 'Allow automatic login if session is lost'. This setting can be found in the Security section on the Web Administration Page:

This setting enables users to be automatically reconnected to the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server if the session is lost. This setting will NOT automatically reconnect the .NET session object.

To fully understand how these settings interact with each other, read the following scenarios:
Scenario 1:
Web User Session Idle Time = 60 minutes
Timeout setting in Web.config = 20 minutes
Allow automatic login if session is lost =Checked 
 
A user logs in, performs some actions, and then idles for 30 minutes. When the user returns and attempts to continue working, the session is lost (Since timeout setting for ASP session is 20 minutes in Web.config) and the user is prompted to log back in. This is because the ASP .NET session object for that user has expired before the Web User Session Idle Timeout. The 'Allow automatic login if session is lost' can ONLY create new MicroStrategy Intelligence Server sessions, so if the ASPNET session object has timed out, the user has to log back in to create a new ASPNET session object, even if the MicroStrategy Intelligence Server session is still available. Users will not receive an error message but will just be sent back to the Login screen before they can proceed with whatever action they selected to continue with.

Scenario 2:
Web User Session Idle Time = 20 minutes
Timeout setting the Web.config file = 60 minutes
Allow automatic login if session is lost = checked
A user logs in, performs some actions, and then idles for 30 minutes. When the user returns and attempts to continue working, there is no prompt for a login and the user can continue working. This is because if checked, the 'Allow automatic login if sessions is lost' setting will recreate a MicroStrategy Intelligence Server session when the original has timed out.

Scenario 3:
Web User Session Idle Time = 20 minutes
Timeout setting the Web.config file = 60 minutes
Allow automatic login if session is lost = unchecked
A user logs in, performs some actions, and then idles for 30 minutes. When the user returns and attempts to continue working, the session is lost and the user is prompted to log back in. Since the 'Allow automatic login if sessions is lost' is not checked, then the Web Server cannot create a new MicroStrategy Intelligence Server session, and the user is asked to log back in. 


Error in Login

Your user session has been lost, and you have been automatically logged out. Please log in again.

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