[imp] Re: imp Digest, Vol 235, Issue 3

[Andrew Morgan]

On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, Craig Richardson wrote:

> Hi There,
>
> Andy, is this session timeout you refer to in the php.ini file the
> session.gc_maxlifetime variable???

Yes, that's the variable I have set to 3600.

> Also I've been running IMP successfully for a couple of years now but only
> recently forced everyone to use SSL to connect.  Now I have had some people
> complain about being logged out without warning.  I have looked at the MIT
> help page for their IMP installation and suggested to people that they leave
> their inbox open so that it refreshes and keeps their connection alive.

I think that only works if you have IMP setup to check for new mail every
X minutes.

> What are the best avenues to explore to increase the amount of time people
> are logged in for, my session.gc_maxlifetime is 1440 which is 24 minutes
> however with the inbox left open people can stay logged in for longer than
> that?

The session.gc_maxlifetime variable only controls the timeout for
sessions.  Every time you load a new page in IMP, it refreshes the
session.  You only get hit by the timeout (gc_maxlifetime) if you haven't
loaded a page in gc_maxlifetime seconds (1440 for you).  If you've told
IMP to check for new mail every so often, that will load a new page and
refresh the session, keeping you from hitting the timeout.

> Is this perhaps something to do with SSL loads, if so can these be
> lengthened or is this a case of perhaps getting a dedicated server to host
> IMP so there is less traffic.

No, the session timeout has nothing to do with your use of SSL.

> I have about 50 people use IMP but they use it as their primary client, ie -
> it would be good if they can be logged in all day.

As long as they are doing something every once in a while, their session
won't time out.  Still, I'd recommend increasing gc_maxlifetime.  I don't
think it is uncommon to take longer than 24 minutes to compose an email
(during which time you won't be loading any new pages).

	Andy