setMaxInactiveInterval(Int i) does not work?

[Bruce Jin]

I am using WebSphere. The default MaxInactiveInterval seems to be 1800 seconds (verified using session.getMaxInactiveInterval()).
I use setMaxInactiveInterval(36000) to set it to 10 hours. Then session.getMaxInactiveInterval() does return a value of 36000. However 10 to 15 minutes later I get a new session object and session.getMaxInactiveInterval() returns a value of 1800! The browser window never changed.
What’s going on?
Thanks.

[William Brogden]

setMaxInactiveInterval is an instance method of HttpSession - when you get a new session you get the default for the server.
Bill

[Michael Zalewski]

Which version of WebSphere are you using? I think one of the versions in 3.5 had a bug where this would happen (i.e., it ignored the value you set with HttpSession.setMaxInactiveInterval().
Also, in WebSphere you can set the inactive interval to be something different than the default 30 minutes. Start the WebSphere Admin console, select the Web Application, then select the 'Advanced' tab. Halfway down the page, you will find a 'Session Timeout' property. You can set a specific value here, then tune it without having to change your code.
Final thought. Make sure you are not calling HttpSession.invalidate(). That would clear your session and also the inactive interval you might have previously set.

[Bruce Jin]

Thanks!
My WAS is 3.5.4 on AS400.
I will try using console.
Bruce