Increasing the session timeout for ASP.NET Core applications running on IIS

Page update date : Thursday, June 27, 2024

Page creation date : Saturday, April 13, 2024

Operation verification environment

Visual Studio

Visual Studio 2022

ASP.NET Core

8 (Razor Pages, MVC)

Windows Server

2022

IIS

10.0

Operating environment

We haven't tested it in all cases, but it should work generally under the following conditions:

Visual Studio

Anything that can develop a ASP.NET Core project

ASP.NET Core

Any version (MVC, Razor Pages, API)

Windows Server

Windows Server 2008 or later

IIS

7.0 or later

At first

Applications written with ASP.NET Core run on a simple server called "Kestrel", and the duration such as session timeout is mainly set programmatically.

However, if you are hosting on IIS and running a ASP.NET Core application, you may want to override the value set in IIS over the programmatic setting.

The session timeout due to idle time described this time is affected by the IIS settings, so let's set this one. However, please note that the session time is affected by multiple settings, so depending on the setting, the session timeout may not be extended with this setting alone.

This is explained with a test program, but if you want a quick way to set it up, please skip to the end of this page.

Login Programs

This time, we will check the operation in the login session. You can use other sessions, but be aware of the default timeout for sessions.

For login programs, the following tips are almost always used, so please refer to the following for details. It doesn't matter if it's Razor Pages or MVC.

Create a login mechanism using cookie authentication, and create a mechanism to be redirected if you are not authenticated

This tip is only about session timeouts, so I won't go into the rest of the code. Modify the namespace to match your project.

Razor Pages project code

Program.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// コンテナにサービスを追加します。
builder.Services.AddRazorPages();

// ※ここから追加

// Cookie による認証スキームを追加する
builder.Services
  .AddAuthentication(CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
  .AddCookie();

builder.Services.AddAuthorization(options =>
{
  // AllowAnonymous 属性が指定されていないすべての画面、アクションなどに対してユーザー認証が必要となる
  options.FallbackPolicy = new AuthorizationPolicyBuilder()
    .RequireAuthenticatedUser()
    .Build();
});

// ※ここまで追加

var app = builder.Build();

// HTTP リクエスト パイプラインを構成します。
if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
  app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
  // デフォルトの HSTS 値は 30 日です。 運用シナリオではこれを変更することもできます。https://aka.ms/aspnetcore-hsts を参照してください。
  app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseRouting();

app.UseAuthentication(); // [追加] 認証
app.UseAuthorization(); // 認可

app.MapRazorPages();

app.Run();

Pages/Account/Login.cshtml.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc.RazorPages;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.Security.Claims;

namespace SessionTimeoutExtensionIisRazorPages.Pages
{
  [AllowAnonymous]
  public class LoginModel : PageModel
  {
    /// <summary>ユーザー名。</summary>
    [BindProperty]
    [Required]
    [DisplayName("ユーザー名")]
    public string UserName { get; set; } = "";

    /// <summary>パスワード。</summary>
    [BindProperty]
    [Required]
    [DataType(DataType.Password)]
    [DisplayName("パスワード")]
    public string Password { get; set; } = "";

    /// <summary>仮のユーザーデータベースとする。</summary>
    private Dictionary<string, string> UserAccounts { get; set; } = new Dictionary<string, string>
    {
      { "user1", "password1" },
      { "user2", "password2" },
    };

    /// <summary>ログイン処理。</summary>
    public async Task<ActionResult> OnPost()
    {
      // 入力内容にエラーがある場合は処理を中断してエラー表示
      if (ModelState.IsValid == false) return Page();

      // ユーザーの存在チェックとパスワードチェック (仮実装)
      // 本 Tips は Cookie 認証ができるかどうかの確認であるため入力内容やパスワードの厳密なチェックは行っていません
      if (UserAccounts.TryGetValue(UserName, out string? getPass) == false || Password != getPass)
      {
        ModelState.AddModelError("", "ユーザー名またはパスワードが一致しません。");
        return Page();
      }

      // サインインに必要なプリンシパルを作る
      var claims = new[] { new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, UserName) };
      var identity = new ClaimsIdentity(claims, CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme);
      var principal = new ClaimsPrincipal(identity);

      // 認証クッキーをレスポンスに追加
      await HttpContext.SignInAsync(principal);

      // ログインが必要な画面にリダイレクトします
      return RedirectToPage("/Index");
    }

    /// <summary>ログアウト処理。</summary>
    public async Task OnGetLogout()
    {
      // 認証クッキーをレスポンスから削除
      await HttpContext.SignOutAsync(CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme);
    }
  }
}

Pages/Account/Login.cshtml

@page
@model LoginModel
@{}

<form asp-action="Login">
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <div asp-validation-summary="ModelOnly" class="text-danger"></div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <label asp-for="UserName" class="form-label"></label>
      <input asp-for="UserName" class="form-control" value="user1" />
      <span asp-validation-for="UserName" class="text-danger"></span>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <label asp-for="Password" class="form-label"></label>
      <input asp-for="Password" class="form-control" value="password1" />
      <span asp-validation-for="Password" class="text-danger"></span>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">ログイン</button>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <a asp-page="/Index">認証が必要な画面へ直接リンク</a>
    </div>
  </div>
</form>

@section Scripts {
  @{ await Html.RenderPartialAsync("_ValidationScriptsPartial"); }
}

Pages/Index.cshtml

@page
@model IndexModel
@{
  ViewData["Title"] = "Home page";
}

<div class="text-center">
  <h1 class="display-4">Welcome</h1>
  <p>Learn about <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/aspnet/core">building Web apps with ASP.NET Core</a>.</p>
</div>

<p>アクセス日時：@DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss")</p>

Pages/Shared/_Layout.cshtml

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
  <title>@ViewData["Title"] - SessionTimeoutExtensionIisRazorPages</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/css/site.css" asp-append-version="true" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/SessionTimeoutExtensionIisRazorPages.styles.css" asp-append-version="true" />
</head>
<body>
  <header>
    <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm navbar-toggleable-sm navbar-light bg-white border-bottom box-shadow mb-3">
      <div class="container">
        <a class="navbar-brand" asp-area="" asp-page="/Index">SessionTimeoutExtensionIisRazorPages</a>
        <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target=".navbar-collapse" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent"
                aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
          <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
        </button>
        <div class="navbar-collapse collapse d-sm-inline-flex justify-content-between">
          <ul class="navbar-nav flex-grow-1">
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-page="/Index">Home</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-page="/Privacy">Privacy</a>
            </li>
            @* ここから追加 *@
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-page="/Account/Login" asp-page-handler="Logout">ログアウト</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-page="/Account/Login">ログアウトせずログインへ</a>
            </li>
            @* ここまで追加 *@
          </ul>
        </div>
      </div>
    </nav>
  </header>
  <div class="container">
    <main role="main" class="pb-3">
      @RenderBody()
    </main>
  </div>

  <footer class="border-top footer text-muted">
    <div class="container">
      &copy; 2024 - SessionTimeoutExtensionIisRazorPages - <a asp-area="" asp-page="/Privacy">Privacy</a>
    </div>
  </footer>

  <script src="~/lib/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <script src="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script>
  <script src="~/js/site.js" asp-append-version="true"></script>

  @await RenderSectionAsync("Scripts", required: false)
</body>
</html>

MVC Project Code

Program.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// コンテナにサービスを追加します。
builder.Services.AddControllersWithViews();

// ※ここから追加

// Cookie による認証スキームを追加する
builder.Services
  .AddAuthentication(CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme)
  .AddCookie();

builder.Services.AddAuthorization(options =>
{
  // AllowAnonymous 属性が指定されていないすべての画面、アクションなどに対してユーザー認証が必要となる
  options.FallbackPolicy = new AuthorizationPolicyBuilder()
    .RequireAuthenticatedUser()
    .Build();
});

// ※ここまで追加

var app = builder.Build();

// HTTP リクエスト パイプラインを構成します。
if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
  app.UseExceptionHandler("/Home/Error");
  // デフォルトの HSTS 値は 30 日です。 運用シナリオではこれを変更することもできます。https://aka.ms/aspnetcore-hsts を参照してください。
  app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseRouting();

app.UseAuthentication(); // [追加] 認証
app.UseAuthorization(); // 認可

app.MapControllerRoute(name: "default", pattern: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");

app.Run();

Models/LoginModel.cs

using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;

namespace SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc.Models
{
  public class LoginModel
  {
    /// <summary>ユーザー名。</summary>
    [Required]
    [DisplayName("ユーザー名")]
    public string UserName { get; set; } = "";

    /// <summary>パスワード。</summary>
    [Required]
    [DataType(DataType.Password)]
    [DisplayName("パスワード")]
    public string Password { get; set; } = "";
  }
}

Controllers/AccountController.cs

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authentication.Cookies;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
using SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc.Models;
using System.Security.Claims;

namespace SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc.Controllers
{
  /// <remarks>
  /// <see cref="AllowAnonymous"/> 属性は Cookie 認証していなくてもアクセスできる Action (Controller) であることを示す。
  /// </remarks>
  [AllowAnonymous]
  public class AccountController : Controller
  {
    /// <summary>仮のユーザーデータベースとする。</summary>
    private Dictionary<string, string> UserAccounts { get; set; } = new Dictionary<string, string>
    {
      { "user1", "password1" },
      { "user2", "password2" },
    };

    /// <summary>ログイン画面を表示します。</summary>
    public IActionResult Login() => View();

    /// <summary>ログイン処理を実行します。</summary>
    [HttpPost]
    public async Task<IActionResult> Login(LoginModel model)
    {
      // 入力内容にエラーがある場合は処理を中断してエラー表示
      if (ModelState.IsValid == false) return View(model);

      // ユーザーの存在チェックとパスワードチェック (仮実装)
      // 本 Tips は Cookie 認証ができるかどうかの確認であるため入力内容やパスワードの厳密なチェックは行っていません
      if (UserAccounts.TryGetValue(model.UserName, out string? getPass) == false || model.Password != getPass)
      {
        ModelState.AddModelError("", "ユーザー名またはパスワードが一致しません。");
        return View(model);
      }

      // サインインに必要なプリンシパルを作る
      var claims = new[] { new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, model.UserName) };
      var identity = new ClaimsIdentity(claims, CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme);
      var principal = new ClaimsPrincipal(identity);

      // 認証クッキーをレスポンスに追加
      await HttpContext.SignInAsync(principal);

      // ログインが必要な画面にリダイレクトします
      return RedirectToAction(nameof(HomeController.Index), "Home");
    }

    /// <summary>ログアウト処理を実行します。</summary>
    public async Task<IActionResult> Logout()
    {
      // 認証クッキーをレスポンスから削除
      await HttpContext.SignOutAsync(CookieAuthenticationDefaults.AuthenticationScheme);

      // ログイン画面にリダイレクト
      return RedirectToAction(nameof(Login));
    }
  }
}

Views/Account/Login.cshtml

@model LoginModel
@{}

<form asp-action="Login">
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <div asp-validation-summary="ModelOnly" class="text-danger"></div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <label asp-for="UserName" class="form-label"></label>
      <input asp-for="UserName" class="form-control" value="user1" />
      <span asp-validation-for="UserName" class="text-danger"></span>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <label asp-for="Password" class="form-label"></label>
      <input asp-for="Password" class="form-control" value="password1" />
      <span asp-validation-for="Password" class="text-danger"></span>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">ログイン</button>
    </div>
  </div>
  <div class="row m-1 g-3">
    <div class="col-sm-6 offset-sm-3">
      <a asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">認証が必要な画面へ直接リンク</a>
    </div>
  </div>
</form>

@section Scripts {
  @{ await Html.RenderPartialAsync("_ValidationScriptsPartial"); }
}

Views/Home/Index.cshtml

@{
  ViewData["Title"] = "Home Page";
}

<div class="text-center">
  <h1 class="display-4">Welcome</h1>
  <p>Learn about <a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/aspnet/core">building Web apps with ASP.NET Core</a>.</p>
</div>

<p>アクセス日時：@DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy/MM/dd HH:mm:ss")</p>

Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8" />
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
  <title>@ViewData["Title"] - SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.min.css" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/css/site.css" asp-append-version="true" />
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="~/SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc.styles.css" asp-append-version="true" />
</head>
<body>
  <header>
    <nav class="navbar navbar-expand-sm navbar-toggleable-sm navbar-light bg-white border-bottom box-shadow mb-3">
      <div class="container-fluid">
        <a class="navbar-brand" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc</a>
        <button class="navbar-toggler" type="button" data-bs-toggle="collapse" data-bs-target=".navbar-collapse" aria-controls="navbarSupportedContent"
                aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Toggle navigation">
          <span class="navbar-toggler-icon"></span>
        </button>
        <div class="navbar-collapse collapse d-sm-inline-flex justify-content-between">
          <ul class="navbar-nav flex-grow-1">
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">Home</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Privacy">Privacy</a>
            </li>
            @* ここから追加 *@
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Logout">ログアウト</a>
            </li>
            <li class="nav-item">
              <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Login">ログアウトせずログインへ</a>
            </li>
            @* ここまで追加 *@
          </ul>
        </div>
      </div>
    </nav>
  </header>
  <div class="container">
    <main role="main" class="pb-3">
      @RenderBody()
    </main>
  </div>

  <footer class="border-top footer text-muted">
    <div class="container">
      &copy; 2024 - SessionTimeoutExtensionIisMvc - <a asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Privacy">Privacy</a>
    </div>
  </footer>
  <script src="~/lib/jquery/dist/jquery.min.js"></script>
  <script src="~/lib/bootstrap/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle.min.js"></script>
  <script src="~/js/site.js" asp-append-version="true"></script>
  @await RenderSectionAsync("Scripts", required: false)
</body>
</html>

Checking the operation by debugging

Check the sign-in behavior and make sure that you can't access other pages if you're not logged in. The timeout time when debugging locally is different from when running on IIS, so you do not need to check the timeout when debugging.

Deploying Programs to IIS

Set up IIS and deploy the program you created. Setting up IIS is not covered here because it would be redundant. For detailed explanations, see Tips and other information below.

Checking Session Timeouts for Applications Deployed on IIS

So far, neither the program nor IIS has set the session timeout, so everything should be default. First, log in and leave it for at least 20 minutes, and then Index try to access the and Privacy page. You can access it for up to 20 minutes, but if it times out, you should be taken to the login page.

Extend the time-out period in IIS Manager

If you have not set a timeout in your program, you should be able to extend the timeout time in your application pool settings.

When you start IIS Manager, select Application Pools from the menu on the left. Select the application pool that you are using to operate your site, and then select Advanced Settings from the menu on the right.

In the Process Model group, there is an item called Idle Timeout (minutes), so set it to any amount of time in minutes.

After setting, confirm with the OK button.

After that, please check the operation of the session timeout. If you set it to 60 minutes, it will be successful if you are not logged out even if the page transitions 50 minutes after logging in.

While some people may want to extend the amount of time between session timeouts as much as possible, the maximum that can be set is 29 hours. This corresponds to the time when the application pool is recycled. You can also extend the timeout time by extending the recycle time of the application pool. There is also a concern that the used memory will continue to remain, so if you change it, please adjust it according to the operation.

Also, even if you set a large amount of time before timeout, it often times out before that. This is because the application pool is recycled before the timeout expires, or it goes into a paused state if it has not been accessed for a while. If you want to make sure that the session is maintained for a specified amount of time, you need to take other measures.

Remotely publish ASP.NET Core programs to IIS Web servers on the Internet

See how appsettings.json works