Persistent session state

 

Persistent session state (session hibernation)

With the persistent session state feature, portal users can resume and continue a previously interrupted working session at the same state where they left the session. When the user logs out or the session times out, the portal settings of the user can be stored into the database. The administrator can give users the option to resume the last session when logging in again. When the user chooses to resume the last session, the previous portal settings are restored and the user can continue working where the user stopped before.

Example: A user logs in and maximizes some portlets. Afterwards the user logs out. When the user logs in again, all of the previously maximized portlets are still maximized.

 

Session settings stored by the portal

The following portal settings are stored when the user logs out:

• Portlet states:
  • Minimized
  • Maximized

• Portlet Modes:
  • Help
  • Edit
  • Configure

• Page selection:

  • The last page that was active before the user logged out.

 

How administrators define persistent session options

Administrators can configure the persistent session settings to determine:

• Which of three levels of session preservation users obtain when they sign on to the portal.

• Whether users have the option to resume their session or not.

The following sections describe how to set these options.

 

Set session preservation levels

Portal administrators can configure three levels of session preservation settings for the next session of the same user. They do this by setting the property persistent.session.level in the file ConfigServices.properties. They can configure the property to one of three settings: 0, 1, and 2.

The defined settings are in effect, independent of whether the administrator has given users the resume option

The three persistent.session.level values have the following effects:

persistent.session.level = 0:

No persistent session state at all applies to the user session. During logout or session timeout no settings are stored into the database. After a login no settings are restored.

persistent.session.level = 1:

The portlet states and the portlet modes are stored in the database and are later restored to the user session. For example, maximized portlets are still maximized. However, no information about the last active page is stored. This means that the user starts with the default page after a login.

persistent.session.level = 2:

Maximum level of persistent session state. All portlet settings and page information mentioned above are stored. In addition to persistent.session.level 1 the session now starts with the last page that was active before the user logged out.

The default setting is 0, that is, no persistent session state is stored or restored.

The following table gives an overview of the settings and their effect on the session:

Portal settings	Persistent session state
	Level 0	Level 1	Level 2
Portlet states: Minimized Maximized	---	stored restored	stored restored
Portlet modes: Help Edit Configure	---	stored restored	stored restored
Pages: The last active page before the user logged out	---	---	stored restored

 

Giving users the resume option

Portal administrators can define whether users have the option to resume their last session during login. They do this by setting the property persistent.session.option in the file ConfigServices.properties. They can configure the property to one of two settings: 0 or 1.

The two persistent.session.option values have the following effects:

persistent.session.option = 0:

The user does not have the choice to resume the last session or not.

persistent.session.option = 1:

The user is presented with the option to resume the last session at login.

The default setting is 0, that is, users have no option to resume their last session.

Notes:

1. The defined session preservation settings as described under Set session preservation levels are in effect, independent of whether the administrator has given users the resume option.

2. If you give users the resume option, set the session preservation level to 1 or higher.

 

User option during login

Depending on the settings defined by the administrator, the user can choose whether to resume the last session or not. If the portal administrator has enabled the resume option for users, the login page displays a check box Resume last session. If the user selects this check box, the previous session is resumed. Otherwise the previous session is not resumed and the user starts as if logging in for the first time.

 

See also

• Portal configuration

• XML configuration interface

• Administering your portal

 

WebSphere is a trademark of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

 

IBM is a trademark of the IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.