How to Configure the RWW Timeout

[Today's post comes to us courtesy of Chris Puckett]

There are two places you can do this (copied below for your convenience).

To change the client time-out setting for Remote Web Workplace (default = 30 minutes)

  1. Open Registry Editor.
  2. Open the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\RemoteUserPortal
    Note: If the RemoteUserPortal key does not exist, create it.
  3. Create the following DWORD (32-bit) value:
    PublicTimeOut
  4. In the Value data box, type the number of minutes that you want to elapse before the Remote Web Workplace session times out.
    Important: The value you enter should not be larger than 1440 Decimal (5a0 Hex). Otherwise, Connect to a computer and Connect to a server will not function properly.
  5. Click OK.

To change the server time-out setting for Remote Web Workplace (default = 20 minutes)

  1. On the Windows SBS 2008 server, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
  2. At the User Account Control prompt, click Continue.
  3. In the left pane, double-click the name of the server to expand the tree.
  4. Double-click Sites to expand it, and then double-click SBS Web Applications to expand it.
  5. In SBS Web Applications Home, double-click Session State.
  6. In Cookie Settings, change the Time-out (in minutes) to the desired amount of time.
  7. Click Apply to save the changes.

If the client timeout value is GREATER THAN the server timeout value:

  • The RWW page will log you off after the client timeout value and return you to the RWW logon page without displaying any message.
  • If you opened OWA from the link within RWW, the OWA page will also be logged off and returned to the OWA logon page when you click anything within OWA.
  • This is the default behavior in SBS 2008 with the default settings.

If the client timeout value is EQUAL TO or LESS THAN the server timeout value:

  • The RWW page will log you off after the client timeout value and display a message indicating this.
    clip_image004
  • If you opened OWA from the link within RWW, the OWA page will remain open until the OWA idle timeout is reached (default is 15 minutes).

More Information

For more information on configuring the OWA idle timeout see the following links on TechNet:

For more information on configuring the CompanyWeb idle timeout see the following link: How to Change the CompanyWeb Timeout in SBS 2008 on The Official SBS Blog. The RWW timeout does not affect the CompanyWeb timeout that is defined in the default master page.