AtoM automatic log out

[Abra Schnur - University Archivist]

Hello,

I was wondering if there is reasoning behind the automatic logging out of account while you are actively working in your instance?  I understand if you have been idle for a while.   To be actively populating a long series and then when you hit save you have been apparently logged out and all that information is lost- is very frustrating.  This has always been an issue since we've had AtoM, but it seems like as we continue these upgrades the automatic log out time is getting shorter and shorter.

Thank you for any insight you can provide.

Abra

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Abra Schnur

University Archivist, Trinity University

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[Dan Gillean]

Hi Abra,

The short version is: 

• This is done for security purposes, since AtoM can typically be accessed from any web browser 
• For example, if an authenticated user accidentally leaves a web browser logged in on a public computer (especially one with caching), the next person to sit down there can't maliciously edit your site by just reloading the page. 
• It is a configurable parameter, which can be changed by editing the config/factories.yml file
• By default this is set to 30mins (i.e. 1800 seconds)
• Theoretically this limit can be increased....
• HOWEVER, unfortunately, there is a known issue in the Symfony 1.x framework that seems to make this timer increasingly unreliable the more the time amount is increased
• We don't recommend setting this much higher than 80 minutes (i.e. 4800s), which users have reported keeps users logged in for 55-70mins

All of this is described in slides 2-6 of the following slide deck: 

• https://www.slideshare.net/accesstomemory/things-i-wish-id-known-atom-tips-tricks-and-gotchas
  

I have not previously heard any reports of users finding the logout window getting shorter after upgrades - I hope if there are other users in the forum who have encountered similar issues, they will let us know! In the meantime: 

• I apologize for the inconvenience
• I recommend having a system administrator double-check the current setting value, and increasing this to 4800s to see if it helps
• In general, I would suggest that all users get in a habit of saving every ~20mins or so when working for long periods in edit forms - again, slightly inconvenient, but generally only takes a few seconds and is much better than losing all your work
• As noted in the slide decks, you can also investigate browser plugins that save web form data, in case you do accidentally time out. Please keep in mind that I have not personally tested this one, but to just give an example, here is one I found for Chrome.

I hope that helps. 

Regards, 

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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[Abra Schnur - University Archivist]

Hi Dan,

Thank you for your reply. Here is an instance that just happened.

In this first screen shot it shows the timestamps on my job.  I had just logged in and preformed one at 10:50 and then one at 10:52

Then when I went to perform a third job and hit save it shows I had been logged out.  You'll notice that my clock at the bottom right shows 10:54. So only a 2 minute in between time from the previous job submission.

 

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[Dan Gillean]

Hi Abra, 

This does sound very frustrating, and not how AtoM should be handling log outs. 

I've just tried to reproduce this locally in my test environment, and unfortunately was not able. However: I just realized that you are an Artefactual hosting customer! Please feel free to contact our team (sup...@artefactual.com) with these details, and they will be able to follow up with your particular installation more than I am able to via the forum. 

Cheers, 

Dan Gillean, MAS, MLIS
AtoM Program Manager
Artefactual Systems, Inc.
604-527-2056

@accesstomemory

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[Sandra Yates]

I will contact support as well. We're a hosting customer, and we had an upgrade 2.7.3 on Friday 8/14/2023, and we're definitely noticing a quicker automatic logout similar to what Abra has described. Hopefully, it is added as an issue and corrected for future upgrades.

-Sandra

Sandra E. Yates, MSIS, CA, DAS (she/her)
Head of McGovern Historical Center
Texas Medical Center Library