VPN SSL idle-timeout vs auth-timeout

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
June 13, 2021
1 reply
22997 views

Hi

Can somebody explain the difference between idle-timeout and auth-timeout in vpn ssl settings?

I've seen the help page but I don't seem to understand how is the end result any different between the two.

Thanks

srajeswaran

Staff

Idle Timeout: The idle-timeout is period of time in seconds that the SSL VPN will wait before timing out.

Auth-Timeout : The auth-timeout is period of time in seconds that the SSL VPN will wait before re-authentication is enforced.

Now lets say, Idle Timeout is 10 Minutes and Auth Timeout is 5 minutes.

The SSL connections logs out at 5 minutes irrespective of the traffic through SSL. Even if SSL is not idle, due to the auth-timeout value of 5 minutes, user will have to authenticate again.

For the reverse values, Idle Timeout is 5 Minutes and Auth Timeout is 10 minutes.

Lets says the user is connected but there is no traffic through tunnel for 5 minutes, tunnel will go down. If the user is connected and tunnel is not idle, tunnel will go down only after 10 minutes.

Ref: https://kb.fortinet.com/kb/documentLink.do?externalID=FD39435

Ref: https://kb.fortinet.com/kb/documentLink.do?externalID=FD37221