By default, vSphere Web Client sessions close after 120 minutes of idle time, requiring the user to log in again to resume using the client. You can change the timeout value by editing the webclient.properties file.

Procedure

  1. On the computer where the vSphere Web Client is installed, locate the webclient.properties file.
    The location of this file depends on the operating system on which the vSphere Web Client is installed.
    Operating System File path
    Windows 2008 C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client
    vCenter Server Appliance /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/
  2. Edit the file to include the line session.timeout = value where value is the timeout value in minutes. Uncomment the line, if necessary.
    To set the client to never timeout, specify a negative or 0 value for the timeout.
    For example, to set the timeout value to 60 minutes, include the line session.timeout = 60.
  3. Restart the vSphere Web Client service.
    • On Windows operating systems, restart the VMware vSphere Web Client service.
    • On the vCenter Server Appliance, restart the vSphere-client service.