Non-interactive displacement

The prompt-for-displacement stanza entry in the [session] stanza of the WebSEAL configuration file determines whether or not a user is prompted for appropriate action when the max-concurrent-web-sessions displace policy has been exceeded.

This section discusses the non-interactive option (prompt-for-displacement = no), where the user is not prompted for appropriate action.

When a second login is attempted, the original (older) login session is automatically terminated with no prompt. A new session is created for the user and the user is logged in to this new session transparently. The original (older) session is no longer valid.

The original session cookie remaining on the user's original browser becomes an old, or "stale" cookie that no longer maps to an existing entry in the WebSEAL session cache. If the user attempts to access another protected resource from the original (older) login session, WebSEAL requires authentication and responds with the standard login form.

The OLDSESSION macro contained in this form is set to the value of "1", indicating that the request contains an old ("stale") cookie that no longer matches any existing entry in the WebSEAL session cache. You can use the value of the OLDSESSION macro as a trigger mechanism for a customized response to the user. This custom response could more accurately explain to the user why the session is not valid anymore.

For further information on this feature, see Customized responses for old session cookies.