Moodle - Can't login, Session timed out

[NewFormz]

So I've come back after the holidays and Moodle has decided to start playing up.

 

No one can login, myself included. All we get is the following message:

 

Your session has timed out. Please login again.

 

I've checked the server space and that is fine. Some other people were having issues with a sessions folder but we not appear to have one (Creating one didn't fix anything either). Has any one else had this problem, if so can they recommend a fix. This wasn't setup by myself and I'm a bit of a Linux noob but will give any suggestions a try.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[IrritableTech]

Are all your clock synchronized between servers?

[NewFormz]

Yes, they are all showing the same time. Anything else to check?

 

Thanks

[bossman]

@NewFormz:

 

Is this any help: Cookies

 

Also here: Permissions

 

As Moodle times sessions based on cookies it could be something to do with your browser settings if you have updated across the network,

 

Hope you get it sorted

Edited September 11, 2014 by bossman

[NewFormz]

I've already gone through those threads but with no joy, thanks anyway. Everyone else seems to fix this problem by changing the permissions on the sessions folder. I can't find that so have created it manually and set permissions but it doesn't fix anything. It's strange because it was fine last year and nothing else has been changed or updated.

 

I have tried multiple browsers on different devices and that has no effect.

[unixman_again]

If the sessions folder isn't there, it is almost certain that you are using the database for session handling (see Site administration / Server / Session handling). There are some notes there-in about MySQL config, which may not be correct.

[NewFormz]

I was just reading something else that leads me to believe it might be an SQL problem. But without being able to login at all I can't check the settings you mentioned. Does any one know a way to check anything relating to SQL via the linux server directly?

[unixman_again]

Here's what is says about using the database to handle sessions:

"If enabled, this setting will use the database to store information about current sessions. Note that changing this setting now will log out all current users (including you). If you are using MySQL please make sure that 'max_allowed_packet' in my.cnf (or my.ini) is at least 4M. Other session drivers can be configured directly in config.php, see config-dist.php for more information. This option disappears if you specify session driver in config.php file."

 

It appears as though dbsessions in the mdl_config table controls whether or not to use the database. 0 = use directory on disk (which is what we do). If it isn't 0, you could perhaps set it to 0 and it will use the session directory on disk (I think). Obviously YMMV and if it completely stuffs up should you try this, it isn't my fault!

Edited September 11, 2014 by unixman_again

[NewFormz]

It appears as though dbsessions in the mdl_config table controls whether or not to use the database. 0 = use directory on disk (which is what we do). If it isn't 0, you could perhaps set it to 0 and it will use the session directory on disk (I think). Obviously YMMV and if it completely stuffs up should you try this, it isn't my fault!

 

Do you know how I do this? I can't find the mdl_config table anywhere so I can't change the dbsession to 0.

 

Thanks

[NewFormz]

Wahoo! I've got it working again!

 

It turns out I had a corrupt database. I managed to fix it by using this guide:

 

https://docs.moodle.org/27/en/How_to_check_your_database_for_corruption

 

Thanks to everyone that helped to point me in the right direction.