Hi,

Is there a parameter I can set in oracle that will drop user connections after a set period of inactivity (I'm sure there is, I just don't know of it).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Shoe,
Breen.

Put this line in your sqlnet.ora:

sqlnet.expire_time = <seconds of inactivity>,
where <seconds of inactivity> - interval to check if client session is alive

I would also recommend you to consider profiles where you can limit both idle and total time for user connections.
Resource parameters you need to set in profiles are
CONNECT_TIME, IDLE_TIME.
After that you need to assign new profile to the user(s)
whose connect time you need to limit.

Thanks Dmitry,
There was one thing I noticed about the sqlnet.expire_time:
'Dead connection detection is not allowed on bequeathed connections'
I use MTS and was wondering what they mean by 'bequeathed connections'?
I'll start making the changes anyway.
Thanks for your reply,
Breen.

Bequeth protocol is used for local connections, so in this case (with local connections) dead connection detection will not work. In your case with MTS there is no limitation for DCD (dead connection detection), so you may safely use it.

Thanks for your help Dmitry.
Cheers,
Breen.

Just a little correction:

sqlnet.expire_time is in minutes, not seconds.
Here is what Oracle docs say:

SQLNET.EXPIRE_TIME
Purpose: Determines time interval to send a probe to verify the session is alive

Default: None
Minimum Value: 0 minutes
Recommended Value: 10 minutes
Example:
sqlnet.expire_time=10