Net session
Updated: April 17, 2012
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows 7 with SP1, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Manages server computer connections.
Net session
Manages server computer connections. Used without parameters, net session displays information about all sessions with the local computer.
Syntax
net session [\\<ComputerName>] [/delete] [/list]
Parameters
Parameter | Description |
---|---|
\\<ComputerName> |
Identifies the client computer for which you want to list or disconnect sessions. |
/delete |
Ends the session with the specified client computer and closes all open files on the local computer for the session. If you omit \\<ComputerName>, all sessions on the local computer are canceled. |
/list |
Displays information in a list rather than a table. |
Warning
Remarks
You can also use net sessions or net sess to run net session.
Use net session to view the computer names and user names of users on a server, to see if users have files open, and to see how long each user's session has been idle.
The information appears in a format similar to the following:
Computer User name Client type Opens Idle time ------------------------------------------------------------------------ \\BWESTON CHRISDR Windows 7 1 00:00:13 \\JAMESMC-01 Administrator Windows Vista 0 01:05:13
To display one user's session, use **\\**ComputerName with the command. The information about a single user includes a list of shared resources to which the user has connections.
A session is recorded when a user at a client successfully contacts a server. A successful session occurs when the two computers are on the same network and the user has a user name and password that are accepted by the server. A user at a client has to have a session with a server before he or she can use the resources of the server. A client and a server have only one session, but they can have many entry points, or connections, to resources.
To set how long a session can remain idle before being automatically disconnected, set the autodisconnect feature by using net config server /autodisconnect. An automatic disconnection is transparent to the user, because the session is automatically reconnected when the user accesses the resource again.
To end a computer's session with the server, use net session\\ComputerName/delete.
Examples
To display a list of session information for the local server, type:
net session
To display session information for a client with the computer name bweston, type:
net session \\bweston
To end all sessions between the server and the clients connected to it, type:
net session /delete