2026-07-18
checkout, auto, pcs
The following explains the four ways iCafeCloud automatically checks out an expired session. They work together as layers of protection, so a session is checked out correctly even if the control panel is closed, the client crashes, the network fails, or the power goes out.
- Cloud server checkout – The cloud server checks for expired sessions every 10 seconds and automatically checks them out. This stops the billing and charging. The server also sends a command to lock the client PC, but if the client is offline the command may not arrive, locking is then handled by methods 2 and 3.
Note: checkout no longer depends on the control panel. In older versions, checking out expired sessions relied on the CP timer, so staff closing the CP browser could stop checkouts. This dependency has been removed and the cloud server checks out sessions even when no CP is open.
- Client checkout – The client also checks out automatically when its session expires. This is the normal case: the PC locks immediately and the checkout is reported to the server. If a network problem prevents the report from reaching the server, method 1 checks the session out on the server side.
- Client connection timeout lock – If the client cannot reach the server (for example when a network-blocking tool like NetLimiter is used to cheat the billing), the client locks the PC with the login page after the "client connection timeout" period. This protects the center against network manipulation on the client PC.
- Disconnect checkout (power outage) – If a client stays disconnected for X minutes (for example after a power outage), the cloud server automatically checks the session out. Like method 1, this stops the billing — see Auto checkout on power outage for the setting.