How do I set the Transaction Timeout?

Transaction timeout (unit is always seconds) can be configured in various ways:

This argument is the same no matter if you are using JBossTM(<=4.0.5) or JBossJTA-Arjuna(>=4.2).

• Globally: You can change this behavior globally by modifying the TransactionManagerService in /conf/jboss-service.xml (or /deploy/jta-service.xml for 4.0.3)

Version <= 4.0.5

<mbean code="com.arjuna.ats.jbossatx.jta.TransactionManagerService"
   name="jboss:service=TransactionManager">
   <attribute name="TransactionTimeout">300</attribute>
   ...
</mbean>

Version >= 4.2

<mbean code="com.arjuna.ats.jbossatx.jta.TransactionManagerService" 
   name="jboss:service=TransactionManager">
   <attribute name="TransactionTimeout">300</attribute>
   <attribute name="ObjectStoreDir">${jboss.server.data.dir}/tx-object-store</attribute> 
</mbean>

This part is the same for either JBossTM or JBossJTA and is the same for ejb2 and ejb3

• Per-method basis: Modifying the <transaction-timeout> element inside the <method> element of a session or entity bean. This is located in the META-INF/jboss.xml deployment descriptor of a session bean. When the transaction timeout is specified at the method level, it overrides the default timeout. Further information about this element can be found in jboss-x.x.x/docs/dtd/jboss_4_0.dtd. Example taken from the testsuite:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<jboss>
  <enterprise-beans>
    <session>
      <ejb-name>TxTimeout</ejb-name>
      <jndi-name>jbosstest/tm/TxTimeout</jndi-name>
      <exception-on-rollback>true</exception-on-rollback>
      <method-attributes>
        <method>
          <method-name>testOverriddenTimeoutExpires</method-name>
          <transaction-timeout>5</transaction-timeout>
        </method>
        <method>
          <method-name>testOverriddenTimeoutDoesNotExpire</method-name>
          <transaction-timeout>20</transaction-timeout>
        </method>
      </method-attributes>
    </session>
  </enterprise-beans>    
</jboss>

• Using BMT: Calling javax.transaction.UserTransaction.setTransactionTimeout(int seconds). Please, be aware that this only applies to transactions started after this invocation on the same thread. Example:

UserTransaction ut = (UserTransaction)ctx.lookup("java:comp/UserTransaction");
ut.setTransactionTimeout(20);
ut.begin();
...
ut.commit();

• Using it with EJB3 annotations..

For MBDs, you can specify it as an activation configuration that applies to the entire bean:

@ActivationConfigProperty(propertyName="transactionTimeout", propertyValue="1")

For the rest of beans, you can use @TransactionTimeout annotation that can be applied either at class level or method level:

@TransactionTimeout(1500)