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# Understanding the Session Manager

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When a client application requires a session, it requests the session from the TopLink session manager. The two main functions of the session manager are to instantiate TopLink sessions for the server, and to hold the sessions for the life of the application. The session manager instantiates database sessions, server sessions, or session brokers based on the configuration information in the `sessions.xml` file.

The session manager instantiates sessions as follows:

- The client application requests a session by name.

- The session manager looks up the session name in the `sessions.xml` file. If the session name exists, the session manager instantiates the specified session; otherwise, it throws an exception.

- After instantiation, the session remains viable until the application is shut down.