3 Installing the Software

This chapter describes how to install Oracle Application Express.

This chapter contains these topics:

3.1 Recommended Pre-installation Tasks

If you plan to install Oracle Application Express, Oracle recommends that you complete the following steps before beginning the installation:

  1. Shut down any existing Oracle Database instances as well as Oracle-related processes.

    Shut down any existing Oracle Database instances with normal or immediate priority, except for the database where you plan to install the Oracle Application Express schemas. On Real Application Clusters (RAC) systems, shut down all instances on each node.

    If Automatic Storage Management (ASM) is running, shut down all databases that use ASM except for the database where you will install Oracle Application Express, and then shut down the ASM instance.

    You can use the Windows Services utility, located either in the Windows Control Panel or from the Administrative Tools menu (under Start and then Programs), to shut down Oracle Database and ASM instances. Names of Oracle databases are preceded with OracleService. The Oracle ASM service is named OracleASMService+ASM. In addition, shut down the OracleCSService service, which ASM uses. Right-click the name of the service and from the menu, choose Stop.

  2. Back up the Oracle Database installation.

    Oracle recommends that you create a backup of the current installation of Oracle Database installation before you install Oracle Application Express. You can use Oracle Database Recovery Manager, which is included the Oracle Database installation, to perform the backup.

  3. Start the Oracle Database instance that contains the target database.

    After backing up the system, you must start the Oracle instance that contains the target Oracle database. Do not start other processes such as the listener or Oracle HTTP Server. However, if you are performing a remote installation, make sure the database listener for the remote database has started. To start the database instance or listener, you can use the Windows Services utility.

    Note:

    If you are connecting to a remote database, then start the listener.

3.2 Installing the Oracle Application Express Software

To install Oracle Application Express release 3.0:

  1. Download the file apex_3.0.zip from the Oracle Application Express download page. See:

    http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/download.html
    
    

    Note that the actual file name may differ if a more recent release has shipped since this document was published.

  2. Unzip apex_3.0.zip as follows, preserving directory names:

    • UNIX and Linux: Unzip apex_3.0.zip

    • Windows: Double click the file apex_3.0.zip in Windows Explorer

  3. Change your working directory to apex.

  4. Start SQL*Plus and connect the database where Oracle Application Express is installed as SYS. For example:

    • On Windows:

      SYSTEM_DRIVE:\ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
      
      
    • On UNIX and Linux:

      $ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
      
      
      
  5. Run apexins.sql passing the following five arguments in the order shown:

    @apexins password tablespace_apex tablespace_files tablespace_temp images
    
    

    Where:

    • password is the password for the Oracle Application Express administrator account, the Application Express schema owner, and the Application Express files schema owner.

      The Application Express schema owner is the user or schema into which Oracle Application Express database objects will be installed. The Application Express files schema owner is the user or schema where uploaded files are maintained in Oracle Application Express.

    • tablespace_apex is the name of the tablespace for the Oracle Application Express application user.

    • tablespace_files is the name of the tablespace for the Oracle Application Express files user.

    • tablespace_temp is the name of the temporary tablespace.

    • images is the virtual directory for Oracle Application Express images. To support future Oracle Application Express upgrades, define the virtual image directory as /i/.

    The following examples demonstrate running apexins.sql and passing these arguments:

    @apexins password SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/
    

See Also:

Oracle Database PL/SQL Language Reference for more information about SQL*Plus

When Oracle Application Express installs it creates three new database accounts:

  • FLOWS_030000 - The account that owns the Application Express schema and metadata.

  • FLOWS_FILES - The account that owns the Application Express uploaded files.

  • APEX_PUBLIC_USER - The minimally privileged account used for Application Express configuration with Oracle HTTP Server and mod_plsql.

If you are upgrading from a previous release, FLOWS_FILES, already exists and APEX_PUBLIC_USER is created if it does not already exist.

Tip:

Oracle Application Express must be installed from a writable directory on the file system. See "Reviewing a Log of an Installation Session".