Downloading and Installing Oracle APEX

Learn about downloading and installing APEX.

How you install Oracle APEX depends upon by the type of database into which you are installing. This chapter describes how to download and install Oracle APEX in self-managed databases, such as your laptop or your data center, or co-managed Cloud databases such as Database Cloud Service (DBaaS) and Exadata Cloud Service.

Tip: In fully managed Cloud databases, such as an Autonomous Database or Oracle APEX AI Application Generator (APEX Service), APEX is pre-installed and pre-configured, so you may skip the steps listed in this chapter. To learn more, refer to the documentation for your service.

For more information, see:

Installing APEX

Install Oracle APEX by downloading a ZIP file from the APEX download page.

Tip: APEX must be installed from a writable directory on the file system. See Reviewing a Log of an Installation Session.

To install APEX:

For installations where the development will be in English only, download the file apex_26.2_en.zip from the APEX download page. If the development will include languages other than English, download apex_26.2.zip from the APEX download page. See:

https://www.oracle.com/tools/downloads/apex-downloads.html

Note that the actual file name may differ if a more recent release has shipped since this document was published.
Unzip downloaded zip file:
- If English only, unzip apex_26.2_en.zip as follows, preserving directory names:
  - UNIX and Linux: $ unzip apex_26.2_en.zip
  - Windows: Double click the file apex_26.2_en.zip in Windows Explorer
- If multiple languages, unzip apex_26.2.zip as follows, preserving directory names:
  - UNIX and Linux: $ unzip apex_26.2.zip
  - Windows: Double click the file apex_26.2.zip in Windows Explorer
Note: You should keep the directory tree where you unzip the files short and not under directories that contain spaces. For example, within Windows, unzip to C:\TEMP.
Change your working directory to apex.

Start SQLcl and connect to the database where APEX is installed as SYS specifying the SYSDBA role. For example:

On Windows:

<SYSTEM_DRIVE>:\ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>

On UNIX and Linux:

$ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>

Disable any existing password complexity rules for the default profile.
Select the appropriate installation option.

Full development environment provides complete access to the App Builder environment to develop applications. A Runtime environment enables users to run applications that cannot be modified.

Available installation options include:
- Full development environment. Run apexins.sql passing the following four arguments in the order shown:
```
@apexins.sql tablespace_apex tablespace_files tablespace_temp images
```
  Where:
  - tablespace_apex is the name of the tablespace for the APEX application user.
  - tablespace_files is the name of the tablespace for the APEX files user.
  - tablespace_temp is the name of the temporary tablespace or tablespace group.
  - images is the virtual directory for APEX images. To support future APEX upgrades, define the virtual image directory as/i/.
  Example:
```
@apexins.sql SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/
```
  Note:
  
  If you receive the following error, exit SQLcl and change your working directory to where you unzipped the installation file, for example C:\TEMP in Windows, before starting SQLcl:
  
  SP2-0310: unable to open file "apexins.sql"
- Runtime environment. Run apxrtins.sql passing the following arguments in the order shown:
```
@apxrtins.sql tablespace_apex tablespace_files tablespace_temp images
```
  Where:
  - tablespace_apex is the name of the tablespace for the APEX application user.
  - tablespace_files is the name of the tablespace for the APEX files user.
  - tablespace_temp is the name of the temporary tablespace or tablespace group.
  - images is the virtual directory for APEX images. To support future APEX upgrades, define the virtual image directory as/i/.
  Example:
```
@apxrtins.sql SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/
```

See Also:

About the APEX Runtime Environment
Configuring Password Protection in Oracle AI Database Security Guide
Working with SQLcl in Oracle SQLcl User’s Guide
About APEX Database Accounts

Creating or Updating Your Instance Administration Account

Learn how to create or update Instance Administrator account.

This section describes how to create or update your Instance Administrator account.

Tip: Skip this section if you are upgrading from a previous release of Oracle APEX. In an upgrade scenario, the Instance Administrator account and password is preserved and carried over from the prior release.

What Is an Instance Administrator?

Instance administrators are superusers that are responsible for managing an entire Oracle APEX instance, including managing workspace provisioning, configuring features and instance settings, and managing security.

To perform these tasks, an Instance administrator signs in to the Oracle APEX Administration Services application.

See Also: Oracle APEX Administration Services in Oracle APEX Administration Guide

About apxchpwd.sql

Running the apxchpwd.sql script enables you to create or update your Instance Administrator account.

Note: The apxchpwd.sql script is not supported on Oracle Autonomous AI Database and Oracle APEX AI Application Generator (APEX Service).

You must run the apxchpwd.sql script in the following scenarios:

New Oracle APEX installations - Run apxchpwd.sql to create an Instance Administrator account and password.
Converting of a runtime environment to a development environment - Run apxchpwd.sql to change the Instance Administrator account password.
Changing Your Instance Administrator Password -Run apxchpwd.sql to change the password for an existing Instance Administrator account.
Unlocking Your Instance Administrator Account - Run apxchpwd.sql to unlock an existing Instance Administrator account.

Tip: You do not need to run apxchpwd.sql when upgrading from a previous release of Oracle APEX. In an upgrade scenario, the Instance Administrator account password is preserved and carried over from the prior release.

Running apxchpwd.sql

Run the apxchpwd.sql script to create and update your Instance Administrator account.

To create or update your Instance Administrator account:

Change your working directory to the apex directory where you unzipped the installation software.

Start SQLcl and connect to the database where Oracle APEX is installed as SYS specifying the SYSDBA role. For example:

On Windows:

<SYSTEM_DRIVE>:\ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>

On UNIX and Linux:

$ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>

Run apxchpwd.sql. For example:
```
@apxchpwd.sql
```
Follow the on-screen instructions. You will be prompted provide a username, password, and email address. If the account username does not exist, it will be created for you.

See Also: Working with SQLcl in Oracle SQLcl User’s Guide

Restarting Processes

Restart the processes that you stopped before you began the installation.

After you install Oracle APEX, you must restart the processes that you stopped before you began the installation.

Configuring the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Account

It is important to correctly configure the APEX_PUBLIC_USER account to enable proper operation of Oracle APEX.

About the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Account

The APEX_PUBLIC_USER account is created with no authentication in a new installation of Oracle APEX.

You must change the password for this account before configuring the database connection in ORDS if you change the configuration to use APEX_PUBLIC_USER instead of ORDS_PUBLIC_USER.

Changing the Password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Account

Change the password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER account by running a SQL statement.

Tip: This step is not necessary if you are upgrading from a prior release of Oracle APEX, or you have not changed the ORDS configuration to connect as APEX_PUBLIC_USER instead of ORDS_PUBLIC_USER.

To change the password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER account:

Start SQLcl and connect to the database where Oracle APEX is installed as SYS specifying the SYSDBA role. If Oracle APEX is installed in the CDB, ensure you connect to CDB$ROOT. For example:
- On Windows:
```
<SYSTEM_DRIVE>:\ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>
```
- On UNIX and Linux:
```
$ sql /nolog
SQL> CONNECT SYS as SYSDBA
Enter password: <SYS_password>
```
Run the following statement:
```
ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER IDENTIFIED BY new_password
```
Where new_password is the new password you are setting for APEX_PUBLIC_USER. You will use this password when creating the DAD in the sections that follow.

About Password Expiration in Oracle Database

You can set PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME parameter to unlimited by altering APEX_PUBLIC_USER to prevent password expiration. To do this create another profile in which the PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME parameter is set to unlimited and alter the APEX_PUBLIC_USER account and assign it to the new profile.

In the default profile in Oracle AI Database, the parameter PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME is set to 180. If you are using Oracle AI Database with Oracle APEX, this causes the password for APEX_PUBLIC_USER to expire in 180 days. As a result, your APEX instance will become unusable until you change the password.

See Also: Oracle AI Database Security Guide for information on creating profiles and assigning them to database users

Configuring the APEX_PUBLIC_ROUTER Account

The APEX_PUBLIC_ROUTER account is a minimally privileged account used for an ORDS REST module to resolve friendly URLs.

About Sessions Per User in Oracle AI Database

On highly active systems, APEX_PUBLIC_ROUTER may reach the maximum number of sessions allowed in the database which results in a “Service Unavailable HTTP 503” error. You can set the SESSIONS_PER_USER parameter to “unlimited” by modifying APEX_PUBLIC_ROUTER to remove limit on the maximum number of sessions.

Create another profile in which the SESSIONS_PER_USER parameter is set to “unlimited” and modify the APEX_PUBLIC_ROUTER account and assign it to the new profile.

This behavior differs depending on your version of Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS). For ORDS 24.x and later, all GET requests that reference the /r/ path use an ORDS REST module.

If ORDS was updated after Oracle APEX, you must run sys.validate_apex.

After each ORDS upgrade or if ORDS is installed after APEX is installed, you must run the following as sys:

-- Run as SYS
set serveroutput on
begin
    sys.validate_apex;
end;
/

See Also: DBA_PROFILES in Oracle AI Database Reference