Oracle 23c Free Docker, APEX & ORDS all in one simple guide

Oracle 23c Free Docker, APEX & ORDS all in one simple guide

Up and running with APEX in 23c

Matt Mulvaney's photo
Matt Mulvaney
·

6 min read

The VM Appliance already contains these tools, however this guide provides the tools required to get up and running with APEX in docker.

The guide provides:

  • Oracle 23c Free Database

  • ORDS latest (24.1 at time of writing)

  • Open JAVA 17 JDK

  • APEX latest (23.2 at time of writing)

If you are quick at copy/pasting, you can rattle through the setup in 30mins - from step 3

Let's start...

  1. Mac: Install Brew/Colima/Docker by following this guide by Rafal first before continuing
    Windows: Ensure Docker is running & start Docker Desktop
    Unix: Ensure Docker is installed or install it below

     docker version

    or install it like this

     sudo yum install docker -y

  2. Drop in to command line (i.e terminal or windows+r, cmd) and type the following (it'll take about 15mins to complete) and it'll unpack to 10.5GB on your HDD

     docker pull container-registry.oracle.com/database/free:latest

    It will look like this when complete

  3. Then we need to run it... (I changed ports to 8xxx to avoid conflicts with my other docker images).

     docker run -d -it --name 23cfree -p 8521:1521 -p 8500:5500 -p 8023:8080 -p 9043:8443 -p 9922:22 -e ORACLE_PWD=E container-registry.oracle.com/database/free:latest

  4. Now we enter bash

     docker exec -it 23cfree /bin/bash

  5. Then run this to get APEX (1min)

     curl -o apex-latest.zip https://download.oracle.com/otn_software/apex/apex-latest.zip

  6. unzip it & enter the apex folder (1min)

     unzip apex-latest.zip
 rm apex-latest.zip
 cd apex

  7. Make a coffee - seriously, let the DB settle for a few mins.

  8. Open SQL*Plus with sqlplus / as sysdba

     sqlplus / as sysdba

    like this...

     bash-4.4$ sqlplus / as sysdba

 SQL*Plus: Release 23.0.0.0.0 - Developer-Release on Wed Apr 5 13:27:32 2023 Version 23.2.0.0.0

 Copyright (c) 1982, 2023, Oracle. All rights reserved.

 Connected to: Oracle Database 23c Free, Release 23.0.0.0.0 - Developer-Release Version 23.2.0.0.0

  9. Set the PDB

     ALTER SESSION SET CONTAINER = FREEPDB1;

    Then run the APEX installer below. This will install APEX (10mins). Note if you get a PLS-00201: identifier 'SYS.DBMS_DB_VERSION' must be declared error, just keep re-trying this step until it works. It'll settle down within a few minutes.

     @apexins.sql SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/

  10. Unlock the public user account

    ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER ACCOUNT UNLOCK;

    Then change the password

    ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER IDENTIFIED BY E;

  11. Change the password. Run the following and follow the steps. Note: you must use a complex password

    @apxchpwd.sql

  12. Type exit to exit SQL*Plus

  13. Make these folders

    mkdir /home/oracle/software
mkdir /home/oracle/software/apex
mkdir /home/oracle/software/ords
mkdir /home/oracle/scripts

  14. Copy the APEX images & change folder

    cp -r /home/oracle/apex/images /home/oracle/software/apex
cd /home/oracle/

  15. Drop in to superuser

    su

    Then install sudo

    dnf update -y
dnf install sudo -y

  16. install nano

    dnf install nano -y

  17. Edit the sudo list

    nano /etc/sudoers

    in the Defaults section add

    Defaults !lecture

    At the very end of the file add

    oracle ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

    Ctrl+X and save the file

  18. Install JAVA (3mins)

    dnf install java-17-openjdk -y

  19. Setup ORDS folders & check JAVA - 1min

    mkdir /etc/ords
mkdir /etc/ords/config
mkdir /home/oracle/logs
chmod -R 777 /etc/ords
java -version

    This should say...

    openjdk version "17.0.6" 2023-01-17 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (Red_Hat-17.0.6.0.10-3.el8_7) (build 17.0.6+10-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (Red_Hat-17.0.6.0.10-3.el8_7) (build 17.0.6+10-LTS, mixed mode, sharing)

  20. Whilst still as su, Install ORDS

    yum-config-manager --add-repo=http://yum.oracle.com/repo/OracleLinux/OL8/oracle/software/x86_64
dnf install ords -y

  21. Then configure ORDS

    export _JAVA_OPTIONS="-Xms512M -Xmx512M"
ords --config /etc/ords/config install

  22. It will then give the the following selection. Choose option 3

      Enter a number to select the TNS net service name to use or specify the database connection
    [1] EXTPROC_CONNECTION_DATA SID=PLSExtProc
    [2] FREE         SERVICE_NAME=FREE
    [3] FREEPDB1     SERVICE_NAME=FREEPDB1
    [S] Specify the database connection
  Choose [1]: 3

  23. It will then ask for the database user name with administrator privileges. Choose user SYS and password E

      Provide database user name with administrator privileges.
    Enter the administrator username: SYS
  Enter the database password for SYS AS SYSDBA: E

  24. It will then display the following menu

    Retrieving information.
ORDS is not installed in the database. ORDS installation is required.

  Enter a number to update the value or select option A to Accept and Continue
    [1] Connection Type: TNS
    [2] TNS Connection: TNS_NAME=FREEPDB1 TNS_FOLDER=/opt/oracle/product/23c/dbhomeFree/network/admin
           Administrator User: SYS AS SYSDBA
    [3] Database password for ORDS runtime user (ORDS_PUBLIC_USER): <generate>
    [4] ORDS runtime user and schema tablespaces:  Default: SYSAUX Temporary TEMP
    [5] Additional Feature: Database Actions
    [6] Configure and start ORDS in Standalone Mode: Yes
    [7]    Protocol: HTTP
    [8]       HTTP Port: 8080
    [9]   APEX static resources location:
    [A] Accept and Continue - Create configuration and Install ORDS in the database
    [Q] Quit - Do not proceed. No changes
  Choose [A]:

  25. Choose option 9 - APEX static resources location.

  26. When prompted, enter the following...

    /home/oracle/software/apex/images

  27. Next type A to continue

  28. ORDS will then configure. It will take 1-2 mins and finally load and finally show...

    2024-04-15T15:30:27.922Z INFO        Oracle REST Data Services initialized
Oracle REST Data Services version : 24.1.0.r0960841
Oracle REST Data Services server info: jetty/10.0.20
Oracle REST Data Services java info: OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM 17.0.10+7-LTS

  29. Do a quick test in a new browser tab localhost:8023/ords/apex and then close the tab down.

    FYI: Prior to ORDS 23.2 (read here), you just use the URL localhost:8023/ords

  30. Ctrl+C to quit ORDS

  31. Create a start_ords.sh file

    nano /home/oracle/scripts/start_ords.sh

    Then paste in

    export ORDS_HOME=/usr/local/bin/ords
export _JAVA_OPTIONS="-Xms512M -Xmx512M"
LOGFILE=/home/oracle/logs/ords-`date +"%Y""%m""%d"`.log
nohup ${ORDS_HOME} --config /etc/ords/config serve >> $LOGFILE 2>&1 & echo "View log file with : tail -f $LOGFILE"

  32. Create a stop_ords.sh file

    nano /home/oracle/scripts/stop_ords.sh

    Then paste in

    kill `ps -ef | grep [o]rds.war | awk '{print $2}'`

  33. FYI - DON'T RUN THIS NOW : You can run them manually like this (as su)

    # Commented for Reference 
# sh /home/oracle/scripts/start_ords.sh
# sh /home/oracle/scripts/stop_ords.sh

  34. Create an ORDS startup script

    nano /opt/oracle/scripts/startup/01_auto_ords.sh

    paste in the below

    sudo sh /home/oracle/scripts/start_ords.sh

  35. Type exit to quit out of docker and back to your local machine.

    exit

  36. If you are using docker on Unix (i.e not Windows/Mac), you'll need to enable linger (source #17)

    loginctl enable-linger $UID

  37. Stop your docker container (I like using the GUI) & then start it again.. this is to activate the auto ords starter script we just created

    docker restart 23cfree

  38. Wait 60 seconds, then try logging in at
    localhost:8023/ords/apex

    Workspace > INTERNAL
Username > ADMIN
Password > The Complex Password

  39. ENJOY!

orclapex