Oracle APEX Prerequisites

All modern releases of Oracle Database have Oracle Application Express (APEX) already installed. However, none of them have the latest version of APEX installed. Before considering a setup of APEX in an Oracle Database environment, certain prerequisites will need to be met. In addition to APEX, it is also necessary to install Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS) in order to access APEX from an application server such as WebLogic or Tomcat. The following information in this article will explain further about the Oracle APEX prerequisites.

Hardware Prerequisites

As APEX already comes bundled with Oracle Database, not much consideration needs to be taken with regards to the hardware prerequisites beyond what is already required by Oracle Database. As you will be upgrading the bundled APEX to the latest APEX release (APEX 20.1 as of August 2020), the supported operating system is the main hardware requirement which will need to be heeded.

Supported Operating Systems

Additional Hardware Prerequisites

Although no other hardware prerequisites are required for APEX (beyond what is already required for Oracle Database), the following prerequisites are needed for running an application server such as Oracle WebLogic Server for hosting ORDS:

• RAM: 4 GB (8 GB or more is preferred for production environments)
• Disk space: 10 GB or more
• SWAP or Virtual Memory: 8 GB or more (16 GB or more is recommended for production environments)
• Network requirements: Either a static IP address or a loopback adapter with a static IP address
• OS User: If installing Oracle WebLogic Server to deploy ORDS, the OS account used to install the Oracle software must be used to run the WebLogic server.

Database Requirements

APEX is supported in the following releases of Oracle Database:

• Oracle Database 11.2.0.4.0+
• Oracle Database 12.1.0.2.0+
• Oracle Database 12.2.0.1.0+
• Oracle Database 18.0.0.0.0+
• Oracle Database 19.0.0.0.0+

During the setup of APEX and ORDS, a SYSDBA account will be required. This is necessary to run a few SQL scripts for setting up APEX (the SQL scripts come bundled with every Oracle Database install). Please consult with your DBA before setting up APEX in your environment.

Software Requirements

Oracle Application Express (APEX)

The latest release Oracle APEX may be downloaded from Oracle’s website.from https://www.oracle.com/tools/downloads/apex-downloads.html. Once you are there, you may click on the link for either all languages or for the English only version.

NOTE: You must have an Oracle account to download software from Oracle. In addition, you must agree to the Oracle License Agreement before you are permitted to download the software. Keep in mind that if you are licensed for Oracle Database, no additional licenses are required for setting up and using APEX.

Oracle REST Data Services (ORDS)

In order to access your APEX environment, Oracle REST Data Services is also one of the Oracle APEX prerequisites. As of August 2020, ORDS 20.2 is the most current release of ORDS. ORDS 20.2 may be downloaded from Oracle at https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/rest-data-services-downloads.html.

NOTE: You must have an Oracle account to download software from Oracle. In addition, you must agree to the Oracle License Agreement before you are permitted to download the software.

Supported Application Servers for ORDS

ORDS must be deployed into an application server. The following application servers may be used for deploying ORDS:

• Oracle WebLogic Server
• Apache Tomcat
• Standalone Mode (embedded Eclipse Jetty server)

If you decide to use Oracle WebLogic Server as your application server, you must keep these points in mind:

• You must have a license to run Oracle WebLogic Server.
• It is highly recommended to use at least Oracle WebLogic Server 12c for deploying ORDS. The latest version of Oracle WebLogic Server may be downloaded here if you do not have it already installed (we recommend the Fusion Middleware Infrastructure Installer): https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/weblogic/downloads/index.html
• Oracle WebLogic Server requires an Oracle JDK (OpenJDK is not supported) to be installed. WebLogic requires JDK 8 (later releases are not currently supported with WebLogic at this time) which the latest update may be downloaded here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
• NOTE: If you are using a JDK solely for the purpose of running WebLogic, you should not need a separate Java SE license or subscription. However, it is strongly recommended to verify this with your Oracle representative with regards to your Oracle licensing. Additional information may also be found here (a subscription to My Oracle Support is required to view this information): https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/jdk-faqs.html

If you decide to use Apache Tomcat instead, you may download it from the main Apache Tomcat site.

Other Notes

After reading our information regarding the Oracle APEX prerequisites, if you are interested in learning more about APEX and how a migration from Oracle Forms to APEX can be advantageous for you, please check out our article here about the advantages of moving from Oracle Forms to APEX. Please feel free to contact PITSS at any time if you are interested in learning more about APEX and how PITSS can best assist you with your migration to APEX.