# Setting up Oracle APEX and Oracle Rest Data Services (ORDS)
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.settingUp"></a>

The following topic lists the steps required to set up Oracle APEX and ORDS

**Topics**
+ [

## Adding the APEX and APEX-DEV options to your DB instance
](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Add)
+ [

## Unlocking the public user account on your DB instance
](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.PublicUser)
+ [

## Configuring RESTful services for Oracle APEX
](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.ConfigureRESTful)
+ [

## Preparing to install ORDS on a separate host
](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.ORDS.ords-setup)
+ [

## Setting up Oracle APEX listener
](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Listener)

## Adding the APEX and APEX-DEV options to your DB instance
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Add"></a>

To add the `APEX` and `APEX-DEV` options to your RDS for Oracle DB instance, do the following: 

1. Create a new option group, or copy or modify an existing option group.

1. Add the `APEX` and `APEX-DEV` options to the option group.

1. Associate the option group with your DB instance.

When you add the `APEX` and `APEX-DEV` options, a brief outage occurs while your DB instance is automatically restarted. 

**Note**  
`APEX_MAIL` is available when the `APEX` option is installed. The execute privilege for the `APEX_MAIL` package is granted to `PUBLIC` so you don't need the APEX administrative account to use it.

**To add the APEX and APEX-DEV options to a DB instance**

1. Determine the option group that you want to use. You can create a new option group or use an existing option group. If you want to use an existing option group, skip to the next step. Otherwise, create a custom DB option group with the following settings: 

   1. For **Engine**, choose the Oracle edition that you want to use. The `APEX` and `APEX-DEV` options are supported on all editions. 

   1. For **Major engine version**, choose the version of your DB instance. 

   For more information, see [Creating an option group](USER_WorkingWithOptionGroups.md#USER_WorkingWithOptionGroups.Create). 

1. Add the options to the option group. If you want to deploy only the Oracle APEX runtime environment, add only the `APEX` option. To deploy the full development environment, add both the `APEX` and `APEX-DEV` options.

   For **Version**, choose the version of Oracle APEX that you want to use.
**Important**  
If you add the `APEX` or `APEX-DEV` options to an existing option group that is already attached to one or more DB instances, a brief outage occurs. During this outage, all the DB instances are automatically restarted. 

   For more information about adding options, see [Adding an option to an option group](USER_WorkingWithOptionGroups.md#USER_WorkingWithOptionGroups.AddOption). 

1. Apply the option group to a new or existing DB instance: 
   + For a new DB instance, you apply the option group when you launch the instance. For more information, see [Creating an Amazon RDS DB instance](USER_CreateDBInstance.md). 
   + For an existing DB instance, you apply the option group by modifying the instance and attaching the new option group. When you add the `APEX` or `APEX-DEV` options to an existing DB instance, a brief outage occurs while your DB instance is automatically restarted. For more information, see [Modifying an Amazon RDS DB instance](Overview.DBInstance.Modifying.md). 

## Unlocking the public user account on your DB instance
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.PublicUser"></a>

After you have installed the `APEX` or `APEX-DEV` options your DB instance, make sure to do the following:

1. Change the password for the `APEX_PUBLIC_USER` account.

1. Unlock the account.

You can do this by using the Oracle SQL\$1Plus command line utility. Connect to your DB instance as the master user, and issue the following commands. Replace `new_password` with a password of your choice. 

```
1. ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER IDENTIFIED BY new_password;
2. ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER ACCOUNT UNLOCK;
```

## Configuring RESTful services for Oracle APEX
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.ConfigureRESTful"></a>

To configure RESTful services in Oracle APEX (not needed for Oracle APEX 4.1.1.V1), use SQL\$1Plus to connect to your DB instance as the master user. After you do this, run the `rdsadmin.rdsadmin_run_apex_rest_config` stored procedure. When you run the stored procedure, you provide passwords for the following users:
+ `APEX_LISTENER`
+ `APEX_REST_PUBLIC_USER`

The stored procedure runs the `apex_rest_config.sql` script, which creates new database accounts for these users.

**Note**  
Configuration isn't required for Oracle APEX version 4.1.1.v1. For this Oracle APEX version only, you don't need to run the stored procedure.

The following command runs the stored procedure.

```
1. EXEC rdsadmin.rdsadmin_run_apex_rest_config('apex_listener_password', 'apex_rest_public_user_password');
```

## Preparing to install ORDS on a separate host
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.ORDS.ords-setup"></a>

Install ORDS on a separate host such as an Amazon EC2 instance, an on-premises server at your company, or your desktop computer. The examples in this section,assume that your host runs Linux and is named `myapexhost.example.com`.

Before you can install ORDS, you need to create a nonprivileged OS user, and then download and unzip the Oracle APEX installation file.

**To prepare for ORDS installation**

1. Log in to `myapexhost.example.com` as `root`. 

1. Create a nonprivileged OS user to own the listener installation. The following command creates a new user named *apexuser*. 

   ```
   useradd -d /home/apexuser apexuser
   ```

   The following command assigns a password to the new user. 

   ```
   passwd apexuser;
   ```

1. Log in to `myapexhost.example.com` as `apexuser`, and download the Oracle APEX installation file from Oracle to your `/home/apexuser` directory: 
   + [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html) 
   + [Oracle application Express prior release archives](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/all-archives-099381.html) 

1. Unzip the file in the `/home/apexuser` directory.

   ```
   unzip apex_version.zip
   ```

   After you unzip the file, there is an `apex` directory in the `/home/apexuser` directory.

1. While you are still logged into `myapexhost.example.com` as `apexuser`, download the Oracle REST Data Services file from Oracle to your `/home/apexuser` directory: [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex-listener/downloads/index.html](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex-listener/downloads/index.html).

## Setting up Oracle APEX listener
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Listener"></a>

**Note**  
Oracle APEX Listener is deprecated. 

Amazon RDS for Oracle continues to support Oracle APEX version 4.1.1 and Oracle APEX Listener version 1.1.4. We recommend that you use the latest supported versions of Oracle APEX and ORDS.

Install Oracle APEX Listener on a separate host such as an Amazon EC2 instance, an on-premises server at your company, or your desktop computer. We assume that the name of your host is `myapexhost.example.com`, and that your host is running Linux.

### Preparing to install Oracle APEX listener
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Listener.preparing"></a>

Before you can install Oracle APEX Listener, you need to create a nonprivileged OS user, and then download and unzip the Oracle APEX installation file.

**To prepare for Oracle APEX listener installation**

1. Log in to `myapexhost.example.com` as `root`. 

1. Create a nonprivileged OS user to own the listener installation. The following command creates a new user named *apexuser*. 

   ```
   useradd -d /home/apexuser apexuser
   ```

   The following command assigns a password to the new user. 

   ```
   passwd apexuser;
   ```

1. Log in to `myapexhost.example.com` as `apexuser`, and download the Oracle APEX installation file from Oracle to your `/home/apexuser` directory: 
   + [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/index.html) 
   + [Oracle application Express prior release archives](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/developer-tools/apex/downloads/all-archives-099381.html) 

1. Unzip the file in the `/home/apexuser` directory.

   ```
   unzip apex_<version>.zip                
   ```

   After you unzip the file, there is an `apex` directory in the `/home/apexuser` directory.

1. While you are still logged into `myapexhost.example.com` as `apexuser`, download the Oracle APEX Listener file from Oracle to your `/home/apexuser` directory.

#### Installing and configuring Oracle APEX listener
<a name="Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.Listener.installing"></a>

Before you can use Oracle APEX, you need to download the `apex.war` file, use Java to install Oracle APEX Listener, and then start the listener.

**To install and configure Oracle APEX listener**

1. Create a new directory based on Oracle APEX Listener and open the listener file.

   Run the following code:

   ```
   mkdir /home/apexuser/apexlistener
   cd /home/apexuser/apexlistener 
   unzip ../apex_listener.version.zip
   ```

1. Run the following code.

   ```
   java -Dapex.home=./apex -Dapex.images=/home/apexuser/apex/images -Dapex.erase -jar ./apex.war
   ```

1. Enter information for the program prompts following: 
   + The APEX Listener Administrator user name. The default is *adminlistener*. 
   + A password for the APEX Listener Administrator. 
   + The APEX Listener Manager user name. The default is *managerlistener*. 
   + A password for the APEX Listener Administrator. 

   The program prints a URL that you need to complete the configuration, as follows.

   ```
   INFO: Please complete configuration at: http://localhost:8080/apex/listenerConfigure
   Database is not yet configured
   ```

1. Leave Oracle APEX Listener running so that you can use Oracle Application Express. When you have finished this configuration procedure, you can run the listener in the background. 

1. From your web browser, go to the URL provided by the Oracle APEX Listener program. The Oracle Application Express Listener administration window appears. Enter the following information: 
   + **Username** – `APEX_PUBLIC_USER`
   + **Password** – the password for *APEX\$1PUBLIC\$1USER*. This password is the one that you specified earlier when you configured the Oracle APEX repository. For more information, see [Unlocking the public user account on your DB instance](#Appendix.Oracle.Options.APEX.PublicUser). 
   + **Connection type** – Basic 
   + **Hostname** – the endpoint of your Amazon RDS DB instance, such as `mydb.f9rbfa893tft.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com`. 
   + **Port** – 1521
   + **SID** – the name of the database on your Amazon RDS DB instance, such as `mydb`. 

1. Choose **Apply**. The Oracle APEX administration window appears. 

1. Set a password for the Oracle APEX `admin` user. To do this, use SQL\$1Plus to connect to your DB instance as the master user, and then run the following commands.

   ```
   1. EXEC rdsadmin.rdsadmin_util.grant_apex_admin_role;
   2. grant APEX_ADMINISTRATOR_ROLE to master;
   3. @/home/apexuser/apex/apxchpwd.sql
   ```

   Replace `master` with your master user name. When the `apxchpwd.sql` script prompts you, enter a new `admin` password. 

1. Return to the Oracle APEX administration window in your browser and choose **Administration**. Next, choose **Application Express Internal Administration**. When you are prompted for credentials, enter the following information: 
   + **User name** – `admin` 
   + **Password** – the password you set using the `apxchpwd.sql` script 

   Choose **Login**, and then set a new password for the `admin` user. 

Your listener is now ready for use.