APEX installation via the Oracle Protocol Server (listener)

From time to time, people on the OTN XMLDB forum, ask if it is possible to connect via the Oracle Protocol Server (aka the Oracle Listener), for instance in combination with APEX and DBMS_EPG. I am not sure if it is an already official supported environment, but the following works as demonstrated in this step-by-step manual:

Ingredients

• Oracle RDBMS 10.2.0.3.0 (Enterprise Edition) and/of higher version
• APEX 2.2.1
• Windows 2003 / XP

Shortlist

The following list is the shortlist regarding installing APEX via the Oracle Protocol Server 

1. Install the Oracle database software and apply the 10.2.0.3 patch
2. Create a database with (among others) XML DB installed
3. Download the APEX software (http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/download.html)
4. Copy the APEX directory into the %ORACLE_HOME% software path
5. Enable the HTTP (or HTTPS and/or FTP) Oracle Protocol Server (aka the Oracle Listener)
6. Install the APEX packages in the database
7. Install/enable the DBMS_EPG and DAD procedures
8. Allow anonymous access on the database HTTP port
9. Create extra shared server processes

Step-by-step example

Create your database instance (mine has been called "LAB") and start database and the listener service. As said, download the APEX 2.2.1 software via http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/application_express/download.html and unzip the file to a temporary directory. This temporary directory now holds a "core" directory which contains the APEX software.

Copy this software to the ORACLE_HOME directory (in my case %ORACLE_HOME%=F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1).

Go to the created F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\core directory and set your ORACLE_HOME and ORACLE_SID (in my case this ORACLE_SID=LAB) in a command window (start=>run=>CMD)

F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1&gt;cd apex<br /><br />F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;<strong>set ORACLE_HOME=F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1</strong><br /><br />F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;s<strong>et ORACLE_SID=LAB</strong><br />

Open a SQL*Plus session and set the HTTP (and/or FTP) port you want for the APEX software (for instance default port 80 for HTTP data traffic and default port 21 for FTP data traffic).

F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;sqlplus /nolog<br /><br />SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Dec 18 14:31:36 2006<br /><br />Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.<br /><br />SQL&gt; conn / as sysdba<br />Connected.<br /><br />SQL&gt; <strong>call dbms_xdb.setHttpPort(80);</strong><br /><br />Call completed.<br /><br />SQL&gt; <strong>call dbms_xdb.setFtpPort(21);</strong><br /><br />Call completed.<br /><br />SQL&gt; alter system register;<br /><br />System altered.<br />

You can check if the listener has picked up the HTTP and FTP settings by executing the following in a windows command box.

C:\Documents and Settings\oracle&gt;<strong>lsnrctl status</strong><br /><br />LSNRCTL for 32-bit Windows: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on 18-DEC-2006 14:28<br />:05<br /><br />Copyright (c) 1991, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.<br /><br />Connecting to (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=loopback.amis.nl)(PORT=<br />1521)))<br />STATUS of the LISTENER<br />------------------------<br />Alias                     LISTENER<br />Version                   TNSLSNR for 32-bit Windows: Version 10.2.0.3.0 - Produ<br />ction<br />Start Date                18-DEC-2006 13:24:27<br />Uptime                    0 days 1 hr. 3 min. 38 sec<br />Trace Level               off<br />Security                  ON: Password or Local OS Authentication<br />SNMP                      OFF<br />Listener Parameter File   F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\NETWORK\ADMIN\listener.o<br />ra<br />Listener Log File         F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\network\log\listener.log<br /><br />Listening Endpoints Summary...<br />  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=VAMISNT02)(PORT=1521)))<br /><strong>  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=VAMISNT02)(PORT=80))(Presentation=HT<br />TP)(Session=RAW))<br />  (DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp)(HOST=VAMISNT02)(PORT=21))(Presentation=FT<br />P)(Session=RAW))</strong><br />Services Summary...<br />Service &quot;LAB&quot; has 2 instance(s).<br />  Instance &quot;LAB&quot;, status UNKNOWN, has 1 handler(s) for this service...<br />  Instance &quot;lab&quot;, status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...<br />Service &quot;labXDB&quot; has 1 instance(s).<br />  Instance &quot;lab&quot;, status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...<br />Service &quot;lab_XPT&quot; has 1 instance(s).<br />  Instance &quot;lab&quot;, status READY, has 1 handler(s) for this service...<br />The command completed successfully<br /><br />

Install the APEX software by (while starting from the APEX directory) executing the following statements in SQL*Plus and executing the APEX installation script apexins.sql.

The apexins.sql has to be executed via the SYS database account and it has the following parameters:

Rem  Copyright (c) Oracle Corporation 1999 - 2006. All Rights Reserved.<br />Rem<br />Rem    NAME<br />Rem      apexins.sql<br />Rem<br />Rem    DESCRIPTION<br />Rem<br />Rem    NOTES<br />Rem      Assumes the SYS user is connected.  <br />Rem <br />Rem    REQUIRENTS<br />Rem      - Oracle 10g<br />Rem<br />Rem    Arguments:<br />Rem     Position 1: Password for APEX Admin account, application DB user, and files DB user<br />Rem     Position 2: Name of tablespace for HTMLD DB application user<br />Rem     Position 3: Name of tablespace for HTMLD DB files user<br />Rem     Position 4: Name of temporary tablespace<br />Rem     Position 5: Virtual directory for APEX images<br />Rem     Position 6: The TNS connect string to the database, if local install, use none or NONE<br />Rem<br />Rem    Example:<br />Rem <br />Rem    1)Local<br />Rem      sqlplus &quot;sys/syspass as sysdba&quot; @apexins password SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/ none<br />Rem<br />Rem    2)With connect string<br />Rem      sqlplus &quot;sys/syspass@10g as sysdba&quot; @apexins password SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/ 10g<br />Rem<br />

Now login and execute the install script:

F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;sqlplus /nolog<br /><br />SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Dec 18 14:31:36 2006<br /><br />Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.<br /><br />SQL&gt; conn / as sysdba<br />Connected.<br />SQL&gt;<br /><br />SQL&gt; <strong>@apexins.sql admin SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/ NONE</strong><br />..<br />. Application Express Installation.<br />...................................<br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br />..<br />..<br />..<br />..<br />..<br />..<br />..<br />VII.   L O A D    E N G L I S H   D I C T I O N A R Y<br /><br />Trigger altered.<br /><br />...10000 rows<br />...20000 rows<br />...
30000 rows<br />...40000 row
s<br />...50000 rows<br />...60000 rows<br />...70000 rows<br />timing for: English Dictionary<br />Elapsed: 00:06:06.25<br /><br /><br /><br />Thank you for installing Oracle Application Express.<br /><br />Oracle Application Express is installed in the FLOWS_020200 schema.<br /><br />The structure of the link to the Application Express administration services is<br />as follows:<br /><strong>http://host:port/pls/apex/apex_admin</strong><br /><br />The structure of the link to the Application Express development interface is as<br /> follows:<br /><strong>http://host:port/pls/apex</strong><br /><br />timing for: Upgrade<br />Elapsed: 00:00:00.10<br />JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES: 10<br />Completing registration process.<br />Validating installation.<br />timing for: Validate Installation<br />Elapsed: 00:01:38.23<br />timing for: Complete Installation<br />Elapsed: 00:20:29.32<br />Disconnected from Oracle Database 10g Enterprise Edition Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Pr<br />oduction<br />With the Partitioning, OLAP and Data Mining options<br /><br />

Configure the DAD and virtual path to the installed database images via configuring DBMS_EPG (by calling script apex_epg_config.sql). The apex_epg_config.sql script has to be executed via the SYS database account and it needs your ORACLE_HOME setting as variable.

Rem<br />Rem<br />Rem htmldb_epg_config.sql<br />Rem<br />Rem Copyright (c) 2004,2006, Oracle Corporation.  All rights reserved.  <br />Rem<br />Rem    NAME<br />Rem      apex_epg_config.sql - Application Express Embedded PL/SQL Gateway Configuration<br />Rem<br />Rem    DESCRIPTION<br />Rem      This script should be run as SYS and takes one argument, the path <br />Rem      to the Oracle Home. The script will load the images into XDB and then configure <br />Rem      a DAD for use by Application Express in the Embedded PL/SQL Gateway.<br /><br />

F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;sqlplus /nolog<br /><br />SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Dec 18 14:55:48 2006<br /><br />Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.<br /><br />SQL&gt; conn / as sysdba<br />Connected.<br />SQL&gt; @apex_epg_config.sql F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1<br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br />old   1: create directory APEX_IMAGES as '&amp;1/apex/images'<br />new   1: create directory APEX_IMAGES as 'F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1/apex/ima<br />ges'<br /><br />Directory created.<br /><br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br /><br />Commit complete.<br /><br />timing for: Load Images<br />Elapsed: 00:01:29.32<br /><br />Session altered.<br /><br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br /><br />PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.<br /><br /><br />Commit complete.<br /><br /><br />Session altered.<br /><br /><br />Directory dropped.<br />

Grant anonymous access on the database / HTTP port by unlocking the anonymous account and (regarding performance reasons) increase the amount of share servers.

F:\oracle\product\10.2.0\db_1\apex&gt;sqlplus /nolog<br /><br />SQL*Plus: Release 10.2.0.3.0 - Production on Mon Dec 18 14:55:48 2006<br /><br />Copyright (c) 1982, 2006, Oracle.  All rights reserved.<br /><br />SQL&gt; conn / as sysdba<br />Connected.<br /><br />SQL&gt; alter user anonymous account unlock;<br /><br />User altered.<br /><br />SQL&gt; alter system set shared_servers = 5;<br /><br />System altered.<br /><br />SQL&gt; alter system register;<br /><br />System altered.<br /><br /><br />

Now you can connect to APEX via http://yourserver:port/apex and http://yourserver:port/apex/apex_admin.

In my case this will be http://vamisnt02/apex/ and http://vamisnt02/apex/apex_admin. Because I used "admin" as a password during the apexins.sql script you can now login into the http://vamisnt02/apex/apex_admin page with the username/password combination: admin/admin

I hope I have been of help.

Marco.

PS.

Extra info on the XML DB Protocol Server can be found in the Oracle XML DB Developers Guide, among others here: http://download-east.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/appdev.102/b14259/xdb22pro.htm#sthref2258 

In certain cases, it may be useful to log the requests received and
responses sent by a protocol server. This can be achieved by setting
event number 31098 to level 2. To set this event, add the following line to your init.ora file and restart the database:

event=&quot;31098 trace name context forever, level 2&quot;<br />

To use HTTP(S) on the standard port, such as 80, your DBA must chown (on linux, unix) the TNS listener to setuid ROOT rather than setuid ORACLE, and configure the port number in the Oracle XML DB configuration file /xdbconfig.xml.

Extra very useful information and examples about DBMS_EPG can be found here: http://www.oracle-base.com/articles/10g/dbms_epg_10gR2.php