During this year I have done several APEX 5 migrations and I held three lectures on the topic.
Unfortunately it only reached out in Germany, however the content would contribute to simplifying the work for everyone. So I decided to blog it. I will cover this topic in three different posts:
- Requirements and Installation
- Common issues after the migration
- Universal Theme migration
I start with the requirements and installation of APEX 5.
The most of the content at this part is described in the APEX documentation and I will shorten it to the most important parts.
Requirements
Database version requirements:
Version 11.1.0.7 (EE,SE,SE1) or higher
XE with Version 11.2 (11.2.0.2)
Database storage requirements:
APEX Tablaspace takes around 220 MB
SYSTEM Tablespace takes around 100 MB
Each additional language installation takes 60 MB
WEB Listener version requirements:
Oracle REST (formally known as APEX Listener) Version 2.0.3 or higher
Oracle HTTP Server 11g (dependend on the Database Version)
Embedded PL/SQL Gateway ab 11.1g (dependend on the Database Version)
WEB Listener storage requirements:
Direcory /i/ takes now 160 MB (around 12.000 files about 800 directories)
INFO: To support old applications APEX 5 includes all old and new files.
Client requirements - APEX Application Builder:
Internet Explorer 9
Firefox 35
Chrome 40
Safari 7
Client requirements - APEX Applications
IE 7 or higher
Universal Theme requires IE 9 or higher
INFO: IE 6 will no longer work with APEX 5!
When is the right time to migrate?
The database and client requirements should be fulfilled.
An old rule says: Wait until the second patch-set of APEX is released. (Example 4.0.2, 4.1.2, 4.2.2, 5.0.2)
Luckily version 5.0.2 is available for download since 20.10.2015.
IMHO: If all requirements suit and you have some time left over then there is no reason not to upgrade.
The two most common migration-ways:
Upgrade towards an existing database
Install APEX in a new environment
Installation Guide for Linux with Oracle 11g and Glassfish (including Oracle REST)
I assume the following directories:
APEX Software: /directory/software
Webserver: /directory/appsrv/glassfish4
Image directory: /directory/appsrv/appimages
Oracle DB: /directory/ora_home
Install steps:
Every greater release of APEX (4.0,4.1,4.2,5.0) brings an own Oracle schema, into there will all APEX applications be copied. Luckily when needed this makes it easy to switch back to the old version.
For that just follow the installation steps described here:
https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E59726_01/install.50/e39144/trouble.htm#HTMIG266
Whats happens is:
- Appoint the old APEX schema as the current one
- Remove the APEX 5 schema
- You can upgrade again
Summary:
The upgrade itself works excellent like the ones before. All the migrations I have made so far went successful and were really fast.
A post by Robert Schäfer tells more about the installation on 12c. But it seems it gets you into more trouble!?
Whats next?
Next time I will write about the common issues you experience within your applications. And what you especially must look out for.
Unfortunately it only reached out in Germany, however the content would contribute to simplifying the work for everyone. So I decided to blog it. I will cover this topic in three different posts:- Requirements and Installation
- Common issues after the migration
- Universal Theme migration
I start with the requirements and installation of APEX 5.
The most of the content at this part is described in the APEX documentation and I will shorten it to the most important parts.
Requirements
Database version requirements:
Version 11.1.0.7 (EE,SE,SE1) or higher
XE with Version 11.2 (11.2.0.2)
Database storage requirements:
APEX Tablaspace takes around 220 MB
SYSTEM Tablespace takes around 100 MB
Each additional language installation takes 60 MB
WEB Listener version requirements:
Oracle REST (formally known as APEX Listener) Version 2.0.3 or higher
Oracle HTTP Server 11g (dependend on the Database Version)
Embedded PL/SQL Gateway ab 11.1g (dependend on the Database Version)
WEB Listener storage requirements:Direcory /i/ takes now 160 MB (around 12.000 files about 800 directories)
INFO: To support old applications APEX 5 includes all old and new files.
Client requirements - APEX Application Builder:
Internet Explorer 9
Firefox 35
Chrome 40
Safari 7
Client requirements - APEX Applications
IE 7 or higherUniversal Theme requires IE 9 or higher
INFO: IE 6 will no longer work with APEX 5!
When is the right time to migrate?
The database and client requirements should be fulfilled.
An old rule says: Wait until the second patch-set of APEX is released. (Example 4.0.2, 4.1.2, 4.2.2, 5.0.2)
Luckily version 5.0.2 is available for download since 20.10.2015.
IMHO: If all requirements suit and you have some time left over then there is no reason not to upgrade.
The two most common migration-ways:
Upgrade towards an existing database
Installation Guide for Linux with Oracle 11g and Glassfish (including Oracle REST)
I assume the following directories:
APEX Software: /directory/software
Webserver: /directory/appsrv/glassfish4
Image directory: /directory/appsrv/appimages
Oracle DB: /directory/ora_home
Install steps:
// Stop webserver (for example Glassfish) cd /directory/appsrv/glassfish4/bin ./asadmin stop-domain domainXY // unpack apex 5 zip file cd /directory/software unzip apex_5.0.2.zip // copy images to new directory mv /directory/software/apex/images /directory/appsrv/appimages/images_5 // Jump into apex directory cd /directory/software/apex // Installation sqlplus /nolog connect / as sysdba @apexins.sql SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/ // jump into apex image directory and rename image directories cd /directory/appsrv/appimages/ mv apex apex_42 mv apex_5 apex // Language installation (German) cd /directory/software/apex/builder/de NLS_LANG=American_America.AL32UTF8 export NLS_LANG sqlplus /nolog ALTER SESSION SET CURRENT_SCHEMA = APEX_050000; @load_de.sql // Activate ACL // https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E59726_01/install.50/e39144/http_server.htm#HTMIG29394 // Configure REST cd /directory/software/apex sqlplus /nolog conn / as sysdba @apex_rest_config.sql // Startup webserver cd /directory/appsrv/glassfish4/bin ./asadmin start-domain domainXYCheck if the installation went successful by executing the following select:
select version, status from sys.dba_registry where comp_id = 'APEX';You can even check for installation errors by executing this select as SYS:
select upgrade_command, upgrade_error from apex_050000.wwv_flow_upgrade_progress where upgrade_error is not null order by upgrade_date;If you use a the Oracle HTTP Server be aware to update the dads.conf
// dads.conf umbenennen cd /directory/appsrv/OHS/my_instance/mod_plsql cp dads.conf dads_42.conf // edit dads.conf with the new parameters: // PlsqlPathAlias r // PlsqlPathAliasProcedure wwv_flow.resolve_friendly_urlRollback to APEX 4
Every greater release of APEX (4.0,4.1,4.2,5.0) brings an own Oracle schema, into there will all APEX applications be copied. Luckily when needed this makes it easy to switch back to the old version.
For that just follow the installation steps described here:
https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E59726_01/install.50/e39144/trouble.htm#HTMIG266
Whats happens is:
- Appoint the old APEX schema as the current one
- Remove the APEX 5 schema
- You can upgrade again
Summary:
The upgrade itself works excellent like the ones before. All the migrations I have made so far went successful and were really fast.
A post by Robert Schäfer tells more about the installation on 12c. But it seems it gets you into more trouble!?
Whats next?
Next time I will write about the common issues you experience within your applications. And what you especially must look out for.
