5 Oracle Application Express Postinstallation Tasks

5.5.2.1 Changing the Password for the ADMIN Account

To change the password for the ADMIN account:

1. Change your working directory to $ORACLE_HOME/apex.

2. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the database where Oracle Application Express is installed as SYS. For example:

   $ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
   

3. Enter the following command followed by the new password:

   @apxxepwd.sql password
   

   For example to change the password to apex1234:

   @apxxepwd.sql password apex1234
   

5.5.2.2 Changing the Password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Database User

To specify the password in the DAD file, use the following procedure to the password for the database user APEX_PUBLIC_USER:

1. Start SQL*Plus, and connect to the database where Oracle Application Express is installed as SYS. For example:

   $ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
   

2. Enter the following SQL statement, where PASSWORD is the new password:

   ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER IDENTIFIED BY PASSWORD
   

5.5.2.3 Modifying the wdbsvr.app File in a New Installation

To create the DAD, modify the file wdbsvr.app, and add an entry for Oracle Application Express.

To modify the wdbsvr.app file:

1. Using a text editor, open the file wdbsvr.app, which is in the path ORACLE_BASE/ORACLE_HTTPSERVER_HOME/modplsql/cfg/

2. Add an entry for Oracle Application Express using the following syntax. Only change the settings indicated in italics.

   [DAD_htmldb]
   connect_string = localhost:1521:orcl
   password = apex
   username = apex_public_user
   default_page = apex
   document_table = wwv_flow_file_objects$
   document_path = docs
   document_proc = wwv_flow_file_mgr.process_download
   reuse = Yes
   enablesso = No
   stateful = STATELESS_RESET
   nls_lang = American_America.AL32UTF8
   

   Where:

   • connect_string refers to the host ID, port number, and Oracle9i database where Oracle Application Express was installed. Use the format host:port:sid.

     If you have an Oracle9i version of Oracle HTTP Server you want to use, and it is installed in the same Oracle home as the database you specified for use with Oracle Application Express, then leave this parameter blank.

   • password is the password for the Oracle Application Express ADMIN account you specified in "Changing the Password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Database User".

   • nls_lang determines the language setting of the DAD. The character set portion of the nls_lang value must always be set to AL32UTF8, regardless of whether or not the database character set is AL32UTF8.

     If either the territory portion or the language portion of the NLS settings contains a space, then you must wrap the value in double quotes, as shown in the following example:

     nls_lang = "ENGLISH_UNITED KINGDOM.AL32UTF8"
     

     You can find information about your database's NLS settings by querying the view NLS_DATABASE_PARAMETERS as shown in the following example:

     SELECT parameter,value
     FROM nls_database_parameters
     WHERE PARAMETER = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET';
     

3. Leave the remaining settings, including the username setting, as they appear in the preceding example.

4. Save and exit the wdbsvr.app file.

5.5.2.4 Modifying the Oracle9i httpd.conf File

You need to modify the httpd.conf file to include an alias that points to the file system path where you copied the images directory. You may also need to modify the httpd.conf file to add two new MIME types to support SQL Workshop.

To modify the httpd.conf file:

1. Using a text editor, open the following file:

   ORACLE_BASE/Apache/Apache/conf/httpd.conf
   

2. Add an alias entry that points to the file system path where you copied the images directory. For example:

   alias /i/ "/home/oracle/OraHome1/Apache/Apache/images/"
   

3. Add the following lines to the httpd.conf file, if they are not already in the file:

   AddType text/xml xbl
   AddType text/x-component htc
   

   If you are upgrading from Oracle HTML DB 2.0, then these MIME types should be defined in the file already.

4. Save and exit the httpd.conf file.

5. Restart the Oracle HTTP Server with the changed DAD setting.

   To stop and restart the Oracle HTTP Server, enter commands using the following syntax, where ORACLE_BASE is the path to the Oracle base directory:

   ORACLE_BASE/Apache/Apache/bin/apachectl stop
   ORACLE_BASE/Apache/Apache/bin/apachectl start
   

   Note:

   If Oracle HTTP Server is set to listen on port 1024 or lower, then you must run the stop and start commands as a privileged user, such as root.

   See Also:

   Oracle HTTP Server Administrator's Guide

5.5.3.1 Changing the Password for the ADMIN Account

You must change the password for the Oracle Application Express ADMIN account.

To change the password for the ADMIN account:

1. Change your working directory to $ORACLE_HOME/apex.

2. Start SQL*Plus and connect to the database where Oracle Application Express is installed as SYS. For example:

   $ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
   

3. Using the following syntax, enter the new password:

   > @apxxepwd.sql password
   

   For example, to change the password to apex1234:

   > @apxxepwd.sql apex1234
   

5.5.3.2 Changing the Password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Database User

To specify the password in the DAD file, use the following procedure to change the password for the database user APEX_PUBLIC_USER:

1. Start SQL*Plus, and connect to the database where Oracle Application Express is installed as SYS. For example:

   $ sqlplus sys/SYS_password as sysdba
   

2. Enter the following SQL statement, where PASSWORD is the new password:

   ALTER USER APEX_PUBLIC_USER IDENTIFIED BY PASSWORD
   

5.5.3.3 Edit the dads.conf File

If this is a new installation of Oracle Application Express, then you must edit the dads.conf file.

To edit the dads.conf file:

1. Using a text editor, open the dads.conf file for your release:

   • Oracle Application Server 10g

     ORACLE_HTTPSERVER_HOME/Apache/modplsql/conf/dads.conf
     

     For example:

     $ vi /u01/product/oas/Apache/modplsql/conf/dads.conf
     
     

   • Oracle HTTP Server 11g:

     ORACLE_HTTPSERVER_HOME/ohs/modplsql/conf/dads.conf
     

     For example:

     $ vi /u01/product/oas/ohs/modplsql/conf/dads.conf
     

2. Copy the following code text into the dads.conf file.

   In the text, replace the variables $ORACLE_HOME, host, port, service_name, and apex_public_user_password with values appropriate for your system. Note that apex_public_user_password is the password that you defined in the section "Changing the Password for the APEX_PUBLIC_USER Database User".

   Alias /i/ "ORACLE_BASE/ORACLE_HTTPSERVER_HOME/ohs/images"
   AddType text/xml       xbl
   AddType text/x-component       htc
    
   <Location /pls/apex>
    Order deny,allow
    PlsqlDocumentPath docs
    AllowOverride None
    PlsqlDocumentProcedure      wwv_flow_file_mgr.process_download
    PlsqlDatabaseConnectString  host:port:service_name ServiceNameFormat
    PlsqlNLSLanguage            AMERICAN_AMERICA.AL32UTF8
    PlsqlAuthenticationMode     Basic
    SetHandler                  pls_handler
    PlsqlDocumentTablename      wwv_flow_file_objects$
    PlsqlDatabaseUsername       APEX_PUBLIC_USER
    PlsqlDefaultPage            apex
    PlsqlDatabasePassword       apex_public_user_password
    Allow from all
   </Location>
   

3. Locate the line containing PlsqlNLSLanguage.

   The PlsqlNLSLanguage setting determines the language setting of the DAD. The character set portion of the PlsqlNLSLanguage value must be set to AL32UTF8, regardless of whether or not the database character set is AL32UTF8. For example:

   PlsqlNLSLanguage            AMERICAN_AMERICA.AL32UTF8
   

4. Save and exit the dads.conf file.

5.5.6.1 Viewing the Number of JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES

You can view the number of number of JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES using one of the following methods:

• Viewing JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES in the Installation Log File

• Viewing JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES in Oracle Application Express

• Viewing JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES from SQL*Plus

> SELECT VALUE FROM v$parameter WHERE NAME = 'job_queue_processes'

5.5.6.2 Changing the Number of JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES

You can change the number of JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES by running a SQL statement in SQL*Plus, using the following procedure:

1. Log in to the database as SYSDBA using SQL*Plus.

2. In SQL*Plus run the following SQL statement, where the variable number represents the number of processes you want to set:

   > ALTER SYSTEM SET JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES = number
   

   For example, running the statement ALTER SYSTEM SET JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES = 20 sets JOB_QUEUE_PROCESSES to 20.

5.5.7.1 Obfuscating Passwords

To obfuscate passwords, run dadTool.pl by following the instructions in the dadTool.README file.

5.5.8.1 Oracle Application Express User Roles

In the Oracle Application Express development environment, users log in to a shared work area called a workspace. Users are divided into four primary roles:

• Workspace administrators are users who perform administrator tasks specific to a workspace such as managing user accounts, monitoring workspace activity, and viewing log files.

• Developers are users who create and edit applications. Developers can have their own workspace or share a workspace.

• End users have no development privileges. You define end users so that they can access applications that do not use an external authentication scheme.

• Oracle Application Express administrators are superusers that manage an entire hosted instance using the Application Express Administration Services application.

5.5.8.2 Setting Up Your Local Environment

How you set up Oracle Application Express depends upon your user role. If you are a developer accessing a hosted development environment, then an administrator must grant you access to a workspace. If you are an Oracle Application Express administrator, then you must perform the following steps:

1. Log in to Oracle Application Express Administration Services. Oracle Application Express Administration Services is a separate application for managing an entire Oracle Application Express instance. You log in using the ADMIN account and password created or reset during the installation process.

2. Specify a provisioning mode. In Oracle Application Express Administration Services, you need to determine how the process of creating (or provisioning) a workspace will work in your development environment.

3. Create a Workspace. A workspace is a virtual private database allowing multiple users to work within the same Oracle Application Express installation while keeping their objects, data and applications private. Each workspace has a unique ID and name. An Oracle Application Express administrator can create a workspace manually or have users submit requests.

4. Log in to a Workspace. Once you create a workspace in Oracle Application Express Administration Services, return to the Oracle Application Express Login page and log in to that workspace.

   See Also:

   Oracle Database 2 Day + Application Express Developer's Guide or "Quick Start" on Oracle Database Application Express User's Guide