RE: Oracle Apex Question

From: Scott Canaan <srcdco_at_rit.edu>
Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2018 14:36:11 +0000
Message-ID: <4e77f7ea920f40bf8cc44a52f8e0f850_at_ex04mail01b.ad.rit.edu>

There’s a separate web server. We don’t allow apps to run on database servers.

I am getting more confident that I can datapump the apex_040100 user and get what I need to the other database. The web servers will work themselves out as the app is migrated to new webservers. That is handled by the vendor as part of their support.

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From: Stefan Knecht [mailto:knecht.stefan_at_gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2018 10:29 AM To: Scott Canaan; oracle-l-freelist
Subject: Re: Oracle Apex Question

Hey Scott

Most welcome.

Based on what you stated - I'm fairly certain there must be a web server involved, if the only account that's open is the APEX_PUBLIC_USER. It not having any objects is normal.

It could run locally on the same machine as the database (if you're saying it's a "package" you got as-is then that's quite likely). You should look for a dads.conf file, which would tell you where the images directory is mapped on the server - you will see an entry similar to this in that file:

Alias /i/ "/u00/app/webDomain/fuzzy.co.th/config/fmwconfig/components/OHS/instances/ohs1/images_apex5/<http://fuzzy.co.th/config/fmwconfig/components/OHS/instances/ohs1/images_apex5/>"

The path will look different of course - and likely simpler - if you're on an older version.

When using APEX with an HTTP server, the entire apex images directory is copied there and this would also be where any custom javascript or style sheet files are located. Depending on how the environment was built, the files may be anywhere within that directory and may be hard to locate. You may want to download the same apex version, extract it and do a compare on the images directory contents to determine if there is custom stuff in there that you will need to bring along for the application to function.

You may also want to try looking at the page source (if you are logged on to the application, "view page source" and look for links referencing files in /i/, such as this for example:

Do note however that the default apex files are also referenced this way, so it may not be immediately obvious.

Another thing is that the files included may vary depending on which page of the application you're on. So if there are many pages, this may not be feasible.

One last thing that just came to mind - it's possible that they didn't use a dads.conf and just put all the settings necessary for APEX in other conf files (httpd.conf or even something else - if you can't find a dads.conf on the machine you have to dig a little deeper). But I'd bet you will have httpd processes running.

Stefan

On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 8:34 PM, Scott Canaan <srcdco_at_rit.edu<mailto:srcdco_at_rit.edu>> wrote: Stefan,

Thank you for the explanations. This is very helpful. What I can tell you is this:

I don’t know how it is used – this is a purchased package. APEX_PUBLIC_USER is unlocked. It owns nothing. APEX_040100 owns everything. ORDS_PUBLIC_USER doesn’t exist. ANONYMOUS is locked.

I did the query for the http port and it returned 0.

I plan on running through the upgrade / migration process in test at least a couple of times to make sure I get everything. I’m hoping just using datapump will work to get what I need over to the new server, where Apex 5.4 will eventually be installed.

Scott Canaan ‘88
Sr Database Administrator
Information & Technology Services
Finance & Administration
Rochester Institute of Technology
o: (585) 475-7886 | f: (585) 475-7520
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From: Stefan Knecht [mailto:knecht.stefan_at_gmail.com<mailto:knecht.stefan_at_gmail.com>] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2018 7:50 PM
To: Scott Canaan
Cc: jbeckstrom_at_gcrta.org<mailto:jbeckstrom_at_gcrta.org>; oracle-l-freelist; rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com<mailto:rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com>

Subject: Re: Oracle Apex Question

There are a few things here that need to be looked at if you want to cover all the possibilities and ensure a smooth migration.

How is APEX used by the clients

Currently there's EPG (not likely in production), Oracle HTTP Server (OHS) with mod_plsql, Oracle REST data services (ORDS - formerly known as APEX Listener), or even if someone has been very adventurous, mod_owa over Apache.

To help determine what can be and can't be in use, a good starting point is to look at the database users you have in that database.

APEX_PUBLIC_USER, if it's unlocked (and particularly if you see connections) indicates OHS is used. ORDS_PUBLIC_USER, if it's unlocked indicates ORDS is used. ANONYMOUS if it's unlocked indicates EPG is used.

It's also worth noting that these aren't mutually exclusive - you can run them all at the same time. You can run a standard APEX app via OHS and at the same time offer REST services via ORDS.

A good way to find out is to just connect to the APEX web interface with a browser and see what pops up on the database end (e.g. which users become active). Another indicator is the URL that's used to connect to APEX:

http://hostname/ords/apex indicates ORDS is used (but again, the file can be renamed and this would change the URL - the path used in the URL would have to correspond to the name of the war file you'd see running).
http://hostname/* (on port 80) is more likely to be a real web server (OHS or Apache)
http://hostname:8080/apex is most likely EPG.

You can also look for the processes - for OHS or Apache, you'd see httpd processes, and for ORDS you'd see a .war file being run by java; usually it's called ords.war but it can be renamed. Also keep in mind that they can be offloaded - e.g. you can run OHS or ORDS on a different machine than the database, they don't need to be local.

For EPG, what MUST be the case if it's being used is that the XDB HTTP port is open. You can see that by either querying:

SQL> select dbms_xdb.gethttpport from dual;

GETHTTPPORT

.. here, zero means it's closed; or by checking your listener with lsnrctl status where you'd see an XDB endpoint (usually on port 8080).

2) Depending on 1) what else you need to move

Generally, exporting the workspace and application will work (see here for example https://ruepprich.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/exporting-an-apex-application-via-command-line/ )

If you're using EPG, it's likely that all the components the APEX app needs are inside the database (and stored in XDB).

However, if you're using OHS or ORDS, there may also be files referenced outside the database.

If you have access to the APEX environment, you can also take a look at SQL Workshop -> RESTful Services to see if any are configured.

Let us know what you find and if you need more information

Stefan

On Wed, Jun 6, 2018 at 1:25 AM, Scott Canaan <srcdco_at_rit.edu<mailto:srcdco_at_rit.edu>> wrote: I will be running the install for Apex 5.4, which is the version I ultimately need to end up with. I am trying to figure out how to get the Apex 4.1 data migrated over so it isn’t lost when the upgrade to Apex 5.4 is done.

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org<mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org> [mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org<mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org>] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Beckstrom Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2018 2:02 PM
To: oracle-l-freelist; rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com<mailto:rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com> Subject: Re: Oracle Apex Question

I would think you would have to run the install since at least in 11G, APEX appears in dba_registry.
>>> Rich J <rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com<mailto:rjoralist3_at_society.servebeer.com>> 6/5/18 1:54 PM >>>
On 2018/06/05 07:19, Scott Canaan wrote: I have an application that uses Oracle Apex. We are just starting an application, Oracle, and O/S upgrade. I have to copy the Apex “install” from Oracle 11.2.0.3 on Red Hat 6 to Oracle 12.1.0.2 on Red Hat 7. Normally, I do a data pump import across the network to migrate the Oracle schemas, but I’ve been told that doesn’t work for Apex. I need to preserve the Apex version at 4.01 until the application upgrade, then it will be upgraded to the current version. Is it true that I can’t use Oracle data pump to copy Apex from one server to another?

The correct answer is "it depends", of course. I suspect that if the webserver is the builtin EPG and there are no external files (custom images, CSS, etc), it *may* work. I'm not sure if APEX 4.x will work in an Oracle 12.1 DB either. If possible, I would upgrade the APEX version first, then migrate to another DB/server. I've only attempted migrations by using the APEX export/import application, but I'm using ORDS on Tomcat for the web and also external files. As always, test, and YMMV. GL!
Rich

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Received on Wed Jun 06 2018 - 16:36:11 CEST

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