Installing Oracle APEX 26.1 with ORDS 26.1 and Data Reporter on Oracle Database 26ai Free
Posted: Sun May 24, 2026 5:12 am
Oracle APEX 26.1 is the latest release of Oracle's low code development platform. This article walks through the complete installation on Oracle Database 26ai Free edition on Windows including all errors encountered and how they were resolved.
Before starting download the following software.
Environment Variables
Always set the following before starting any work with Oracle 26ai Free. This is especially important if you have Oracle EBS client installed which brings its own older SQL*Plus and Java versions.
Common Errors Due to Wrong SQL*Plus Version
If you have Oracle EBS client installed you will have SQL*Plus 10g or similar in your PATH. Connecting with the wrong binary gives the following errors.
Pre Installation Checks
Connect to FREEPDB1 as SYS and run the following checks.
Check database version:
Check character set which must be AL32UTF8:
Check free space in SYSTEM and SYSAUX tablespaces:
In our case SYSTEM tablespace in FREEPDB1 had only 5MB free which would cause the installation to fail. Get the actual datafile paths first.
Then enable autoextend on both datafiles. Note that Oracle 26ai Free uses bigfile tablespaces so you cannot add additional datafiles. Autoextend is the only option.
Installing Oracle APEX 26.1
Connect to FREEPDB1 as SYS then change to the directory where you unzipped APEX and run the installer.
This might take time as per your computer specifications like processor, RAM, Storage speed etc. If it is taking 20 or more minutes means your specifications are low and nothing wrong with intallation.
After installation run the following to set the APEX ADMIN password.
Also run apex_rest_config.sql to configure REST services for APEX. It will prompt for two passwords.
Installing ORDS 26.1
Issue 1: SYS Authentication Failure
The most frustrating issue during ORDS installation was that the ORDS JDBC thin driver could not authenticate SYS AS SYSDBA even though SQL*Plus connected successfully with the same password. This error appeared consistently during both interactive and non interactive install attempts.
The solution is to create a dedicated ORDS installer user and grant it the required privileges.
Then run the ORDS installer privileges script provided with ORDS. Note: do not run this script with SYS as the target user. You will get ORA-01749 because SYS cannot grant privileges to itself.
Also run apex_rest_config.sql from the APEX directory before starting ORDS installation.
Issue 2: Partial Installation Failure
A partial failed ORDS installation attempt left the ORDS_METADATA schema in an inconsistent state. On the next install attempt ORDS reported the following error.
Then retry ORDS installation using interactive mode.
During interactive install when prompted for the APEX static resources location set it to the images folder inside your APEX unzip directory.
Configuring Data Reporter
Data Reporter in APEX 26.1 requires one of three authentication schemes configured at workspace level before it can be accessed.
Step 1: Create Google OAuth Credentials
Go to Google Cloud Console at console.cloud.google.com and create OAuth 2.0 credentials with the following settings.
Step 2: Configure Social Sign-In in APEX
Go to your APEX workspace and create a Social Sign-In authentication scheme with the following values.
Step 3: Grant Network ACL Access
When accessing Data Reporter for the first time you may get the following error.
Step 4: Create Workspace User
After successful Google authentication you may get the following error.
- What is Data Reporter
Data Reporter is a new feature in Oracle APEX 26.1 that allows workspace administrators and developers to create and manage reporting applications without writing code. Before you can access Data Reporter the following setup steps are required. - Configure Authentication Schemes. To access Data Reporter you must configure one of the following authentication schemes: SAML, Social Sign-In, or HTTP Header Variable.
- Create tables. A Workspace administrator creates tables on which to build Data Reporter reporting applications.
- Set Up Data Reporter. The first time you access Data Reporter a Welcome page appears. A Workspace administrator uses the links on the Welcome page to create an initial dataset and Data Reporter reporting application.
- Create reports. Once a Workspace administrator creates an initial reporting application they can select the application and start creating reports.
- Manage users. APEX users with developer privileges have full access to Data Reporter and can manage users. Administrators can also create and manage users exclusively within Data Reporter on the Manage User page.
Before starting download the following software.
- Oracle APEX 26.1 from oracle.com/tools/downloads/apex-downloads
- Oracle ORDS 26.1 from oracle.com/database/sqldeveloper/technologies/db-actions/download
- Java JDK 17 from oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/jdk17-archive-downloads.html
- Oracle Database 26ai Free must already be installed and running or 19c as shown in the image below,
Environment Variables
Always set the following before starting any work with Oracle 26ai Free. This is especially important if you have Oracle EBS client installed which brings its own older SQL*Plus and Java versions.
Code: Select all
set ORACLE_HOME=C:\app\PC\product\26ai\dbhomeFree
set JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-17
set ORDS_HOME=C:\app\PC\product\26ai\ords26
set PATH=%ORACLE_HOME%\bin;%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%ORDS_HOME%\bin;%PATH%
set ORACLE_SID=FREE
If you have Oracle EBS client installed you will have SQL*Plus 10g or similar in your PATH. Connecting with the wrong binary gives the following errors.
- ORA-12560: TNS protocol adapter error when using the old SQL*Plus binary
- ORA-28040: No matching authentication protocol when old SQL*Plus connects to Oracle 26ai
Pre Installation Checks
Connect to FREEPDB1 as SYS and run the following checks.
Check database version:
Code: Select all
SELECT version FROM v$instance;
Code: Select all
SELECT value FROM nls_database_parameters WHERE parameter = 'NLS_CHARACTERSET';
Code: Select all
SELECT tablespace_name, ROUND(SUM(bytes)/1024/1024) mb_free
FROM dba_free_space
WHERE tablespace_name IN ('SYSAUX','SYSTEM')
GROUP BY tablespace_name
ORDER BY 1;
Code: Select all
SELECT file_name FROM dba_data_files WHERE tablespace_name = 'SYSTEM';
SELECT file_name FROM dba_data_files WHERE tablespace_name = 'SYSAUX';
Code: Select all
ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE 'C:\APP\PC\PRODUCT\26AI\ORADATA\FREE\FREEPDB1\SYSTEM01.DBF' AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 100M MAXSIZE 3000M;
ALTER DATABASE DATAFILE 'C:\APP\PC\PRODUCT\26AI\ORADATA\FREE\FREEPDB1\SYSAUX01.DBF' AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 100M MAXSIZE 3000M;
Connect to FREEPDB1 as SYS then change to the directory where you unzipped APEX and run the installer.
Code: Select all
@apexins.sql SYSAUX SYSAUX TEMP /i/
The installation completed in approximately 3.47 minutes and APEX_260100 schema was created.Thank you for installing Oracle APEX 26.1.0
Oracle APEX is installed in the APEX_260100 schema.
The structure of the link to the Oracle APEX Administration Services is as follows:
http://host:port/ords/apex_admin
The structure of the link to the Oracle APEX development environment is as follows:
http://host:port/ords/apex
timing for: Phase 3 (Switch)
Elapsed: 0.12
timing for: Complete Installation
Elapsed: 3.47
This might take time as per your computer specifications like processor, RAM, Storage speed etc. If it is taking 20 or more minutes means your specifications are low and nothing wrong with intallation.
After installation run the following to set the APEX ADMIN password.
Code: Select all
@apxchpwd.sql
Code: Select all
@apex_rest_config.sql
Issue 1: SYS Authentication Failure
The most frustrating issue during ORDS installation was that the ORDS JDBC thin driver could not authenticate SYS AS SYSDBA even though SQL*Plus connected successfully with the same password. This error appeared consistently during both interactive and non interactive install attempts.
The root cause is that ORDS JDBC thin driver handles SYS AS SYSDBA authentication differently from SQL*Plus. This fails in some configurations even when the password file exists and remote_login_passwordfile is set to EXCLUSIVE.ORA-01017: invalid credential or not authorized; logon denied
The solution is to create a dedicated ORDS installer user and grant it the required privileges.
Code: Select all
CREATE USER ords_installer IDENTIFIED BY Oracle123;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES TO ords_installer WITH ADMIN OPTION;
Code: Select all
@C:\app\PC\product\26ai\ords26\scripts\installer\ords_installer_privileges.sql ords_installer
Issue 2: Partial Installation Failure
A partial failed ORDS installation attempt left the ORDS_METADATA schema in an inconsistent state. On the next install attempt ORDS reported the following error.
To clean up the failed installation drop the partial schemas in sqlplus connected to FREEPDB1 as SYS.PDB FREEPDB1 error, the ORDS schema version does not exist. This may be due to a previous ORDS installation failure.
Code: Select all
DROP USER ords_metadata CASCADE;
DROP USER ords_public_user CASCADE;
Code: Select all
ords --config C:\app\PC\product\26ai\ords26 install --interactive
Code: Select all
C:\app\PC\product\26ai\dbhomeFree\apex\images
Data Reporter in APEX 26.1 requires one of three authentication schemes configured at workspace level before it can be accessed.
- SAML
- Social Sign-In
- HTTP Header Variable
Step 1: Create Google OAuth Credentials
Go to Google Cloud Console at console.cloud.google.com and create OAuth 2.0 credentials with the following settings.
- Application type: Web application
- Authorized redirect URI: http://localhost:8080/ords/apex_authentication.callback
Step 2: Configure Social Sign-In in APEX
Go to your APEX workspace and create a Social Sign-In authentication scheme with the following values.
- Authentication Provider: Google
- Scope: openid profile email
- Username Attribute: email
Step 3: Grant Network ACL Access
When accessing Data Reporter for the first time you may get the following error.
This happens because APEX schema does not have network ACL access to Google endpoints. Run the following in sqlplus connected to FREEPDB1 as SYS to grant access to all three required Google endpoints.The HTTP request to https://accounts.google.com/.well-known ... figuration failed.
Code: Select all
BEGIN
DBMS_NETWORK_ACL_ADMIN.APPEND_HOST_ACE(
host => 'accounts.google.com',
ace => xs$ace_type(
privilege_list => xs$name_list('connect','resolve'),
principal_name => 'APEX_260100',
principal_type => xs_acl.ptype_db));
END;
/
BEGIN
DBMS_NETWORK_ACL_ADMIN.APPEND_HOST_ACE(
host => 'oauth2.googleapis.com',
ace => xs$ace_type(
privilege_list => xs$name_list('connect','resolve'),
principal_name => 'APEX_260100',
principal_type => xs_acl.ptype_db));
END;
/
BEGIN
DBMS_NETWORK_ACL_ADMIN.APPEND_HOST_ACE(
host => 'openidconnect.googleapis.com',
ace => xs$ace_type(
privilege_list => xs$name_list('connect','resolve'),
principal_name => 'APEX_260100',
principal_type => xs_acl.ptype_db));
END;
/
After successful Google authentication you may get the following error.
Go to APEX Admin at http://localhost:8080/ords/apex_admin then Manage Workspaces then Manage Developers and Users. Create a user with your Google email address as the username and enable the following.Access denied by Application security check. You are not authorized to view this application.
- User is a workspace administrator: Yes
- User is a developer: Yes
- App Builder Access: Yes
- Data Reporter Access: Yes