Learn about the steps needed to access Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in preparation for creating an APEX Service instance.

Create an APEX Service instance on the APEX Instances page.

1. Navigate to the OCI Console Sign-In Page and sign in as described in Access Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
2. Next to the Oracle Cloud logo, click the Navigation menu () and select Developer Services and then APEX Instances.

   Tip:

   You can narrow the display using the Search and Filter field. For example, if a filter already exists, select it, make a new selection, and click Apply Filter.

   The APEX Instances page appears.

3. Click Create APEX service.
4. Enter the basic information:
   1. Display name - Specify a user-friendly name to help you easily identify the resource. The display name does not have to be unique.
   2. Database name - Enter the database name. It must consist of letters and numbers only. The maximum length is 30 characters. The same database name cannot be used for multiple Autonomous Databases in the same tenancy in the same region.
   3. Compartment - Choose a compartment within your OCI tenancy. See Managing Compartments.
5. APEX Service configuration:
   1. Always Free - Enable this switch to sign up for Always Free APEX Service. Always Free resources can be created in both Free Tier and paid accounts. You will never be charged for these resources. See Always Free Oracle APEX Application Development.
   2. Developer - Enable this switch to sign up for a Developer database instance. A Developer database instance is a low-cost, fixed-shape instance intended for development and testing. Each instance has 4 ECPUs and 20 GB of storage. See Autonomous Database for Developers in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

      Note:

      Enabling Always Free or Developer disables some options described in this task.
   3. Choose database version - Displays the available database versions.
   4. ECPU count - Specify the number of ECPUs for your database. CPU count defaults to 2 ECPUs. ECPUs are based on the number of cores elastically allocated from a pool of compute and storage servers.
   5. Compute auto scaling - By default compute auto scaling is enabled which allows the database to use up to three times more CPU and IO resources than specified by the number displayed in the ECPU count field on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Console. If you do not want to use compute auto scaling then deselect this option.
   6. Storage - Specify the storage you wish to make available to your database.
   7. Storage unit size - Specify the storage unit size.
      To learn more about auto scaling and storage, see Using Auto Scaling in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.
   8. Advanced options - Click Show advanced options to view the following:

      • Elastic pool - See Create or Join an Elastic Pool While Provisioning or Cloning an Instance in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

      • Compute model - Shows the selected compute model. Oracle offers two compute models when you create or clone an instance: ECPU and legacy OCPU.

        Click Change compute model to change the compute model. After you select a different compute model, click Save.

        Note:

        To learn more about compute models see Configure Autonomous Database Built-in Tools in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.
6. Automatic backup retention period in days - Optionally select the automatic backup retention period, in a range from 1 to 60 days. You can restore and recover your database to any point-in-time in this retention period.

   This option is not available with the legacy OCPU compute model.

7. Immutable backup retention - Enable this option to lock the backup retention period, preventing any further changes. Use this retention lock feature as a security measure to protect backups from accidental changes or ransomware.

   See About Backup and Recovery on Autonomous Database in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

8. Administrator credentials creation:
   1. Username - The default username is ADMIN. This option is read-only and is not editable.
   2. Password - Enter a password.
   3. Confirm Password - Enter your password again.

      Tip:

      Make a note of the username, ADMIN, and your password. You need these credentials to sign in to the Oracle APEX Administration Services application (Administration Services) and Database Actions.
9. Network access:

   Choose a network access type. Options include:

   • Secure access from everywhere - Allows users with database credentials to access the database from the internet.

   • Secure access from allowed IPs and VCNs only - Restricts connections to the database according to the access control lists (ACLs) you specify. To add multiple ACLs for your database, click Add Access Control Rule.

     See Configure Access Control Lists When You Provision or Clone an Instance in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless for more information.

   • Private endpoint access only - Assigns a private endpoint, private IP, and hostname to your database. Specifying this option allows traffic only from the VCN you specify; access to the database from all public IPs or VCNs is blocked. This enables you to define security rules, ingress/egress, at the Network Security Group (NSG) level and to control traffic to your database.

     See Configure Private Endpoints in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless for more information.

10. (Optional) Contacts for operational notifications and announcements:
    1. Contact Email - Enter a valid email address.
    2. Add customer contact - Click Add customer contact to add additional email addresses.
11. (Optional) Advanced options - Expand Advanced options to configure the following:
    • Encryption key - By default, Encrypt using an Oracle-managed key is selected. Using Oracle-managed keys, Autonomous Database creates and manages the encryption keys that protect your data and Oracle handles rotation of the TDE master key.

      For more information, see Use Customer-Managed Encryption Keys with Keys on Local Tenancy in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

    • Maintenance - Expand Maintenance. By default, Patch level is Regular. Select Early to configure the instance with the early patch level. You cannot change the patch level after you provision an instance.

      See Set Patch Level in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

    • Management - Expand Management. Choose a Character set and a National character set for your database.

      See Choose a Character Set for Autonomous Database in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

    • Tools - Expand Tools. View or customize Autonomous Database built-in tools.

      See Manage Autonomous Database Built-in Tools in Using Oracle Autonomous Database Serverless.

    • Security attributes - Expand Security attributes.

      You can apply Oracle Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR) policies to a private endpoint on Autonomous Database. Oracle Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR) protects sensitive data from unauthorized access through intent-based security policies that you write for resources that you assign security attributes to.

    • Tags - Expand Tags.

      Tagging is a metadata system that enables you to organize and track resources within your tenancy. Tags are composed of keys and values which can be attached to resources. To use Tags, select a Namespace and then enter a tag Key and Value.

      See Overview of Tagging in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation.

12. (Optional) Save as stack - Save the resource configuration as a stack by clicking Save as stack. You can then use the stack to create the resource through the Resource Manager service.

    Enter the following details on the Save as Stack dialog and click Save.

    • Name - Enter a name for the stack.
    • Description - Enter a description for this stack.
    • Compartment - Select a compartment where this Stack will reside.
    • Tags - Apply tags to the stack. Select a Namespace and then enter a tag Key and Value.

    For requirements and recommendations for Terraform configurations used with Resource Manager, see Terraform Configurations for Resource Manager. To provision the resources defined in your stack, apply the job. See Creating an Apply Job.

13. Click Create.

    The APEX Instances page displays again and the new service appears. When the provisioning process is complete, the service State changes to Available.

14. Next, set up your APEX Service instance and create a workspace and APEX user account.

Before using a new APEX Service, you must set up your APEX Service instance by completing two tasks: create an initial APEX workspace and create an APEX user account.

1. On the APEX Instances page, select your APEX Service.

   Tip:

   You can also launch APEX from the APEX Instances page. Find your APEX Service instance and click the three dots (or Actions menu) and select Launch APEX.

2. On the APEX Instance Details, click Launch APEX.

   The Administration Services Sign In page appears.

   
   Description of the illustration admin_services_sign_in.png
3. On the Administration Services Sign In dialog:
   1. Password - Enter the password your specified when you created your APEX Service.
   2. Click Sign In to Administration.
   A Welcome page appears and prompts you to create a workspace.
4. On the Welcome page, click Create Workspace.
5. On the Create Workspace:
   1. Specify how to create your workspace. If you are just getting started, choose New Schema.

      Options include:

      • New Schema - Create a new database schema for your workspace:
        • Workspace Name - Enter a name for the workspace. A workspace is a shared work area where multiple developers can build applications.
        • Workspace Username - Enter the username of the workspace administrator.
        • Workspace Password - Enter a password for the workspace administrator. See Help for details about default password complexity rules.
        • Advanced - Optionally expand the Advanced region and edit the following:
          • Advanced , Database Password - Enter a password for the workspace database user. See Help for details about default password complexity rules.
          • Advanced , Workspace ID - Leave Workspace ID blank to have the new Workspace ID automatically generated. A Workspace ID must be a positive integer greater than 100000.
      • Existing Schema - Associate your workspace with an existing database schema:
        • Database User - Select the existing database user for the workspace. Applications will be created against database objects from this schema
        • Workspace Name - Enter a name for the workspace. A workspace is a shared work area where multiple developers can build applications.
        • Workspace Username - Enter the username of the workspace administrator.
        • Workspace Password - Enter a password for the workspace administrator. See Help for details about default password complexity rules.
        • Advanced - Optionally expand the Advanced region and edit the following:
          • Workspace ID - Leave Workspace ID blank to have the new Workspace ID automatically generated. A Workspace ID must be a positive integer greater than 100000.

      Note:

      Make a note of the Workspace Name, Workspace Username, and Workspace Password. You will use these credentials to sign in to your workspace.
   2. Click Create Workspace.

   Administration Services appears. Use Administration Services to perform tasks such as managing user accounts, creating workspaces, monitoring workspace activity, and viewing log files.

   You should have received a welcome email from Oracle which includes direct links to APEX Administration Services, APEX Application Development (your workspace), and Database Actions.

6. Sign out of Administration Services:

   Tip:

   You can skip this step by clicking your workspace name in the message at the top of the page which indicates your workspace has been created.
   1. Click the Account menu in the header region.
   2. Click Sign out.
   3. Click Return to Sign in Page.
7. On the Oracle APEX Sign In page, enter your workspace administrator account credentials:
   1. Workspace - Enter the name of your workspace.
   2. Username - Enter your user name.
   3. Enter your case-sensitive password.
8. Click Sign In.

   The Workspace home page appears.