For MySQL, the MXJ connector makes it very easy to launch a managed MySQL instance.
I know that Oracle provides Oracle XE for quick setup, but I've only found an RPM distribution that needs to be installed. Is there a neatly packaged jar that I can just drop in the classpath and start up by calling a specific JDBC url, a la HSQLDB or MXJ?
I'm interested in having developers use this locally for running tests, as well as on our continuous integration server.
The short answer is No. Oracle is a big meaty chunk of database. Amongst other things, it generally expects itself to be run by its own special user rather than the client user.
For simplicity, your best bet is a separate DB server with each of your developers having their own username/password (and hence their own independent schema) in the database.
Although Oracle does not provide an embedded database, spinning up a local Docker container running Oracle XE might be an ideal way to accommodate Oracle-specific local integration tests. Since Docker containers are ephemeral in nature by design, the database could also be completely torn down as desired providing clean sandboxing.
The alexeiled/docker-oracle-xe-11g image on DockerHub I found has particularly clear setup and documentation instructions: https://hub.docker.com/r/alexeiled/docker-oracle-xe-11g/
After spinning up the Docker container, be sure to:
First connect to the APEX web console, login, as per the instructions
Then open Oracle SQL Developer and select Reset Password... first. Otherwise the following error may be thrown java.lang.ArithmeticException when attempting to get connection in Oracle 11.2.0.2.0 (64 bit)
As the documentation describes, the docker run command can also be designed to automatically run SQL scripts on the container's startup, which could also be very valuable in the CI/integration testing workflow.
Hope this helps!
Related
My work uses Oracle 10G and is planning on installing Apex. In the meantime, I have downloaded Oracle XE and have taught myself APEX on it; however, I can only access users/tablespaces that I have made in the XE database. What I would like to do is use the XE's Apex to access the users/tablespaces in the production databases of my work.
My colleague says that this should be possible because my workstation is connected to the server, and that there should be a way to configure access from my XE's Apex to the 10g's databases, such as by setting up an appropriate DAD.
I see nothing in the Apex user interface to allow this. I've read every word of the Apex documentation but nothing registered.
XE uses the embedded PL/SQL gateway, as opposed to 10/11G which uses either an Apex Listener or an HTTP Server with the mod_plsql plugin.
Thank you,
Matthew Moisen
I have done this before where we didn't have access to the actual database hosting the data to be worked with save for the standard port 1521 listener access. Apex at the time was new enough to the organization that the DBA's also had a voodoo taboo on using their database server as a webserver gateway as well. You can use your database instance with APEX installed as a "middle tier" or app server with the following steps:
Set up an account on your 10g database that is accessible remotely via dblink.
Set up dblinks to your 10g database table on your workstation with XE installed, use the account and connection information for the 10g database as set up in (1). Note, you may have to update a TNS names file or explicitly indicate your host/networking settings within the dblink itself.
For simple sanity and simplicity in coding your apex projects, set up synonyms for all your dblinked objects (i.e., table1 for table1#dblink) so you're not referencing the dblinks directly in your apex code. Making changes later will be easier if you adhere to this.
That's it. One proviso is that you need to know that LOBs will not work with the out-of-the-box functionality of APEX driven DML operations while using dblinks. This may have changed with the newest version. One workaround you may consider is trying to use a stored procedure which passes your LOB data as a input parameter which will do your DML operation for you.
Otherwise, this approach works nicely. The place where I implemented this model has several production level apps, a test and a development tier all using servers hosting APEX separately from the actual data sources. We used Oracle Standard Edition One (for the support), but Oracle XE should work as well since APEX is the platform in common between either Oracle version.
I have an installer wizard thing called 'install creator'. I want to include my mySQL database into the installer or find another way that the user, upon installation, can just use my database. Prob is-not everyone has MySQL installed on the computer and even then, the user doesn't know the name of the database or my password. Somehow the database must be created automatically upon install, and for my purposes, some of the tables created. How can one do this. Thanks
If you are just using MySQL as a local storage engine, as it seems to be what you are doing, then you should consider using Sqlite with JDBC, instead of MySQL. MySQL is really intended to be used on a server, where information from multiple users is stored, and where the database is accessed only indirectly through the programs that you create that run on the server. You could, in theory, package up MySQL and MySQL Connector/J which lets JDBC talk with MySQL; however, MySQL is a pretty big beast, and I don't think it's nice to do that to your users (also, don't forget that they might already have MySQL installed, and if you were to install MySQL for the first time, you would effectively be forcing them to use your root password). Unlike MySQL, sqlite is intended to provide the structure of SQL for use with lightweight, local file storage.
I am working on a test server with an Oracle 11g installed. I was wondering if there is anyway I can replicate the database(environment + data) on my local Linux machine. I am using a CentOS 5.3 on Windows XP with SUN Virtual Box. On Windows I am using sqldeveloper client to connect to the 11g database.
There are a number of ways to move the data over:
Restore an RMAN backup on your test server
Export and import the data using exp/expdp/imp/impdp
Export and import using a transportable tablespace (Further Info)
Use database links to duplicate the data using SQL
You can use the Database Configuration Assistant to generate a template from your production database. This will give you all the parameters and tablespaces, among other things. You will need to tweak the configuration somewhat; for instance the file paths may be wrong, and some parameters may need downsizing. You can then feed that template into DBCA to clone the database on you Linux machine.
To get the schemas and data you should use Data Pump (rather than the older Import / Export utlities). This can be run off the command line or from PL/SQL.
Bear in mind that using production data in a development or test environment can cause you to run foul of data protection laws and other compliance issues. It depends on what your application does and what jurisdiction you operate under. But if your production system contains citizens' personal data you need to be very careful. There are products out there which will apply masking as part of a data import process (Oracle sells one) but they tend to be expensive. Rolling your own masking product can be tricky: if this applies to your situation be sure to get your compliance staff (legal team) involved early.
I would suggest you install Oracle XE which is free to use on your local if your development is not something that is related to core database features. You can then use the methods given above to pump data into Oracle XE and compile your code on it, though for development I don't think you would need data as much as that in production.
So I'm coming from a position as a SQL Server developer who has written a little bit of PL/SQL way back in the mists of time but effectively knows nothing.
I've got a laptop, it's running Oracle. There is a database on the laptop which I need to have a look at and neither I, nor anyone else I can speak to, knows what it's called.
I have a couple of logins including one which alleges to be an Admin login.
What's the easiest way to browse the databases on the server and then connect to one?
I suspect that my assumptions about relationships between servers, users and databases from SQL Server are leading me astray but right now I can't get past idea that the client tools Oracle ships are someone's idea of a joke but I'm really not finding it that funny.
I'm pretty sure that it's version 9.2 that's running.
Happy to provide more information but right now I don't know where to start.
If this is windows look in the services. Each database will have a separate service. By default these are named OracleServiceDATABASENAME.
You may be able to connect with just this information on the default port 1521.
If that does not work open the properties of that service you can find the location of the oracle home. The default place to keep your connection information in the ORACLEHOME\network\admin\tnsnames.ora . Using the database name you can find your connect information in this file.
If this is linux/unix look in the /etc/oratab file. This should have the database name and oracle home listed. The default location of the tnsnames.ora file is the same as on windows.
Once you have this information you can use any of the tools mentioned above to connect to the database.
I don't know what qualifies as "easiest" in your book. I'm moderately fond of Aqua Data Studio (www.aquafold.com); it's nice & visual & pretty & all. It's also Not Cheap, but might be worth a 2-week evaluation to see if it does anything helpful for you. I'm not an expert on this, and I joined an Oracle-based group from a SQL Server background; that's the tool they were using at the time, and I've found it extremely usable. But that's just me. Good luck.
Check out Oracle SQL Developer. (It's free)
I'm not a SQL Server expert, but there are differences in terminology.
An Oracle "Instance" is a single entity of the Oracle software. A database is the actual logical data that the instance serves. You may have multiple instances of the Oracle database software running against one database (This is considered a RAC setup); or just one instance running against one database.
I'm assuming what you mean by database here is actually the different schemas/users/tablespaces/procedures etc. that you have within an Oracle database. In that case, Oracle SQL Developer should do the job nicely.
If you are able to utilize Enterprise Manager (this is a licensed option), it provides this functionality as well, though it is more cumbersome than SQL Developer IMHO. EM does provide many other tools for providing a general overview of your Oracle instance health, alerts, and many things used to help tune the performance of your Oracle instance.
In Windows, the following command lists running database services:
net start | findstr -i ora
In Unix/Linux, grepping for the Oracle SMON process will give you the names of running databases:
ps -ef | grep smon
I have tried SQLite in Java, but the speed is slow due to the JDBC driver. Then I tried HSQLDB and thought the speed is good, but I cannot find a good management tool for HSQLDB such as phpMyAdmin for MySQL or SQLite Manager for SQLite.
I'd like to use the manager tool to prepare the test data for unit tests, or use the manager tool to navigate the data after doing some small experiments.
Is there any good tool?
Here are a couple other suggestions you might checkout:
Squirrel SQL http://squirrel-sql.sourceforge.net/
Execute Query http://executequery.org/
Razor SQL (paid) http://www.razorsql.com/
Razor has the best feature set, but is paid. The others are good at different things and worth checking into.
This would only have meaning if you are running in HSQLDB server mode. If you are running in memory or file mode, then you either can't access the DB from another process or doing so would lock it.
In Server mode you could use any universal client. JDBC driver is the hsqldb.jar itself.
Actually HSQL brings its own management tool (which is not super). See http://hsqldb.org/doc/guide/apf.html
I've used Squirrel SQL. It's a universal client for any JDBC database.
See: http://squirrel-sql.sourceforge.net/