Install Oracle 26ai + APEX 26.2 with Docker

Run the full Oracle stack — Oracle AI Database 26ai Free, ORDS 26.3 and APEX 26.2 — locally in Docker. It's the foundation every other guide builds on.

This guide uses the free companion template, oracle-26ai-apex-docker. It pins the image versions, verifies the APEX download against Oracle's published checksum, and lets the official ORDS container install APEX for you.

Pick your OS — every command block on this page switches with it:

Prerequisites

You need Docker, Git, about 15 GB of free disk and at least 4 GB of RAM for Docker. On Windows, Docker Desktop runs on WSL2.

# Install WSL2 (admin PowerShell; reboot if prompted), then Docker Desktop and Git
wsl --install
winget install -e --id Docker.DockerDesktop
winget install -e --id Git.Git

# Install Docker Desktop for Mac (https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop/) and start it once
# Git comes with the Xcode command-line tools:
xcode-select --install

# Install Docker Engine (Ubuntu / Oracle Linux)
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER   # log out and back in afterwards

Check Docker works before you continue:

docker run hello-world

docker run hello-world

docker run hello-world

Get access to the Oracle images

Create a free account at container-registry.oracle.com. Open Database → free and Database → ords and accept the licence on each page once. Then log Docker in:

docker login container-registry.oracle.com

docker login container-registry.oracle.com

docker login container-registry.oracle.com

You should see Login Succeeded.

Get the template and set passwords

cd $HOME
git clone https://github.com/Mohamedhrby/oracle-26ai-apex-docker.git
cd oracle-26ai-apex-docker
copy .env.example .env
notepad .env

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Mohamedhrby/oracle-26ai-apex-docker.git
cd oracle-26ai-apex-docker
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/Mohamedhrby/oracle-26ai-apex-docker.git
cd oracle-26ai-apex-docker
cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Set four passwords in .env: ORACLE_PWD (SYS/SYSTEM), ORDS_PUBLIC_PWD and APEX_PUBLIC_PWD (the accounts ORDS connects with) and APEX_ADMIN_PWD (your APEX admin sign-in). If ports 1521 or 8080 are already in use, change DB_PORT or ORDS_PORT.

Download APEX 26.2

Docker doesn't ship APEX. This script downloads it from oracle.com, checks it against the SHA256 that Oracle publishes, and unzips it to ./apex:

.\scripts\get-apex.ps1

./scripts/get-apex.sh

./scripts/get-apex.sh

The full download is about 340 MB and includes every language, which you need for a translated APEX Builder (Arabic, for example). For English only, set APEX_EDITION=en in .env before running it.

Start the stack

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f ords

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f ords

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f ords

The first start downloads about 10 GB of images, starts the database, then lets ORDS install itself and APEX into FREEPDB1. Budget 15-25 minutes after the download finishes. Press Run to see the real log of a healthy first start:

When you see Starting the Oracle REST Data Services instance, press Ctrl+C to stop following the log; the stack keeps running.

Set your APEX admin password

The silent installer that the ORDS container runs gives the APEX instance administrator a fixed password that is printed in Oracle's own image script — so it's effectively public. Replace it with your APEX_ADMIN_PWD:

.\scripts\set-admin-password.ps1

./scripts/set-admin-password.sh

./scripts/set-admin-password.sh

Verify and first sign-in

docker compose ps

docker compose ps

docker compose ps

Both containers should show healthy. Open http://localhost:8080/ords/apex and sign in to workspace INTERNAL as ADMIN with your APEX_ADMIN_PWD. You'll land on Welcome to Oracle APEX. Choose Create Workspace to make your first workspace and schema.

Connect from SQLcl or any SQL client:

sql system@//localhost:1521/FREEPDB1

sql system@//localhost:1521/FREEPDB1

sql system@//localhost:1521/FREEPDB1

Daily lifecycle

docker compose stop      # pause (keeps data)
docker compose start     # resume
docker compose down      # remove containers (volumes and data persist)
docker compose down -v   # full reset: DELETES the database

docker compose stop      # pause (keeps data)
docker compose start     # resume
docker compose down      # remove containers (volumes and data persist)
docker compose down -v   # full reset: DELETES the database

docker compose stop      # pause (keeps data)
docker compose start     # resume
docker compose down      # remove containers (volumes and data persist)
docker compose down -v   # full reset: DELETES the database

Try a couple of safe commands yourself:

Upgrading APEX later

When Oracle ships the next APEX release, update the version and checksums at the top of scripts/get-apex.*, run it again, then docker compose restart ords. ORDS sees the newer release in ./apex and upgrades APEX in place. Check that release's required ORDS version first and bump the ORDS image tag if needed.

Check your understanding

That's a complete, verified local Oracle + APEX 26.2 environment. Next: build your first app by chatting with an AI agent.