Oracle 18c XE Docker setup

Posted on September 2, 2021 Updated on September 14, 2021

During August (2021) Gerald Venzi of Oracle released a new set of Docker images and these included Oracle 18c XE Database. Check out Gerald’s blog post about this for a lot more details on these images. Great work Gerald, and it’s way simpler to set this up compared to previous.

The following is really just a reminder to myself of the commands needed to install and run one of the 18c XE docker images.

Gerald has provided 3 different versions of 18c XE Database. Check out his blog post for more details of what is included/excluded in each image.

I decided to go with the FULL docker image (oracle-xe-full), just because I use most of the DB features and like to play around with the rest. If you just want a Database then go with the medium or small sized docker images

Docker Image Name	Description
oracle-xe-full	Contains full Oracle 18c XE Database installation. Containing all the bells and whistles. This is the largest docker image.
oralce-xe	This medium sized image has some things stripped out from the installation. Contains most of the functionality from the full image, but some of the edge case functionality has been removed.
oracle-xe-slim	This is the smallest image and has a lot of extra features remove. Probably only suitable if you want a basic Database.

Before you run the following commands you will need to install Docker.

Step 1: Download the 18c XE image

docker pull gvenzl/oracle-xe

Step 2: Check the image exist in your Docker env

docker images

Step 3: Run the image

docker run -d -p 1521:1521 -e ORACLE_PASSWORD=SysPassword1 -v oracle-volume:/opt/oracle/oradata gvenzl/oracle-xe

This command remaps the 1521 port to local 1521, changed/set the password and gives volume details to all any changes to the database and image to be persisted i.e. when you restart the image your previous work will be there

Step 4: Rename image [you can skip this step if you want. I just wanted a different name]

docker ps

docker rename d95a3db95747 18XE 

NB: Use the code/reference for your docker image. It will be different to mine (d95a3db95747)

Step 5: Connect to the Database as DBA/Admin schema

You can use SQL*Plus or some other client side tool to connect to the database

sqlplus system/SysPassword1@//localhost/XEPDB1

A simple query to check we are connected to the database.

select username from dba_users;

Step 6: Create your own (developer) Schema

create user demo identified by demo quota unlimited on users;

grant connect, resource to demo;

Exit SQL*Plus and log back into the Database using the DEMO schema you just created.

connect demo/demo@//localhost/XEPDB1

Step 7: Create a Table and enter some Records

create table test (col1 NUMBER, col2 VARCHAR2(10));

insert into test values (1, 'Brendan');

Step 8: Test the Docker image persists the data

Stop the docker image

docker stop 18XE

Check it is no-longer running

docker ps

Nothing will be displayed

Step 9: Start the 18XE Docker image and Check data was persisted

docker start 18XE

docker ps

You should see the docker image is running

sqlplus demo/demo@//localhost/XEPDB1
select table_name from user_tables;
select * from test;

These last two commands should show the table and the record in the table. This means the data was persisted.

All done you now have a working Docker image of Oracle 18XE running.

Just remember to stop the image when you don’t need it on your computer. These will save you some resource usage.