5 Replies Latest reply on Jul 1, 2018 5:33 PM by Mahmoud_Rabie

Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Mahmoud_Rabie Jun 12, 2018 12:49 AM

Hello APEX Community,

First of all, I would like to thank APEX team for Database Virtual Box Appliance / Virtual Machine.

However, if I import the OVA to my computer, then run it. It is running slow!

I know that Dynamically Sized disk is size-effective but bad in performance.

That's why I searched the internet for a solution and found one. Simply, after importing the OVA, clone Dynamically sized disks to Fixed-size disks which are better in performance. Then delete the old ones.

The Problem

The process is so long and that is the problem.

The question

Is there any solution or workaround with VirtualBox OVA to change its disks from Dynamic to Fixed before importing.

Any help is appreciated.

Regards

Mahmoud

1. Re: Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Pierre Yotti Jun 12, 2018 1:08 AM (in response to Mahmoud_Rabie)

Hi Mahmoud_Rabie
have you check that?
https://maxrohde.com/2014/06/21/convert-dynamically-sized-virtualbox-vdi-hard-drive-to-fixed-size/

Not interest about Docker Container? Docker could be great for you. I used Oracle Development VM in the Past. Now i am on DOCKER.
I am satisfied with Performance and Benefits for DOCKER.

Just give a Try. You can start with that Docker Image
https://github.com/Dani3lSun/docker-db-apex-dev

Hier is some differences between Docker and VM
http://www.channelfutures.com/technology/docker-vs-virtual-machines-understanding-performance-differences

Regards

pierre
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2. Re: Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Mahmoud_Rabie Jun 12, 2018 1:31 AM (in response to Pierre Yotti)

Hi Pierre Yotti

Thanks for your reply.

1) The conversion tutorial doesn’t help because it will be after importing OVA. Already I did that as I mentioned above. I need a solution before or during importing OVA.

2) The Docker looks helpful. I would give it a try.
However, I need to install the official development VM and run it in accepted performance directly without disk conversion workarounds.

3) If Docker is better than VirtualBox, why didn’t APEX team use it in their official Development VM?!

Regards
Mahmoud
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3. Re: Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Pavel_p Jun 12, 2018 10:54 AM (in response to Mahmoud_Rabie)

Hello Mahmoud,
I don't think you'll gain this way any significant performance improvement, however here are few tips what to do to make your work more comfortable and faster.
1) Check how much RAM your VM can use. By default it is (I think) only 1GB, which is insanely low (minimal HW requirement for 12c is 2 gigs). If you can, at least double it, ideally give it 4 gigs or more.
2) Setup Port Forwarding in Settings => Network => Advanced. As we probably need only port 1521 for oracle (eventually some other one for debugging) and 8080 for ORDS,
Then you'll be able to access your ords from the host machine at the address http://localhost:8080/ords and also the Oracle instance would be "running" at localhost:1521. Now you can access the services "remotely" from the host system with your favourite tools, so you don't need X windows running on the Linux machine.
3) Change default runlevel on the Linux VM to save some memory and to speedup the boot time (however do not expect miracles - it just takes a "while" to start Linux+Oracle EE+ORDS). To do so, just change the default runlevel to multi-user.target
https://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/centos-how-tos/change-default-runlevel-in-centos-7-rhel-7.html . It's possible to start X whenever needed.
I hope with these settings you'll be satisfied with the VM speed.
Regards,
Pavel

edit: ad 1) together with RAM give the system also more than just one (by default) processor/core.
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4. Re: Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Mahmoud_Rabie Jun 12, 2018 5:32 PM (in response to Pavel_p)

Hi Pavel

Pavel_p wrote:
I don't think you'll gain this way any significant performance improvement,
I already have gained an improvement in performance by changing the disks from dynamic to fixed. However, the process of conversion took a long time.

Thanks for your helpful tips. I will give them a try.
I hope to see similar ones in the official documentation of development VM ASAP.

Regards
Mahmoud
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5. Re: Oracle APEX 18.1 - Development VM - SpeedUP!

Mahmoud_Rabie Jul 1, 2018 5:33 PM (in response to Pierre Yotti)

Alli,

IMHO, after some experiments and comparisons, I think Docker is the best alternative for me. I would recommend it over Development VM.

Thanks alot.
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