ORDS 23.2: Cannot Start ORDS Standalone as a Service After Downloading and Installing Using YUM (Doc ID 2981144.1)

Last updated on JANUARY 03, 2025

Applies to:

Symptoms

Upgraded ORDS from 22.4 to 23.2.3.
Downloaded and installed ORDS using yum.
After the upgrade, cannot start ORDS as a service.

Followed the instructions in the ORDS 23.2 installation guide to download and install ORDS using yum.

"Downloading ORDS Using yum"
https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-rest-data-services/23.2/ordig/installing-and-configuring-oracle-rest-data-services.html#GUID-6076DC47-0218-4B37-91E2-FA7D4BA1F834

- Used the following command to download and install ORDS:
sudo yum install ords

- As noted in the document, configured the ORDS config directory in /etc/ords.conf folder:
"If you want to use a different directory to place your ORDS configurations and you want to use the Linux system service management as system d or system v, then configure the ORDS config directory in /etc/ords.conf folder."

- ORDS is installed and is running as a service. However, the service can't find the configuration using the /etc/ords.conf file and fails to start.

- In the logs, see the following:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2023-09-12T14:37:55Z INFO ORDS has not detected the option '--config' and this will be set up to the default directory.
ORDS: Release 23.2 Production on Tue Sep 12 14:37:57 2023
Copyright (c) 2010, 2023, Oracle.
Configuration:
/etc/ords/config/
2023-09-12T14:37:57.554Z INFO The configuration folder /etc/ords/config does not contain any configuration files.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- When starting ORDS as a service, the service should find the configuration folder in the /etc/ords.conf file. However, since the upgrade to version 23, it has stopped working.

ords.conf file:
[opc@ords-prod-01 ~]$ sudo cat /etc/ords.conf
# ORDS Service Script Configuration File (ords.config)
#
# This file should be placed in the /etc folder.
# Following are the properties that can be set via this file:
#
# ORDS_BASE The base path for ORDS installation by default is /opt/oracle
# but if the rpm was installed with --prefix [path] to relocate
# the package this variable will track the installation path.
# If you install ORDS by ORDS zip file is not possible to track
# and you need to set this value.
# ORDS_CONFIG The absolute path to an ORDS configuration directory. If set
# and not empty then the script will overwrite the configdir
# property in the ords.war file located next to the script
# whenever the script is called with the start parameter.
# SERVE_EXTRA_ARGS Extra arguments to pass to serve command like
# "--port 8888 --apex-images ${APEX_IMAGES}".
# Examples
#ORDS_BASE=/opt/oracle #Only if installed by zip file.
#ORDS_CONFIG=/etc/ords/config
#SERVE_EXTRA_ARGS=--port 8888 --apex-images ${APEX_IMAGES}
ORDS_BASE=/opt/oracle
ORDS_CONFIG=/home/oracle/ords/config

NOTE:
This worked in the previous version -> ORDS 22.4

Steps to reproduce:
- Follow the instructions in the ORDS 23.2 installation guide to download and install ORDS using yum.
"Downloading ORDS Using yum"
https://docs.oracle.com/en/database/oracle/oracle-rest-data-services/23.2/ordig/installing-and-configuring-oracle-rest-data-services.html#GUID-6076DC47-0218-4B37-91E2-FA7D4BA1F834
- Use this location for ORDS configuration folder -> /home/oracle/ords/config
- In /etc/ords.conf, set ORDS_CONFIG=/home/oracle/ords/config
- Start ORDS service

Changes

 Upgraded ORDS 22.4 to 23.2.

Cause

My Oracle Support provides customers with access to over a million knowledge articles and a vibrant support community of peers and Oracle experts.