How to Install Oracle Express Edition and SQL Developer

In this article, I’ll show you how to install the free version of Oracle: Oracle Database Express Edition (XE) version 21c and SQL Developer, Oracle’s free tool for developing and managing databases.

Note that Oracle is large. Make sure you have at least 10.5 gigabytes of free disk space and 2 gigabytes of RAM on your computer.

Install Oracle Database Express Edition (XE) version 21c

1. Download the latest version of Oracle Database Express Edition (XE). You may need to create an account on oracle.com.
2. For the most part, you should follow the installation instructions under the Running the Installer heading here, but note the following:
   • Instead of double-clicking on the setup.exe file, right-click the file and select Run as Administrator.
   • Accept all the defaults.
   • If you are setting up for one of Webucator’s Oracle courses, be sure to set your password to “system”:
   • If you get a firewall prompt, you must allow access:
   • The installation can take a long time. Be patient.

Install Oracle SQL Developer

1. To decide which version of the installer you should download, check if you have the Java SE Development Kit 8 (Java Version 1.8.x), 11, or 17 installed:
   1. Open the Command Prompt:
   2. Run java -version
2. Download the latest version of SQL Developer from this page.
   1. If you do not have the JDK 8, 11, or 17 installed, choose the installer with JDK 8 included.
   2. If you do have JDK 8, 11, or 17 installed, choose the installer that requires the JDK.
3. Follow the installation instructions on this page. We recommend extracting sqldeveloper to C:\Program Files\Oracle\ or C:\.

Configure SQL Developer to Show Line Numbers

To configure SQL Developer to show line numbers:

1. Select Preferences from the Tools menu:
2. Select CodeEditor > Line Gutter and check Show Line Numbers: