Data Migration with Java

Note

This type of migration should only be used if the logic cannot be implemented in SQL as part of a Liquibase changelog. The Java migrations are significantly slower since they need to load and convert the data from the DBMS into Java objects, apply the changes, and then write the new data back to the database.

1. Changelog

The changelog can be found in src/main/java/config/migration/MigrationRegistry.java. To create a new change, you have to do the following:

  • Get the current time in the format YYYYMMDD_HHmmss.

  • Create a new file in /entries named MigrationEntry<formatted-time>.java containing a class extending MigrationEntry.

  • Implement the required methods in your class and follow the JavaDoc.

  • Add the class to the migrationEntryMap attribute in the MigrationRegistry.java together with the next Integer key inside the constructor.

2. Development

  • All executed entries are saved in the table migration_changelog. If you delete entries, they get executed again.

  • Test your changes locally first, and only commit changes you are confident that work.

  • Before deploying any database changes to a test server, ask for official permission from the project lead. If the changes don’t get approved, manual rollbacks can be necessary, which are avoidable.

  • If queries fail due to the authorization object being null, call SecurityUtils.setAuthorizationObject() beforehand to set a dummy object.