Product articles

Infrequently Asked Questions About Flyway

You can have Flyway up and running in minutes if you're a solo developer managing a single database. However, as you seek to 'scale up' Flyway to accommodate more complex database systems, team-based development, and stricter quality controls, you'll need to tackle some knottier questions. Without adequate answers, tasks such as multi-database management, automation and workflow, and Continuous Integration will be difficult. Hopefully, this article will help. Read more

Managing PostgreSQL Extensions Using Flyway

Any reliable DevOps deployment process must not only deliver the right database code but also ensure that the correct conditions exist for the deployment to succeed. For PostgreSQL databases, this includes ensuring that any extensions on which the database code relies are installed, and at the correct version. Fortunately, Flyway will automatically track which extensions are installed on a database and at what version, so we can 'propagate' these changes accurately during deployments and avoid inconsistencies in database behavior and even application breakages. Read more
The SQL Server database development cycle assisted by SQL Toolbelt Essentials/

The Essential Tools for Standardizing SQL Server Database Development

To achieve rapid delivery of database functionality, database development must both support craftsmanship and incorporate the ideas of standardization and automation that allow for 'mass production'. This article explains how to achieve this 'balance' using the specialist database development tools in SQL Toolbelt Essentials. These tools allow database experts to work quickly and accurately, with structured and repeatable processes to ensure all required checks and coding standards are applied before delivery. Read more

Running Flyway Pre-Migration Checks on the Database

This article demonstrates how to run a preliminary check that issues a warning, or throws an error, if the conditions aren't met for a Flyway migration to succeed. It provides some example checks for PostgreSQL databases that use Flyway SQL callbacks to ensure the server is running the correct PostgreSQL version, or that the database has a required extension installed. Read more

Maintaining Variants of a Database using Flyway Locations

In this article, I'll explain why we often need to maintain variants of the same database, at a particular version. I'll demonstrate how useful variants can be for creating slightly modified installations of a database, for special uses, or even for the simple task of provisioning multiple copies of the same version. In doing so, I'll show how we can use Flyway locations to overcome problems that would otherwise require complicated solutions. Flyway can make the whole matter of maintaining database variants very easy. Read more

Six Things to Monitor with PostgreSQL

This article describes six performance metrics that ought to be central to your PostgreSQL monitoring strategy. By using a tool like Redgate Monitor to track these metrics over time, and establish baselines for them, you'll be able to spot resource pressure or performance issues immediately, quickly diagnose the cause, and prevent them becoming problems that affect users. Read more