Install Liquibase on Linux with Debian or Ubuntu

Last updated: September 2, 2025

Before you begin

Confirm that Java is installed. If you use the Liquibase Installer, Java is included automatically.

Procedure

1

Open a terminal.

2

Update Liquibase APT Source to package.liquibase.com

If you’ve installed Liquibase previously and your system is still pointing at repo.liquibase.com, run the following commands to update your configuration to use the new package.liquibase.com domain (which provides improved tracking and reliability): 

#Backup old source list (optional but recommended)
sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquibase.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquibase.list.bak

#Replace repo.liquibase.com with package.liquibase.com
sudo sed -i 's|repo.liquibase.com|package.liquibase.com|g' /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquibase.list

#Update package lists
sudo apt-get update

This backs up your old file to liquibase.list.bak and updates the .list file in place so it now contains:

deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/liquibase-keyring.gpg] https://package.liquibase.com stable main
3

Run the following command to import the Liquibase GPG key and add the Liquibase repository to the apt sources list.

wget -O- https://repo.liquibase.com/liquibase.asc | gpg --dearmor > liquibase-keyring.gpg && \
cat liquibase-keyring.gpg | sudo tee /usr/share/keyrings/liquibase-keyring.gpg > /dev/null && \
echo 'deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/liquibase-keyring.gpg] https://package.liquibase.com stable main' | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/liquibase.list

Note: It is important to note that you must have root permissions for this to work.

4

Update the package lists.

sudo apt-get update
5

Install Liquibase.

sudo apt-get install liquibase-secure

apt-get commands don’t require you to add anything to your path. This adds to your /bin by default.

6

Apply your Liquibase Secure license key.

Using a Secrets Management tool like Hashicorp Vault or AWS Secrets Manager is best to keep Liquibase license keys secure.

There are several ways to apply the Liquibase Secure license key:

Include the Liquibase Secure license key in the Liquibase properties file and save it.

For example:

liquibase.licenseKey: aei76ou32thp785463214

7

Ensure that Liquibase is updated to the desired version. 

liquibase --version

Liquibase is now installed on your system.

Note: To install a specific version of Liquibase using the Debian/Ubuntu installer package, use the package manager’s version pinning mechanism: sudo apt-get install liquibase=x.y.z

Replace x.y.z with the version you want to install. This command will install that specific version of Liquibase on your system.