Connect Liquibase with Microsoft SQL Server

Last updated: September 2, 2025

Microsoft SQL Server (MSSQL) is a relational database management system. Microsoft SQL Server supports different editions and components that accommodate unique performance and depend on your specific requirements.

Note: For more information, see the Microsoft SQL Server documentation page.

You can also use:

Verified database versions

Microsoft SQL Server

  • 2022

  • 2019

  • 2017

  • 2016

AWS RDS – Microsoft SQL Server

  • 2019

  • 2017

  • 2016

Google Cloud SQL – MSSQL

  • 2019

Microsoft Azure SQL Database, Microsoft Azure SQL Managed Instance

  • Cloud

Before you begin

  • Install Liquibase.

  • Ensure you have Java installed. Liquibase requires Java to run. If you used the Liquibase Installer, Java is included automatically. Otherwise, you must install Java manually.

Procedure

1

(Maven users only) Configure Maven

If you're running Liquibase using the Maven plugin using mvn liquibase:update installing the extension with Maven ensures the right files are available and everything works together automatically. You can manage these extensions by adding them as dependencies in your project’s pom.xml file. When configured this way, Maven automatically downloads the specified JAR files from Maven Central during the build process.

2

Configure your connection

  • Ensure your Microsoft SQL Server is configured. You can check the status using a management tool, by running the ping command, or by using the sqlcmd utility: Be sure to replace your_Server\your_instanceName with the name of the computer and the SQL Server instance you want to connect to. run sqlcmd -Syour_Server\your_instanceName

  • Specify the database URL in the liquibase.properties file (defaults file), along with any other properties you want to set default values for. Liquibase does not parse the URL. You can either specify the full database connection string or specify the URL using your database's standard connection format: url: jdbc:sqlserver://<host>:<port>;databaseName=<dbname> Note: Depending on the configuration you use, your URL format may be different. For more information, see Building the Connection URL and Setting the connection properties. To apply a Liquibase Secure key to your project, add the following property to the Liquibase properties file: licenseKey: <paste code here>

3

Test your connection

1. Create a text file called changelog (.sql, .yaml, .json, or .xml) in your project directory and add a changeset.

If you already created a changelog using the init project command, you can use that instead of creating a new file. When adding onto an existing changelog, be sure to only add the changeset and to not duplicate the changelog header.

--liquibase formatted sql
--changeset your.name:1
CREATE TABLE test_table (
  test_id INT NOT NULL,
  test_column INT,
  PRIMARY KEY (test_id) NOT ENFORCED
)

2. Navigate to your project folder in the CLI and run the Liquibase status command to see whether the connection is successful:

liquibase status --username=test --password=test --changelog-file=<changelog.xml>

Note: You can specify arguments in the CLI or keep them in the Liquibase properties file.

If your connection is successful, you'll see a message like this:

4 changesets have not been applied to <your_connection_url> Liquibase command 'status' was executed successfully.

3. Inspect the deployment SQL with the update-sql command

liquibase update-sql --changelog-file=<changelog.xml>

If the SQL that Liquibase generates isn't what you expect, you should review your changelog file and make any necessary adjustments.

4. Then execute these changes to your database with the update command:

liquibase update --changelog-file=<changelog.xml>

If your update is successful, Liquibase runs each changeset and displays a summary message ending with:

Liquibase: Update has been successful. Liquibase command 'update' was executed successfully.

5. From a database UI tool, ensure that your database contains the test_table object you added along with the DATABASECHANGELOG table and DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK table.

Connect Liquibase with Microsoft SQL Server - Liquibase