Database Migrations

When managing production-grade services, the ability to perform reliable and repeatable database migrations is critical. Whether you’re applying schema changes, updating seed data, or managing version-controlled transitions, Elestio provides a built-in mechanism to execute migrations safely from the dashboard. This functionality is especially relevant when running containerized database services like PostgreSQL, MySQL, or similar within a managed cluster.

Need for Migrations

Database migrations are commonly required when updating your application’s data model or deploying new features. Schema updates such as adding columns, modifying data types, creating indexes, or introducing new tables need to be synchronized with the deployment lifecycle of your application code.

Migrations may also be needed during version upgrades to introduce structural or configuration changes required by newer database engine versions. In some cases, teams use migrations to apply baseline datasets, adjust permissions, or clean up legacy objects. Running these changes through a controlled migration system ensures consistency across environments and helps avoid untracked manual changes.

Running Database Migration

To run a database migration in Elestio, start by logging into the Elestio dashboard and navigating to the Clusters section. Select the cluster that contains the target database service. From the Cluster Overview page, scroll down until you find the “Migration” option.

Clicking this option will open the migration workflow, which follows a three-step process: Configure, Validation, and Migration. In the Configure step, Elestio provides a migration configuration guide specific to the database type, such as MySQL. At this point, you must ensure that your target service has sufficient disk space to complete the migration. If there is not enough storage available, the migration may fail midway, so it’s strongly recommended to review storage utilization beforehand.

Once configuration prerequisites are met, you can proceed to the Validation step. Elestio will check the secondary database details you have provided for the migration.

If the validation passes, the final Migration step will become active. You can then initiate the migration process. Elestio will handle the actual data transfer, schema replication, and state synchronization internally. The progress is tracked, and once completed, the migrated database will be fully operational on the target service.

Considerations Before Running Migrations

• Before running any migration, it’s important to validate the script or changes in a staging environment. Since migrations may involve irreversible changes—such as dropping columns, altering constraints, or modifying data—careful review and version control are essential.
• In production environments, plan migrations during maintenance windows or low-traffic periods to minimize the impact of any schema locks or temporary unavailability. If you’re using replication or high-availability setups, confirm that the migration is compatible with your architecture and will not disrupt synchronization between primary and secondary nodes.
• You should also ensure that proper backups are in place before applying structural changes. In Elestio, the backup feature can be used to create a restore point that allows rollback in case the migration introduces issues.