DatabaseMigrator

DatabaseMigrator is a .NET Framework console utility that automatically upgrades a SQL Server database by executing an ordered list of SQL scripts. It tracks the current database version in a plain text file and applies only the scripts that have not been executed yet.

How It Works

1. The application reads the current version from dbversion.txt located in the working directory (version 0 is assumed when the file is missing).
2. It loads the ordered script list from DatabaseMigrator.script.txt inside the scripts folder. Each line of that file is a script file name, and the number of lines defines the expected version.
3. It compares the current version with the expected version:
   • If the expected version is higher, every script above the current version is executed in order through the configured SQL tool (by default sqlcmd).
   • If both versions match, no scripts are executed.
4. After all scripts succeed, the new version number is written back to dbversion.txt.
5. If a script fails, execution stops, and the tool optionally lets you mark only the succeeded scripts as executed (interactive confirmation dialog).

Requirements

• .NET Framework 4.5
• A configured SQL command line tool (by default sqlcmd, available with SQL Server or Microsoft Command Line Utilities)
• Windows authentication (-E) or adjust the Script template in the configuration file

Usage

Command line mode (all three arguments are required together):

DatabaseMigrator.exe <sqlInstanceName> <databaseName> <scriptsPath>

Example:

DatabaseMigrator.exe "(local)\sqlexpress" "database" "C:\Scripts"

Configuration-only mode (run without arguments). The instance is read from DatabaseInstance and the scripts folder from ScriptsFolderPath in DatabaseMigrator.exe.config; the database name is read from DefaultDatabaseName.

Configuration

Settings are read from the appSettings section of DatabaseMigrator.exe.config:

Key	Description
SqlTool	Executable used to run the scripts (default: sqlcmd).
Script	Command template with placeholders: {0} — quoted script path, {1} — server name, {2} — database name. Default: -S {1} -d {2} -m1 -E -i {0}.
DefaultDatabaseName	Database name used when it is not passed on the command line.
DatabaseInstance	SQL Server instance used in configuration-only mode (default: (local)\sqlexpress).
ScriptsFolderPath	Scripts folder used in configuration-only mode.
TraceLogFilePath	Optional trace log path. When empty, DatabaseMigrator.log is created in the working directory.

Files

File	Purpose
DatabaseMigrator.script.txt	Ordered list of script file names to execute (one per line), stored in the scripts folder.
dbversion.txt	Stores the number of scripts executed so far; created next to the executable after a successful run.
DatabaseMigrator.log	Trace log with every executed command and its output.

Exit Codes

• 0 — migration succeeded (or the database was already up to date).
• 2 — one of the required command line arguments was empty.
• -1 — configuration or script list error (missing scripts folder, missing DatabaseMigrator.script.txt, unreadable dbversion.txt).
• -2 — a script execution failed.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.