Planning and Executing Database Migrations: Schema Changes, Data Migrations, and Zero-Downtime Patterns

Calendar February 22, 2026
Databases
Intermediate
Migration-Planning, Schema-Management, Zero-Downtime-Operations, Rollback-Execution
Migrations, Schema-Changes, Zero-Downtime, Expand-Contract, Postgresql, Mysql, Rollback, Data-Migration
Postgresql, Mysql, Psql, Pg_dump, Pgloader, Flyway, Liquibase

Planning and Executing Database Migrations#

Database migrations are the highest-risk routine operations most teams perform. A bad migration can cause downtime, data loss, or application errors that cascade across every service that touches the affected tables. This operational sequence walks through the assessment, planning, execution, and rollback of database migrations from simple column additions to full platform changes.

Phase 1 – Assessment#

Step 1: Classify the Migration#

Every migration falls into one of three categories, each with a different risk profile: