• Reference
  • Version · 5.0.4
  • Reference guide

What are init commands?

Last updated: August 12, 2026

The purpose of the init commands is to help users quickly set up a new Liquibase project, make a copy of an existing project, or quickly start the H2 in-memory database. The commands provide the required configuration files and parameters to successfully connect a database and run Liquibase.

Init category

  • init project: finds or creates your project folder with the changelog and Liquibase properties files and delivers an example H2 database to help you get started.

  • init start-h2: starts the in-memory H2 database included in the Liquibase installation package to get started and test how Liquibase works.

Each individual init command page specifies the criteria for using the command successfully, including a list of required and optional command-specific arguments.

Init Command Requirements

  • The init project command requires the liquibase-commercial.jar file to be located in the /liquibase/internal/lib folder for the command to work.

  • Using the init commands requires Liquibase version 4.7.0 or later.

Troubleshooting

  • If Liquibase returns an error when you run an init command, use the Liquibase --help parameter to check the correct syntax of the command and the command-specific parameters you can use with it.

    For example, in the CLI:

    liquibase <command> --help

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