changelog-sync-sql

Last published July 28, 2025

The changelog-sync-sql command is a helper command that produces the raw SQL Liquibase would run when using the changelog-sync command.

Uses

The changelog-sync-sql command is typically used when you want to inspect the SQL Liquibase will use to baseline a new database environment.

It is best practice to inspect any SQL that Liquibase would run when using the changelog-sync command so you can review any changes the command would make to your database before running the command.

Syntax

To run the changelog-sync-sql command, specify the driver, classpath, and URL in the Liquibase properties file. You can also specify these properties in your command line.

Then run the changelog-sync-sql command:

liquibase changelog-sync-sql --changelog-file=example-changelog.xml

Note: The username and password attributes are not required for connections and systems which use alternate means of authentication. Also, you can specify database credentials as part of the url attribute.

Parameters

Global parameters

Attribute	Definition	Requirement
`--output-file=<string>`	File path to where the command output will be written. If not specified, output goes to `STDOUT`. See `--output-file`.	Optional

Command parameters

Attribute	Definition	Requirement
`--changelog-file=<string>`	The root changelog	Required
`--url=<string>`	The JDBC database connection URL.	Required
`--context-filter=<string>`	Specifies the changeset contexts to match. Contexts are tags you can add to changesets to control which changesets are executed in any particular migration run. Note: If you use Liquibase 4.23.0 or earlier, use the syntax `--contexts` instead of `--context-filter`.	Optional
`--default-catalog-name=<string>`	Name of the default catalog to use for the database connection	Optional
`--default-schema-name=<string>`	Name of the default schema to use for the database connection. If `defaultSchemaName` is set, then objects do not have to be fully qualified. This means you can refer to just `mytable` instead of `myschema.mytable`. Note: In the properties file and `JAVA_OPTS` only: in 4.18.0 and earlier, specify this parameter using the syntax `defaultSchemaName`. In 4.19.0 and later, use the syntax `liquibase.command.defaultSchemaName`. Note: In Liquibase 4.12.0 and later, you can use mixed-case schema names if you set `--preserve-schema-case` to `true`. However, in Liquibase 4.12.0–4.22.0, the Liquibase validator still throws a `DatabaseException` error if you specify a mixed-case value of `defaultSchemaName`. In 4.23.0 and later, the Liquibase validator accepts any casing.	Optional
`--driver=<string>`	The JDBC driver class	Optional
`--driver-properties-file=<string>`	The JDBC driver properties file	Optional
`--label-filter=<string>`	Specifies the changeset labels to match. Labels are tags you can add to changesets to control which changesets will be executed in any migration run.	Optional
`--output-default-catalog=<true\|false>`	Control whether names of objects in the default catalog are fully qualified or not. If `true`, they are. If `false`, only objects outside the default catalog are fully qualified. Default: `true`.	Optional
`--output-default-schema=<true\|false>`	Control whether names of objects in the default schema are fully qualified or not. If `true`, they are. If `false`, only objects outside the default schema are fully qualified. Default: `true`.	Optional
`--password=<string>`	Password to connect to the target database. Tip: It is a best practice to store sensitive data in a Secrets Management tool with Liquibase Pro.	Optional
`--username=<string>`	Username to connect to the target database. Tip: It is a best practice to store sensitive data in a Secrets Management tool with Liquibase Pro.	Optional

Output

When successful, the changelog-sync-sql command produces the following output:

Starting Liquibase at 10:09:31 (version 4.9.1 #1978 built at 2022-03-28 19:39+0000) Liquibase Version: 4.9.1 -- ********************************************************************* -- SQL to add all changesets to database history table -- ********************************************************************* -- Change Log: example-changelog.sql -- Ran at: 5/13/22, 10:09 AM -- Against: DBUSER@jdbc:h2:tcp://localhost:9090/mem:dev -- Liquibase version: 4.9.1 -- ********************************************************************* -- Lock Database UPDATE PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK SET LOCKED = TRUE, LOCKEDBY = 'DESKTOP-SQVSSV2 (192.168.1.179)', LOCKGRANTED = NOW() WHERE ID = 1 AND LOCKED = FALSE; INSERT INTO PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOG (ID, AUTHOR, FILENAME, DATEEXECUTED, ORDEREXECUTED, MD5SUM, DESCRIPTION, COMMENTS, EXECTYPE, CONTEXTS, LABELS, LIQUIBASE, DEPLOYMENT_ID) VALUES ('1', 'Amber.Williams', 'example-changelog.sql', NOW(), 6, '8:e3a3ed80b1b6b22ae5e9317c1fd14334', 'sql', 'example comment', 'EXECUTED', 'example-context', 'example-label', '4.9.1', '2458172318'); INSERT INTO PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOG (ID, AUTHOR, FILENAME, DATEEXECUTED, ORDEREXECUTED, MD5SUM, DESCRIPTION, COMMENTS, EXECTYPE, CONTEXTS, LABELS, LIQUIBASE, DEPLOYMENT_ID) VALUES ('2', 'Amber.Williams', 'example-changelog.sql', NOW(), 7, '8:7db038f9d66960203d8a260e9751a2bd', 'sql', 'example comment', 'EXECUTED', 'example-context', 'example-label', '4.9.1', '2458172318'); -- Release Database Lock UPDATE PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK SET LOCKED = FALSE, LOCKEDBY = NULL, LOCKGRANTED = NULL WHERE ID = 1; Liquibase command 'changelog-sync-sql' was executed successfully.