Concept
Version · 5.2.2
Integration guide

Maven rollback

Last updated: August 12, 2026

The Maven rollback goal allows you to roll back change you made to the database. It also marks changesets that were deployed as unapplied. You can roll back changesets using the liquibase.rollbackCount, liquibase.rollbackTag, or liquibase.rollbackDate attributes.

Uses

The Maven rollback goal is typically used when you want to revert changes in your database. There are three rollback modes:

liquibase.rollbackCount:Reverts a specified number of changesets sequentially, starting with the most recent changes and working backward until the value specified is reached.
liquibase.rollbackTag:Reverts all changes that were made to the database after the specified tag.
liquibase.rollbackDate:Reverts all changes made to your database from today's date to the date and time you specify.

The impacts of rollback

Using the rollback goal comes with risks of unintended consequences. For this reason, it is best practice to run the rollbackSQL goal because it allows you to inspect the rollback SQL and search for any potential mistakes before you execute rollback.

Maven configuration

You can configure Liquibase Maven in multiple ways. You can pass arguments like <changeLogFile> in Maven directly in your pom.xml file, in a liquibase.properties file referenced in your POM, as environment variables, or as JVM system properties. To learn about each file's syntax, see Maven Properties.

For more information about the Maven configuration, see Configuring Maven.

Running the rollback Maven goal

Running the rollback goal requires a Maven project to be implemented. Before running the rollback goal, you can run the history goal to see all your previously executed changes.

To run the rollback goal with the liquibase.rollbackCount attribute, type the following in your command prompt: mvn liquibase:rollback -Dliquibase.rollbackCount=3

Note: Enter the value you want to use in place of 3.

To run the rollback goal with the liquibase.rollbackTag attribute, type the following in your command prompt: mvn liquibase:rollback -Dliquibase.rollbackTag=version1

Note: Enter the name of the tag you want to use in place of version1. Alternatively, you can specify two properties in your pom.xml file under the <properties></properties> in the <project></project> level:

<liquibase.tag>v3.2.1</liquibase.tag> <liquibase.rollbackTag>${liquibase.tag}</liquibase.rollbackTag>

To run the rollback goal with the liquibase.rollbackDate attribute, type the following in your command prompt: mvn liquibase:rollback -Dliquibase.rollbackDate=2020-11-26

Note: Enter the date you want to use in place of 2020-11-26. There are several ways to revert your changes with the liquibase.rollback-to-date attribute. You can use YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS or YYYY-MM-DD'T'HH:MM:SS formats to specify both date and time. Also, you can specify date or time only.

Attribute	Definition
`liquibase.rollbackCount`	Defines the number of changesets to roll back. Default value is: 1.
`liquibase.rollbackDate`	Defines the date for which you want to roll back the database. The format of the date must match either an ISO date format or that of the `DateFormat.getDateInstance()` for the platform the plugin is being executed on.
`liquibase.rollbackTag`	Defines the tag for which you want to roll back the database.

Attribute	Definition
`liquibase.changeLogDirectory`	Specifies the path to the directory where Liquibase can find your changelog file.
`liquibase.changeLogFile`	The changelog file for Liquibase to use.
`liquibase.changelogCatalogName`	Specifies the catalog Liquibase will use to create your changelog tables.
`liquibase.changelogSchemaName`	Specifies the schema Liquibase will use to create your changelog tables.
`liquibase.clearCheckSums`	Boolean. Forces checksums to be cleared from the DATABASECHANGELOG table. Default value is: false.
`liquibase.contexts`	Specifies which contexts Liquibase will execute, which can be separated by a comma if multiple contexts are required. If a context is not specified, then all contexts will be executed.
`liquibase.databaseChangeLogLockTableName`	Specifies the table name to use for the DATABASECHANGELOG table.
`liquibase.databaseChangeLogTableName`	Specifies the table name to use for the DATABASECHANGELOG table.
`liquibase.databaseClass`	Specifies the database object class.
`liquibase.defaultCatalogName`	Specifies the default catalog name to use for the database connection.
`liquibase.defaultSchemaName`	Specifies the default schema name to use for the database connection.
`liquibase.driver`	Specifies the driver class name to use for the database connection.
`driverPropertiesFile`	Specifies the location of a JDBC connection properties file which contains properties the driver will use.
`liquibase.emptyPassword`	Deprecated. Boolean. Use an empty or null value for the password instead. Default value is: false.
`expressionVariables`	Specifies a map-based collection of changelog properties to apply.
`expressionVars`	Specifies a property-based collection of changelog properties to apply.
`liquibase.includeArtifact`	Boolean. Includes a Maven project artifact in the class loader, which obtains the Liquibase properties file and changelog files. Default value is `true`.
`liquibase.includeTestOutputDirectory`	Boolean. Includes the Maven test output directory in the class loader which obtains the Liquibase properties file and changelog files. Default value is `true`.
`liquibase.labels`	Specifies which labels Liquibase runs, and which can be separated by a comma if multiple labels are required or you need to designate a more complex expression. If no label is specified, then all labels are run.
`liquibase.licenseKey`	Specifies your Liquibase Secure license key.
`liquibase.outputDefaultCatalog`	Boolean. Specifies whether to ignore the catalog or database name. Default value is: false.
`liquibase.outputDefaultSchema`	Boolean. Specifies whether to ignore the schema name. Default value is: false.
`liquibase.outputFileEncoding`	Indicates that you want to set the character encoding of the output file during the `updateSQL` phase.
`liquibase.password`	Specifies the database password for the database connection.
`liquibase.promptOnNonLocalDatabase`	Deprecated. Boolean. Controls whether users are prompted before executing changesets to a non-local database. Default value is: true.
`liquibase.propertyFile`	Specifies the Liquibase properties file to use for configuration, like `liquibase.properties`.
`liquibase.propertyFileWillOverride`	Boolean. Indicates that you want the `liquibase.properties` file to override any settings provided in the Maven plugin configuration. By default, if a property is explicitly specified, it is not overridden if it also appears in the properties file. Default value is: false.
`liquibase.propertyProviderClass`	Specifies the property provider, which must be a `java.util.Properties` implementation.
`liquibase.server`	Specifies the server ID in the Maven `settings.xml` to use when authenticating.
`liquibase.skip`	Boolean. Specifies whether to skip running Liquibase. The use of this attribute is not recommended but can be used when needed. Default value is: false.
`systemProperties`	Specifies a list of system properties you want to pass to the database.
`liquibase.url`	Specifies the database URL you want to use to execute Liquibase.
`liquibase.username`	Specifies the database username for the database connection.
`liquibase.verbose`	Boolean. Controls the amount of output detail when you call the plugin. Default value is: false.

Maven rollback output

Starting Liquibase at 08:06:13 (version 4.1.1 #10 built at 2020-10-12 19:24+0000) [INFO] Parsing Liquibase Properties File local.liquibase.properties for changeLog parameters [INFO] Executing on Database: jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521/ORCL [INFO] Successfully acquired change log lock [INFO] Reading from DATABASECHANGELOG Rolling Back Changeset:dbchangelog.xml::1606322157619-2::Nataliya (generated) Rolling Back Changeset:dbchangelog.xml::1606322157619-12::Nataliya (generated) [INFO] Successfully released change log lock [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] BUILD SUCCESS [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Total time: 6.038 s [INFO] Finished at: 2020-11-26T08:06:15-06:00 [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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