renameDatabase

Last updated: January 27, 2026

Renames an existing database in Snowflake. This operation changes the database identifier while preserving all schemas, tables, and other objects.

Note: Automatic rollback renames the database back to original name.

Known limitation: This change type does not support database inspection features (snapshot, diff, diff-changelog, and generate-changelog commands).

Available attributes

Attribute	Type	Description	Required
`oldDatabaseName`	String	Current name of the database to rename	Yes
`newDatabaseName`	String	New name for the database	Yes
`ifExists`	Boolean	Only execute if the database exists	No

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
        xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
        xmlns:pro-snowflake="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-latest.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake/liquibase-pro-snowflake-latest.xsd">

    <!-- Basic rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-database-basic" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameDatabase
            oldDatabaseName="OLD_DATABASE"
            newDatabaseName="NEW_DATABASE"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Rename with IF EXISTS -->
    <changeSet id="rename-database-if-exists" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameDatabase
            oldDatabaseName="OLD_DATABASE"
            newDatabaseName="NEW_DATABASE"
            ifExists="true"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

{
  "databaseChangeLog": [
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-database-basic",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameDatabase": {
              "oldDatabaseName": "OLD_DATABASE",
              "newDatabaseName": "NEW_DATABASE"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-database-if-exists",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameDatabase": {
              "oldDatabaseName": "OLD_DATABASE",
              "newDatabaseName": "NEW_DATABASE",
              "ifExists": true
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

databaseChangeLog:
  # Basic rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-database-basic
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameDatabase:
            oldDatabaseName: OLD_DATABASE
            newDatabaseName: NEW_DATABASE

  # Rename with IF EXISTS
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-database-if-exists
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameDatabase:
            oldDatabaseName: OLD_DATABASE
            newDatabaseName: NEW_DATABASE
            ifExists: true

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset examples:basic-rename
-- Basic rename
ALTER DATABASE OLD_DATABASE RENAME TO NEW_DATABASE;

--changeset examples:rename-with-if-exists
-- Rename with IF EXISTS
ALTER DATABASE IF EXISTS OLD_DATABASE RENAME TO NEW_DATABASE;

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<databaseChangeLog
        xmlns="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog"
        xmlns:pro-snowflake="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake"
        xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
        xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/dbchangelog/dbchangelog-latest.xsd
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake
        http://www.liquibase.org/xml/ns/pro-snowflake/liquibase-pro-snowflake-latest.xsd">

    <!-- Basic rename -->
    <changeSet id="rename-database-basic" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameDatabase
            oldDatabaseName="OLD_DATABASE"
            newDatabaseName="NEW_DATABASE"/>
    </changeSet>

    <!-- Rename with IF EXISTS -->
    <changeSet id="rename-database-if-exists" author="examples">
        <pro-snowflake:renameDatabase
            oldDatabaseName="OLD_DATABASE"
            newDatabaseName="NEW_DATABASE"
            ifExists="true"/>
    </changeSet>

</databaseChangeLog>

{
  "databaseChangeLog": [
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-database-basic",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameDatabase": {
              "oldDatabaseName": "OLD_DATABASE",
              "newDatabaseName": "NEW_DATABASE"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "changeSet": {
        "id": "rename-database-if-exists",
        "author": "examples",
        "changes": [
          {
            "renameDatabase": {
              "oldDatabaseName": "OLD_DATABASE",
              "newDatabaseName": "NEW_DATABASE",
              "ifExists": true
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

databaseChangeLog:
  # Basic rename
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-database-basic
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameDatabase:
            oldDatabaseName: OLD_DATABASE
            newDatabaseName: NEW_DATABASE

  # Rename with IF EXISTS
  - changeSet:
      id: rename-database-if-exists
      author: examples
      changes:
        - renameDatabase:
            oldDatabaseName: OLD_DATABASE
            newDatabaseName: NEW_DATABASE
            ifExists: true

--liquibase formatted sql

--changeset examples:basic-rename
-- Basic rename
ALTER DATABASE OLD_DATABASE RENAME TO NEW_DATABASE;

--changeset examples:rename-with-if-exists
-- Rename with IF EXISTS
ALTER DATABASE IF EXISTS OLD_DATABASE RENAME TO NEW_DATABASE;

renameDatabase

Available attributes

XML example

JSON example

YAML example

SQL example

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