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  • Version · 6.0
  • Change Automation Reference

bigquery-lock-table-init-timeout-millis

Last updated: September 29, 2026

--bigquery-lock-table-init-timeout-millis is a global parameter for the Liquibase BigQuery Secure extension. It specifies the maximum time, in milliseconds, that Liquibase waits for a newly created lock tracking table (DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK) to become queryable before it stops and reports an error. The default value is 120000 (2 minutes).

Note: This wait applies only when Liquibase has just created the lock table during initialization. If the lock table already exists, Liquibase does not wait.

Uses

BigQuery applies data definition language (DDL) changes with eventual consistency. When Liquibase runs a command like update, it creates its internal tracking tables and then immediately queries DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK to initialize it. On large BigQuery projects, a newly created table can take time to propagate, so that query can report the table as missing for a short period after it was created.

The --bigquery-lock-table-init-timeout-millis parameter sets how long Liquibase keeps retrying that query while it waits for the table to become visible. This is a total budget: it is not refreshed by Liquibase's internal retries, so the wait stays within the value you set. Once the table is queryable, initialization continues normally. If the table does not become visible within this limit, Liquibase stops waiting and reports an error.

  • Increase this value if update fails during initialization on a large BigQuery project where table propagation is slow.

  • The interval between each retry is controlled by --bigquery-lock-table-init-poll-interval-millis.

Syntax

You can set this parameter in the following ways:

Option

Syntax

Liquibase properties file

(defaults file)

liquibase.bigquery.lockTableInitTimeoutMillis: <integer>

Global

flow file

argument (example)

stages: Default: actions: - type: liquibase command: update

globalArgs: {bigquery-lock-table-init-timeout-millis: "<integer>" }

Global CLI parameter

liquibase --bigquery-lock-table-init-timeout-millis=<integer> update --changelog-file=example-changelog.xml

JVM system property (JAVA_OPTS Environment Variable)

Unix:

JAVA_OPTS=-Dliquibase.bigquery.lockTableInitTimeoutMillis=<integer>

Windows:

JAVA_OPTS=-D"liquibase.bigquery.lockTableInitTimeoutMillis"=<integer>

Liquibase Environment Variables

LIQUIBASE_BIGQUERY_LOCK_TABLE_INIT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS=<integer>