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  • Version · 6.0
  • Change Automation Reference

Maven update

Last updated: August 21, 2026

The Maven update goal deploys any changes that are in the changelog file and that have not been deployed to your database yet.

Uses

The Maven update goal is typically used to apply database changes that are specified in the changelog file to your database.

When you run the update goal, Liquibase sequentially reads changesets in the changelog file, then it compares the unique identifiers of id, author, and path to filename to the values stored in the DATABASECHANGELOG table.

  • If the unique identifiers do not exist, Liquibase will apply the changeset to the database.

  • If the unique identifiers exist, the MD5Sum of the changeset is compared to the one in the database.

  • If they are different, Liquibase will produce an error message that someone has changed it unexpectedly. However, if the status of the runOnChange or runAlways changeset attribute is set to TRUELiquibase will reapply the changeset.

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 update Maven goal

Running the update goal requires a Maven project to be implemented. To run the goal, type the following in your command prompt:

mvn liquibase:update

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.changesToApply

Int. Specifies the number of changes to apply to the database. If 0, all changes not already applied to the database are applied. Default value is: 0.

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.dropFirst

Boolean. Specifies whether to perform a drop on the database before executing the change. Default value is false.

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.showSummary

Produces a summary list of any changesets skipped and why they were skipped. Valid values are OFF, SUMMARY, and VERBOSE. In Liquibase Secure, SUMMARY and VERBOSE provide additional information about failed deployments. Default: SUMMARY.

Liquibase may display one or multiple reasons for halting deployment of a changeset. If Liquibase cannot resolve a halting reason, it does not evaluate the changeset for other possible halting reasons.

Available in Liquibase 4.24.0+

liquibase.showSummaryOutput

Summary output to report update summary results. Valid values are LOG, CONSOLE, and ALL. If set to LOG, the --show-summary output is sent to the file specified in --log-file. If set to CONSOLE, the --show-summary output is sent to STDOUT. If set to ALL, the --show-summary output is sent to both locations. Default: LOG.

Available in Liquibase 4.24.0+

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.toTag

Apply changes up to and including the changesets with the given tag goal.

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 update output

When successful, the update Maven goal produces the following output:

[INFO] Scanning for projects... Downloading from plugins-release: https://artifactory.datical.net:80/artifactory/plugins-release/org/eclipse/m2e/lifecycle-mapping/1.0.0/lifecycle-mapping-1.0.0.pom Downloading from libs-snapshot-local: http://artifactory.datical.net:80/artifactory/libs-snapshot-local/org/eclipse/m2e/lifecycle-mapping/1.0.0/lifecycle-mapping-1.0.0.pom Downloading from plugins-snapshot: http://artifactory.datical.net:80/artifactory/plugins-snapshot/org/eclipse/m2e/lifecycle-mapping/1.0.0/lifecycle-mapping-1.0.0.pom Downloading from maven.oracle.com: https://maven.oracle.com/org/eclipse/m2e/lifecycle-mapping/1.0.0/lifecycle-mapping-1.0.0.pom [WARNING] Failed to retrieve plugin descriptor for org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:1.0.0: Plugin org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:1.0.0 or one of its dependencies could not be resolved: Failed to read artifact descriptor for org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:jar:1.0.0 [INFO] [INFO] ------------------- <com.example:liquibase-project> -------------------- [INFO] Building liquibase-project 05XII19 [INFO] --------------------------------[ jar ]--------------------------------- [WARNING] Failed to retrieve plugin descriptor for org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:1.0.0: Plugin org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:1.0.0 or one of its dependencies could not be resolved: Failed to read artifact descriptor for org.eclipse.m2e:lifecycle-mapping:jar:1.0.0 [INFO] [INFO] --- liquibase-commercial-maven-plugin:3.8.9:update (default-cli) @ liquibase-project --- [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Parsing Liquibase Properties File [INFO] File: C:\Users\Nataliya.WIN-20E107KB4TN\Desktop\Liquibase Projects\Maven Projects\my-liquibase-app/local.liquibase.properties [INFO] 'referencePassword' in properties file is not being used by this task. [INFO] 'referenceUrl' in properties file is not being used by this task. [INFO] 'referenceUsername' in properties file is not being used by this task. [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Successfully installed license from Base64 string starting with 'ABwwGgQUxS' (property liquibaseProLicenseKey). [INFO] Liquibase Secure 3.8.9 by Liquibase licensed to Liquibase Secure Customer until Tue Nov 03 19:00:00 CST 2020 [INFO] Liquibase Secure 3.8.9 by Liquibase licensed to Liquibase Secure Customer until Tue Nov 03 19:00:00 CST 2020 [INFO] Starting Liquibase at Tue, 11 Aug 2020 12:36:45 CDT (version 3.8.9 #73 built at Mon Apr 06 09:32:58 UTC 2020) [INFO] Parsing Liquibase Properties File C:\Users\Nataliya.WIN-20E107KB4TN\Desktop\Liquibase Projects\Maven Projects\my-liquibase-app/local.liquibase.properties for changeLog parameters [INFO] Executing on Database: jdbc:oracle:thin:@localhost:1521:ORCL [INFO] SELECT COUNT(*) FROM DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK [INFO] SELECT COUNT(*) FROM DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK [INFO] SELECT LOCKED FROM DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK WHERE ID=1 FOR UPDATE [INFO] Successfully acquired change log lock [INFO] SELECT MD5SUM FROM DATABASECHANGELOG WHERE MD5SUM IS NOT NULL AND ROWNUM=1 [INFO] SELECT COUNT(*) FROM DATABASECHANGELOG [INFO] Reading from DATABASECHANGELOG [INFO] SELECT * FROM DATABASECHANGELOG ORDER BY DATEEXECUTED ASC, ORDEREXECUTED ASC [INFO] CREATE TABLE T_TABLE1000 (ID NUMBER(*, 0) NOT NULL, NAME VARCHAR2(20 BYTE), REGION VARCHAR2(20 BYTE), MARKET VARCHAR2(20 BYTE)) [INFO] Table T_TABLE1000 created [INFO] ChangeSet dbchangelog.xml::15813::TsviZ ran successfully in 106ms [INFO] SELECT MAX(ORDEREXECUTED) FROM DATABASECHANGELOG [INFO] INSERT INTO DATABASECHANGELOG (ID, AUTHOR, FILENAME, DATEEXECUTED, ORDEREXECUTED, MD5SUM, DESCRIPTION, COMMENTS, EXECTYPE, CONTEXTS, LABELS, LIQUIBASE, DEPLOYMENT_ID) VALUES ('15813', 'TsviZ', 'dbchangelog.xml', SYSTIMESTAMP, 13, '8:2976d48b6ef8319cd030a74a3e9c533d', 'createTable tableName=T_TABLE1000', '', 'EXECUTED', NULL, NULL, '3.8.9', '7167413355') [INFO] Successfully released change log lock [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] BUILD SUCCESS [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [INFO] Total time: 18.124 s [INFO] Finished at: 2020-08-11T12:36:53-05:00 [INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

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