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on-missing-include-changelog

Last updated: August 12, 2026

The on-missing-include-changelog global parameter controls how Liquibase behaves when it cannot find a changelog specified in an include tag in the root changelog. It is available in Liquibase 4.19.1+.

If you set on-missing-include-changelog to WARN and the included changelog is not present, a warning message will appear in Liquibase logs. If it is set to FAIL and the included changelog is not present, Liquibase returns an error. The default configuration is FAIL. We recommend setting it to WARN.

Uses

If your included changelog was removed by accident, Liquibase will notify you immediately so you know the exact cause of the error. With on-missing-include-changelog enabled, you will be able to quickly determine why the file is missing and how to restore it.

Syntax

You can set this parameter in the following ways:

Option

Syntax

Liquibase properties file (defaults file)

liquibase.onMissingIncludeChangelog: <string>

Global flow file argument

globalArgs: { on-missing-include-changelog: "<string>" }

Global CLI parameter

liquibase --on-missing-include-changelog=<string> update --changelog-file=example-changelog.xml

JVM system property (JAVA_OPTS environment variable)

Unix:

JAVA_OPTS=-Dliquibase.onMissingIncludeChangelog=<string>

Windows:

JAVA_OPTS=-D"liquibase.onMissingIncludeChangelog"=<string>

Liquibase environment variable

LIQUIBASE_ON_MISSING_INCLUDE_CHANGELOG=<string>

For more information, see Working with Command Parameters.

Output

If you set --on-missing-include-changelog to WARN and Liquibase cannot find the changelog you specify in <include>, your log output displays the following:

[2023-07-24 12:59:38] FINE [liquibase.resource] Path com/example/news/news.changelog.sql in /home/my_username/Datical/liquibase-pro-tests/tmp/project does not exist (liquibase.resource.DirectoryResourceAccessor (/home/my_username/Datical/liquibase-pro-tests/tmp/project)) [2023-07-24 12:59:38] FINE [liquibase.configuration] Found 'liquibase.onMissingIncludeChangelog' configuration of 'WARN' command argument '--on-missing-include-changelog' of 'WARN' [2023-07-24 12:59:38] WARNING [liquibase.changelog] The file com/example/news/news.changelog.sql was not found in the configured search path:

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