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  • Version · 6.0
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output-file

Last updated: August 12, 2026

To send your command output to a file, use the output-file parameter. The output-file parameter works with the diff command, snapshot command, and Liquibase SQL commands.

You can use the output-file parameter with diff and snapshot commands to gather the information about the current state of a database and send this information as a text-based version of the schema to a file. You can use the output-file parameter with Liquibase SQL commands to receive an SQL script in a file instead of having it in the CLI. Tip: For best results, specify all commands and parameters in the --kebab-case format in the CLI. If your preference is camelCase, it also works in the CLI.

An example of running the output-file parameter

liquibase --output-file=../the/path/to/my/output/file update-sql

An example of running both output-file and log-file parameters

To get the log and output information from a command, use the output-file and log-file parameters simultaneously:

liquibase --output-file=mysnapshot.json --log-level=debug --log-file=liquibase.log snapshot

Syntax

You can set this parameter in the following ways:

Option

Syntax

Liquibase properties file (defaults file)

liquibase.outputFile: <string>

Global flow file argument

globalArgs: { output-file: "<string>" }

Global CLI parameter

liquibase --output-file=<string> diff --changelog-file=example-changelog.xml

JVM system property (JAVA_OPTS environment variable)

Unix:

JAVA_OPTS=-Dliquibase.outputFile=<string>

Windows:

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

Liquibase environment variable

LIQUIBASE_OUTPUT_FILE=<string>

For more information, see Working with command parameters

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