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ModernAPI

Database Migrations

EF Core migrations, schema evolution, and deployment strategies

GuidesIntermediate• 12 min read
Migration Workflow
Follow these steps for safe database schema evolution in ModernAPI
1
Create Migration
2
Review Changes
3
Test Migration
4
Apply to Database
5
Verify Schema
What are EF Core Migrations?
Code-first database schema management with version control

Key Concepts

  • • Migration: A versioned set of database schema changes
  • • Model Snapshot: Current state of your EF Core model
  • • Up Methods: Apply changes to move forward
  • • Down Methods: Reverse changes for rollback
  • • Migration History: Tracks applied migrations in __EFMigrationsHistory table

Benefits

  • • Version-controlled schema changes
  • • Reproducible deployments
  • • Safe rollback capabilities
  • • Team collaboration support
  • • Environment synchronization

ModernAPI Features

  • • PostgreSQL optimized migrations
  • • snake_case naming conventions
  • • Audit column configurations
  • • Index and constraint management
  • • Seed data integration
Basic Migration Workflow
Standard process for creating and applying migrations

Step-by-Step Process

1

Modify Your Model

Update entities, add new properties, or create new entities

// Add new property to User entity public string PhoneNumber { get; set; } = string.Empty;
2

Create Migration

Generate migration file with descriptive name

dotnet ef migrations add AddUserPhoneNumber --project ModernAPI.Infrastructure --startup-project ModernAPI.API
3

Review Generated Code

Inspect migration file for accuracy and safety

// Check Migrations/20240101000000_AddUserPhoneNumber.cs migrationBuilder.AddColumn<string>( name: "phone_number", table: "users", nullable: false, defaultValue: "");
4

Apply Migration

Update database schema

dotnet ef database update --project ModernAPI.Infrastructure --startup-project ModernAPI.API
Next Steps
Continue learning about ModernAPI development

Related Guides

  • • Adding New Entities
  • • API Endpoint Creation
  • • Testing Strategies
  • • Deployment Workflows

Advanced Topics

  • • Multi-tenant migrations
  • • Zero-downtime deployments
  • • Database sharding strategies
  • • Performance optimization

Tools & References

  • • EF Core documentation
  • • PostgreSQL best practices
  • • Migration testing tools
  • • Monitoring solutions