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Asked: 2026-05-25T10:18:50+00:00

How can I track changes to a development database and apply those changes to

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How can I track changes to a development database and apply those changes to a production database (SQL Server 2008)?

I keep a local copy of a database on my development server, and as I’m adding new features, I may add new tables or change field and table names in the database. What’s a good way to track such changes and then apply them to the main database?

Is there some way to do a “diff”-like operation between two databases and merge definition changes?

I considered merge-replication, but I’m not sure how well than handles schema changes. For example, here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms151870.aspx it mentions that I basically cannot use SSMS to make definition changes, because it drops and recreates tables, which is not allowed for published objects.

A smart piece of software could compare column counts, types, positions, and apply other fuzzy matching/logical deduction methods to figure out that a table was renamed or a new table was added or a column name changed, after which it could present the differences to the user for confirmation and automatic application.

Does anything like what I’ve described above exist, or am I stuck remembering to save DDL statements in SSMS and running them manually in the production database?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Maybe you need a migration tool like (for example) FluentMigrator, which helps you track database changes in source code.

    Here is a tutorial from the original author of Fluent Migrator, explaining what Fluent Migrator is, why you might need it and how it works.

    Another alternative would be what you already mentioned:

    A smart piece of software could compare column counts, types,
    positions, and apply other fuzzy matching/logical deduction methods to
    figure out that a table was renamed or a new table was added or a
    column name changed, after which it could present the differences to
    the user for confirmation and automatic application.

    I never tried it myself, but I’ve seen lots of recommendations for Redgate SQL Compare (which apparently does exactly what you asked for) here at Stack Overflow.

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