Database Migration Patterns for Rails 8
Overview
Safe database migrations are critical for production stability:
- •Zero-downtime deployments
- •Reversible migrations
- •Proper indexing
- •Data integrity constraints
- •Performance considerations
Quick Start
bash
# Generate migration bin/rails generate migration AddStatusToEvents status:integer # Run migrations bin/rails db:migrate # Rollback bin/rails db:rollback # Check status bin/rails db:migrate:status
Safety Checklist
code
Migration Safety: - [ ] Migration is reversible (has down or uses change) - [ ] Large tables use batching for updates - [ ] Indexes added concurrently (if needed) - [ ] Foreign keys have indexes - [ ] NOT NULL added in two steps (for existing columns) - [ ] Default values don't lock table - [ ] Tested rollback locally
Safe Migration Patterns
Pattern 1: Add Column (Safe)
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_add_status_to_events.rb
class AddStatusToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :events, :status, :integer, default: 0, null: false
end
end
Pattern 2: Add Column with NOT NULL (Two-Step)
For existing tables with data, add NOT NULL in two migrations:
ruby
# Step 1: Add column with default (allows NULL temporarily)
# db/migrate/20240115000001_add_priority_to_tasks.rb
class AddPriorityToTasks < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :tasks, :priority, :integer, default: 0
end
end
# Step 2: Add NOT NULL constraint after backfill
# db/migrate/20240115000002_add_not_null_to_tasks_priority.rb
class AddNotNullToTasksPriority < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
change_column_null :tasks, :priority, false
end
end
Pattern 3: Add Index (Production Safe)
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_add_index_to_events_status.rb
class AddIndexToEventsStatus < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def change
add_index :events, :status, algorithm: :concurrently, if_not_exists: true
end
end
Pattern 4: Add Foreign Key with Index
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_add_account_to_events.rb
class AddAccountToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_reference :events, :account, null: false, foreign_key: true, index: true
end
end
Pattern 5: Rename Column (Safe)
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_rename_name_to_title_on_events.rb
class RenameNameToTitleOnEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
rename_column :events, :name, :title
end
end
Pattern 6: Remove Column (Safe)
First, remove references in code, then migrate:
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_remove_legacy_field_from_events.rb
class RemoveLegacyFieldFromEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
# safety_assured tells strong_migrations this is intentional
safety_assured { remove_column :events, :legacy_field, :string }
end
end
Pattern 7: Add Enum Column
ruby
# db/migrate/20240115000001_add_status_enum_to_orders.rb
class AddStatusEnumToOrders < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
# Use integer for Rails enum
add_column :orders, :status, :integer, default: 0, null: false
# Add index for queries
add_index :orders, :status
end
end
In model:
ruby
class Order < ApplicationRecord
enum :status, { pending: 0, confirmed: 1, shipped: 2, delivered: 3, cancelled: 4 }
end
Dangerous Operations (Avoid)
DON'T: Change Column Type Directly
ruby
# DANGEROUS - can lose data or lock table
class ChangeColumnType < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
change_column :events, :budget, :decimal # DON'T DO THIS
end
end
DO: Add New Column, Migrate Data, Remove Old
ruby
# Step 1: Add new column
class AddBudgetDecimalToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :events, :budget_decimal, :decimal, precision: 10, scale: 2
end
end
# Step 2: Backfill data (in a rake task or separate migration)
class BackfillEventsBudget < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def up
Event.in_batches.update_all("budget_decimal = budget")
end
def down
# Data migration, no rollback needed
end
end
# Step 3: Remove old column (after code updated)
class RemoveOldBudgetFromEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
safety_assured { remove_column :events, :budget, :integer }
rename_column :events, :budget_decimal, :budget
end
end
Data Migrations
Safe Backfill Pattern
ruby
class BackfillEventStatus < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
disable_ddl_transaction!
def up
Event.unscoped.in_batches(of: 1000) do |batch|
batch.where(status: nil).update_all(status: 0)
sleep(0.1) # Reduce database load
end
end
def down
# No rollback for data migration
end
end
Using Background Job for Large Tables
ruby
# Migration just adds column
class AddProcessedAtToEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
add_column :events, :processed_at, :datetime
end
end
# Separate job for backfill
class BackfillProcessedAtJob < ApplicationJob
def perform(start_id, end_id)
Event.where(id: start_id..end_id, processed_at: nil)
.update_all(processed_at: Time.current)
end
end
# Rake task to enqueue
# lib/tasks/backfill.rake
namespace :backfill do
task processed_at: :environment do
Event.in_batches(of: 10_000) do |batch|
BackfillProcessedAtJob.perform_later(batch.minimum(:id), batch.maximum(:id))
end
end
end
Index Strategies
Composite Indexes
ruby
# For queries: WHERE account_id = ? AND status = ? add_index :events, [:account_id, :status] # Order matters! This index helps: # - WHERE account_id = ? # - WHERE account_id = ? AND status = ? # But NOT: # - WHERE status = ?
Partial Indexes
ruby
# Index only active records add_index :events, :event_date, where: "status = 0", name: "index_events_on_date_active" # Index only non-null values add_index :users, :reset_token, where: "reset_token IS NOT NULL"
Unique Indexes
ruby
# Unique constraint add_index :users, :email, unique: true # Unique within scope add_index :event_vendors, [:event_id, :vendor_id], unique: true
Foreign Keys
Adding Foreign Keys
ruby
class AddForeignKeys < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
# With automatic index
add_reference :events, :venue, foreign_key: true
# To existing column
add_foreign_key :events, :accounts
# With specific column name
add_foreign_key :events, :users, column: :organizer_id
end
end
Foreign Key Options
ruby
# ON DELETE CASCADE (delete children when parent deleted) add_foreign_key :comments, :posts, on_delete: :cascade # ON DELETE NULLIFY (set to NULL when parent deleted) add_foreign_key :posts, :users, column: :author_id, on_delete: :nullify # ON DELETE RESTRICT (prevent parent deletion) add_foreign_key :orders, :users, on_delete: :restrict
Strong Migrations Gem
Installation
ruby
# Gemfile gem 'strong_migrations'
Configuration
ruby
# config/initializers/strong_migrations.rb
StrongMigrations.start_after = 20240101000000
# Target version for safe operations
StrongMigrations.target_version = 16 # PostgreSQL version
# Custom checks
StrongMigrations.add_check do |method, args|
if method == :add_column && args[1] == :events
stop! "Check with team before modifying events table"
end
end
Handling Warnings
ruby
class AddColumnWithDefault < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
# Tell strong_migrations this is safe
safety_assured do
add_column :events, :priority, :integer, default: 0, null: false
end
end
end
Reversible Migrations
Using change (Automatic Reversal)
ruby
class CreateEvents < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def change
create_table :events do |t|
t.string :name, null: false
t.date :event_date
t.references :account, null: false, foreign_key: true
t.timestamps
end
add_index :events, [:account_id, :event_date]
end
end
Using up/down (Manual Reversal)
ruby
class ChangeEventsStructure < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def up
# Complex change
execute <<-SQL
ALTER TABLE events ADD CONSTRAINT check_positive_budget
CHECK (budget_cents >= 0)
SQL
end
def down
execute <<-SQL
ALTER TABLE events DROP CONSTRAINT check_positive_budget
SQL
end
end
Irreversible Migrations
ruby
class DropLegacyTable < ActiveRecord::Migration[8.0]
def up
drop_table :legacy_events
end
def down
raise ActiveRecord::IrreversibleMigration, "Cannot restore dropped table"
end
end
Testing Migrations
Test Rollback
bash
# Migrate and rollback bin/rails db:migrate bin/rails db:rollback bin/rails db:migrate # Check for issues bin/rails db:migrate:status
Schema Check
ruby
# spec/db/schema_spec.rb
RSpec.describe "Database Schema" do
it "has all foreign keys indexed" do
foreign_keys = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.foreign_keys(:events)
indexes = ActiveRecord::Base.connection.indexes(:events)
foreign_keys.each do |fk|
indexed = indexes.any? { |idx| idx.columns.first == fk.column }
expect(indexed).to be(true), "Missing index for #{fk.column}"
end
end
end
Performance Tips
Avoid Table Locks
ruby
# DON'T - Locks entire table add_index :large_table, :column # DO - Non-blocking disable_ddl_transaction! add_index :large_table, :column, algorithm: :concurrently
Batch Operations
ruby
# DON'T - Updates all at once Event.update_all(status: 0) # DO - Updates in batches Event.in_batches(of: 1000) do |batch| batch.update_all(status: 0) end
Checklist
- • Migration is reversible
- • Indexes on foreign keys
- • Concurrent index creation for large tables
- • NOT NULL added safely (two-step)
- • Data migrations use batching
- • Tested rollback locally
- • strong_migrations gem checks pass
- • No table locks during deploy