Welcome back to our Indispensable Azure Tools series. This time, we’re exploring Redgate Flyway Community Edition, a tool that helps teams solve one of the most persistent challenges in IT: how to manage database changes reliably and at speed.
In many organizations the database is still a manual process. Updates are not automatically tracked, rollback scripts are written by hand, and production deployments depend on the experience of a few senior engineers. This creates risk, slows down delivery, and makes it impossible to bring the database into a modern DevOps process.
Flyway provides a simple but powerful answer. It enables teams to version control their database, automate deployments, and remove the need for manual update and rollback scripts. By treating the database as code, Flyway puts database development on the same footing as application development.
What is Redgate Flyway Community Edition?
The Community Edition of Flyway is free and open source. It focuses on solving the most important problem: how to get a database under version control and deploy changes in a reliable way.
At its core Flyway uses migration scripts that are stored in a repository, applied in order, and tracked in a schema history table inside the database. This creates a clear and auditable record of every change.
Flyway Community Edition supports more than fifty different database engines including SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, MySQL, and many more. This makes it one of the most versatile tools for database migration available today.
Why Flyway is indispensable
Flyway brings the database into source control so every change is tracked in Git and teams always know the exact state of the schema. It removes the need for hand written deployment and rollback scripts by applying migrations consistently across all environments. Because Flyway integrates naturally into CI and CD pipelines, database deployments become just as automated as application builds. And with its lightweight design and schema history table, it offers reliability and transparency without unnecessary complexity.
A typical project and workflow
A development team working on an application with a SQL Server backend sets up a single Git repository that contains both the application code and a folder for Flyway migrations. Whenever a developer needs to make a change to the database, they create a new migration script and commit it alongside the application changes.
When a pull request is created, an automated build pipeline runs Flyway against a test database. All pending migrations are applied in the correct order, the schema history table is updated, and integration tests confirm that the database and application work together. Once the pull request is approved, the migration script becomes part of the main branch.
From there a release pipeline applies the same migrations to staging and then to production. Each environment moves forward in a controlled sequence with the same scripts, the same tracking, and the same confidence. What was once a manual, error prone process is now consistent, auditable, and fast.
Real world impact
Teams that adopt Flyway often report faster delivery and fewer issues in production. Developers gain confidence because every change is tracked and tested before it reaches production. Operations teams gain visibility because deployments are consistent and auditable. Business stakeholders gain value because releases can happen more frequently with less risk.
Beyond the Community Edition
While the Community Edition covers the essentials, the Enterprise Edition provides much more power. Features such as automated undo script generation, drift detection, change reports, and schema comparison add further control and insight for complex environments.
Database development and deployment workflow with Flyway Enterprise
At DevOps Masterminds, we are proud to be a Redgate Gold Partner and we regularly help customers adopt Flyway in both Community and Enterprise form. For many teams the Community Edition is the perfect starting point. For organizations that need advanced governance, reporting, and automation the Enterprise Edition provides the next step.
Personal take
For too long the database has been left behind in the DevOps journey. Flyway changes that by giving teams a simple entry point into database source control and deployment automation. With the Community Edition you can start small and immediately reduce risk. With the Enterprise Edition you can scale to the needs of large and complex environments. Either way Flyway is an indispensable tool for any modern Hybrid or Cloud based data platform.
Starting with Flyway
Are you ready to bring your databases under control and unlock the full benefits of database DevOps? Start experimenting today with Flyway Community Edition on GitHub or download it directly from the official Redgate site.
If you want to learn more about the risks of unmanaged environments, take a look at this excellent article on preventing database drift with Flyway Snapshots.
When you are ready to go further, reach out to us at DevOps Masterminds. As a Redgate Gold Partner we can help you adopt the right edition of Flyway and integrate it into your pipelines so that your databases finally move at the speed your code does.
This post is part of the Indispensable Azure Tools series by DevOps Masterminds. Explore the full series here.
Stay tuned as we continue to highlight the tools that make building on Azure smarter, faster, and easier to manage.