Migrating Room databases

As you add and change features in your app, you need to modify your Room entity classes to reflect these changes. However, it is important to preserve user data that is already in the on-device database when an app update changes the database schema.

The Room persistence library supports incremental migrations with the Migration classes to address this need. Each Migration subclass defines a migration path between a startVersion and an endVersion by overriding the Migration.migrate() method. When an app update requires a database version upgrade, Room runs the migrate() method from one or more Migration subclasses to migrate the database to the latest version at runtime:

val MIGRATION_1_2 = object : Migration(1, 2) {
    override fun migrate(database: SupportSQLiteDatabase) {
        database.execSQL("CREATE TABLE `Fruit` (`id` INTEGER, `name` TEXT, " +
                "PRIMARY KEY(`id`))")
    }
}

val MIGRATION_2_3 = object : Migration(2, 3) {
    override fun migrate(database: SupportSQLiteDatabase) {
        database.execSQL("ALTER TABLE Book ADD COLUMN pub_year INTEGER")
    }
}

Room.databaseBuilder(applicationContext, MyDb::class.java, "database-name")
        .addMigrations(MIGRATION_1_2, MIGRATION_2_3).build()

static final Migration MIGRATION_1_2 = new Migration(1, 2) {
    @Override
    public void migrate(SupportSQLiteDatabase database) {
        database.execSQL("CREATE TABLE `Fruit` (`id` INTEGER, "
                + "`name` TEXT, PRIMARY KEY(`id`))");
    }
};

static final Migration MIGRATION_2_3 = new Migration(2, 3) {
    @Override
    public void migrate(SupportSQLiteDatabase database) {
        database.execSQL("ALTER TABLE Book "
                + " ADD COLUMN pub_year INTEGER");
    }
};

Room.databaseBuilder(getApplicationContext(), MyDb.class, "database-name")
        .addMigrations(MIGRATION_1_2, MIGRATION_2_3).build();

Caution: To keep your migration logic functioning as expected, use full queries instead of referencing constants that represent the queries.

After the migration process finishes, Room validates the schema to ensure that the migration succeeded. If Room finds a problem, it throws an exception that contains the mismatched information.

For more information, see the Room Migration Sample on GitHub.

Test migrations

Migrations are often complex, and an incorrectly-defined migration could cause your app to crash. To preserve your app's stability, you should test your migrations. Room provides a room-testing Maven artifact to assist with the testing process. However, for this artifact to work, you must first export your database's schema.

Export schemas

Room can export your database's schema information into a JSON file at compile time. To export the schema, set the room.schemaLocation annotation processor property in your app/build.gradle file:

build.gradle

android {
    ...
    defaultConfig {
        ...
        javaCompileOptions {
            annotationProcessorOptions {
                arguments += ["room.schemaLocation":
                             "$projectDir/schemas".toString()]
            }
        }
    }
}

The exported JSON files represent your database's schema history. You should store these files in your version control system, as it allows Room to create older versions of the database for testing purposes.

Test a single migration

Before you can test your migrations, you must add the androidx.room:room-testing Maven artifact from Room into your test dependencies, and add the location of the exported schema as an asset folder:

build.gradle

android {
    ...
    sourceSets {
        // Adds exported schema location as test app assets.
        androidTest.assets.srcDirs += files("$projectDir/schemas".toString())
    }
}

dependencies {
    ...
      testImplementation "androidx.room:room-testing:2.2.5"
}

The testing package provides a MigrationTestHelper class, which can read exported schema files. The package also implements the JUnit4 TestRule interface, so it can manage created databases.

The following example demonstrates a test for a single migration:

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class)
class MigrationTest {
    private val TEST_DB = "migration-test"

    @Rule
    val helper: MigrationTestHelper = MigrationTestHelper(
            InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation(),
            MigrationDb::class.java.canonicalName,
            FrameworkSQLiteOpenHelperFactory()
    )

    @Test
    @Throws(IOException::class)
    fun migrate1To2() {
        var db = helper.createDatabase(TEST_DB, 1).apply {
            // db has schema version 1. insert some data using SQL queries.
            // You cannot use DAO classes because they expect the latest schema.
            execSQL(...)

            // Prepare for the next version.
            close()
        }

        // Re-open the database with version 2 and provide
        // MIGRATION_1_2 as the migration process.
        db = helper.runMigrationsAndValidate(TEST_DB, 2, true, MIGRATION_1_2)

        // MigrationTestHelper automatically verifies the schema changes,
        // but you need to validate that the data was migrated properly.
    }
}

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4.class)
public class MigrationTest {
    private static final String TEST_DB = "migration-test";

    @Rule
    public MigrationTestHelper helper;

    public MigrationTest() {
        helper = new MigrationTestHelper(InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation(),
                MigrationDb.class.getCanonicalName(),
                new FrameworkSQLiteOpenHelperFactory());
    }

    @Test
    public void migrate1To2() throws IOException {
        SupportSQLiteDatabase db = helper.createDatabase(TEST_DB, 1);

        // db has schema version 1. insert some data using SQL queries.
        // You cannot use DAO classes because they expect the latest schema.
        db.execSQL(...);

        // Prepare for the next version.
        db.close();

        // Re-open the database with version 2 and provide
        // MIGRATION_1_2 as the migration process.
        db = helper.runMigrationsAndValidate(TEST_DB, 2, true, MIGRATION_1_2);

        // MigrationTestHelper automatically verifies the schema changes,
        // but you need to validate that the data was migrated properly.
    }
}

Test all migrations

Though it is possible to test a single incremental migration, it is recommended that you include a test that covers all of the migrations defined for your app's database. This ensures that there is no discrepancy between a recently-created database instance and an older instance that followed the defined migration paths.

The following example demonstrates a test for all defined migrations:

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4::class)
class MigrationTest {
    private val TEST_DB = "migration-test"

    // Array of all migrations
    private val ALL_MIGRATIONS = arrayOf(
            MIGRATION_1_2, MIGRATION_2_3, MIGRATION_3_4)

    @Rule
    val helper: MigrationTestHelper = MigrationTestHelper(
            InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation(),
            AppDatabase::class.java.canonicalName,
            FrameworkSQLiteOpenHelperFactory()
    )

    @Test
    @Throws(IOException::class)
    fun migrateAll() {
        // Create earliest version of the database.
        helper.createDatabase(TEST_DB, 1).apply {
            close()
        }

        // Open latest version of the database. Room will validate the schema
        // once all migrations execute.
        Room.databaseBuilder(
                InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation().getTargetContext(),
                AppDatabase.class,
                TEST_DB
        ).addMigrations(*ALL_MIGRATIONS).build().apply {
            getOpenHelper().getWritableDatabase()
            close()
        }
    }
}

@RunWith(AndroidJUnit4.class)
public class MigrationTest {
    private static final String TEST_DB = "migration-test";

    @Rule
    public MigrationTestHelper helper;

    public MigrationTest() {
        helper = new MigrationTestHelper(InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation(),
                AppDatabase.class.getCanonicalName(),
                new FrameworkSQLiteOpenHelperFactory());
    }

    @Test
    public void migrateAll() throws IOException {
        // Create earliest version of the database.
        SupportSQLiteDatabase db = helper.createDatabase(TEST_DB, 1);
        db.close();

        // Open latest version of the database. Room will validate the schema
        // once all migrations execute.
        AppDatabase appDb = Room.databaseBuilder(
                InstrumentationRegistry.getInstrumentation().getTargetContext(),
                AppDatabase.class,
                TEST_DB)
                .addMigrations(ALL_MIGRATIONS).build();
        appDb.getOpenHelper().getWritableDatabase();
        appDb.close();
    }

    // Array of all migrations
    private static final Migration[] ALL_MIGRATIONS = new Migration[]{
            MIGRATION_1_2, MIGRATION_2_3, MIGRATION_3_4};
}

Gracefully handle missing migration paths

If Room cannot find a migration path for upgrading an existing database on a device to the current version, an IllegalStateException occurs. If it is acceptable to lose existing data when a migration path is missing, call the fallbackToDestructiveMigration() builder method when you create the database:

Room.databaseBuilder(applicationContext, MyDb::class.java, "database-name")
        .fallbackToDestructiveMigration()
        .build()

Room.databaseBuilder(getApplicationContext(), MyDb.class, "database-name")
        .fallbackToDestructiveMigration()
        .build();

This method tells Room to destructively recreate the tables in your app's database when it needs to perform an incremental migration where there is no defined migration path.

If you only want to Room to fall back to destructive recreation in certain situations, there are a few alternatives to fallbackToDestructiveMigration():

• If specific versions of your schema history cause errors that you cannot solve with migration paths, use fallbackToDestructiveMigrationFrom() instead. This method indicates that you want Room to fall back to destructive recreation only when migrating from specific versions.
• If you want Room to fall back to destructive recreation only when migrating from a higher database version to a lower one, use fallbackToDestructiveMigrationOnDowngrade() instead.

Handle column default value when upgrading to Room 2.2.0

In Room 2.2.0 and higher, you can define a default value for a column by using the annotation @ColumnInfo(defaultValue = "..."). In versions lower than 2.2.0, the only way to define a default value for a column is by defining it directly in an executed SQL statement, which creates a default value that Room does not know about. This means that if a database is originally created by a version of Room lower than 2.2.0, upgrading your app to use Room 2.2.0 might require you to provide a special migration path for existing default values that you defined without using Room APIs.

For example, suppose that version 1 of a database defines a Song entity:

// Song Entity, DB Version 1, Room 2.1.0
@Entity
data class Song(
    @PrimaryKey
    val id: Long,
    val title: String
)

// Song Entity, DB Version 1, Room 2.1.0
@Entity
public class Song {
    @PrimaryKey
    final long id;
    final String title;
}

Suppose also that version 2 of the same database adds a new NOT NULL column and defines a migration path from version 1 to version 2:

// Song Entity, DB Version 2, Room 2.1.0
@Entity
data class Song(
    @PrimaryKey
    val id: Long,
    val title: String,
    val tag: String // Added in version 2.
)

// Migration from 1 to 2, Room 2.1.0
val MIGRATION_1_2 = object : Migration(1, 2) {
    override fun migrate(database: SupportSQLiteDatabase) {
        database.execSQL(
            "ALTER TABLE Song ADD COLUMN tag TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''")
    }
}

// Song Entity, DB Version 2, Room 2.1.0
@Entity
public class Song {
    @PrimaryKey
    final long id;
    final String title;
    @NonNull
    final String tag; // Added in version 2.
}


// Migration from 1 to 2, Room 2.1.0
static final Migration MIGRATION_1_2 = new Migration(1, 2) {
    @Override
    public void migrate(SupportSQLiteDatabase database) {
        database.execSQL(
            "ALTER TABLE Song ADD COLUMN tag TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''");
    }
};

This causes a discrepancy in the underlying table between updates and fresh installs of the app. Because the default value for the tag column is only declared in the migration path from version 1 to version 2, any users who installed the app starting from version 2 don't have the default value for tag in their database schema.

In versions of Room lower than 2.2.0, this discrepancy is harmless. However, if the app later upgrades to use Room 2.2.0 or higher and changes the Song entity class to include a default value for tag using the @ColumnInfo annotation, then Room is now able to see this discrepancy. This results in failed schema validations.

To ensure that the database schema is consistent across all users when column default values are declared in your earlier migration paths, do the following the first time you upgrade your app to use Room 2.2.0 or higher:

1. Declare column default values in their respective entity classes using the @ColumnInfo annotation.
2. Increase the database version number by one.
3. Define a migration path to the new version that implements the drop and recreate strategy to add the necessary default values to their existing columns.

The following example demonstrates this process:

// Migration from 2 to 3, Room 2.2.0
val MIGRATION_2_3 = object : Migration(2, 3) {
    override fun migrate(database: SupportSQLiteDatabase) {
        database.execSQL("""
                CREATE TABLE new_Song (
                    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL,
                    name TEXT,
                    tag TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ''
                )
                """.trimIndent())
        database.execSQL("""
                INSERT INTO new_Song (id, name, tag)
                SELECT id, name, tag FROM Song
                """.trimIndent())
        database.execSQL("DROP TABLE Song")
        database.execSQL("ALTER TABLE new_Song RENAME TO Song")
    }
}

// Migration from 2 to 3, Room 2.2.0
static final Migration MIGRATION_2_3 = new Migration(2, 3) {
    @Override
    public void migrate(SupportSQLiteDatabase database) {
        database.execSQL("CREATE TABLE new_Song (" +
                "id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL," +
                "name TEXT," +
                "tag TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '')");
        database.execSQL("INSERT INTO new_Song (id, name, tag) " +
                "SELECT id, name, tag FROM Song");
        database.execSQL("DROP TABLE Song");
        database.execSQL("ALTER TABLE new_Song RENAME TO Song");
    }
};