All Rails db Rake Tasks and What They Do

Feb 4, 2014

I sometimes get confused between the different db rake tasks – what is the difference between db:setup and db:reset, for example? So to clear up some of my confusion – and maybe some of yours – I have compiled this list of tasks with explanations.

  • db:create Creates the database for the current RAILS_ENV environment. If RAILS_ENV is not specified it defaults to the development and test databases.

  • db:create:all Creates the database for all environments.

  • db:drop Drops the database for the current RAILS_ENV environment. If RAILS_ENV is not specified it defaults to the development and test databases.

  • db:drop:all Drops the database for all environments.

  • db:migrate Runs migrations for the current environment that have not run yet. By default it will run migrations only in the development environment.
  • db:migrate:redo Runs db:migrate:down and db:migrate:up or db:migrate:rollback and db:migrate:up depending on the specified migration. I usually run this after creating and running a new migration to ensure the migration is reversable.
  • db:migrate:up Runs the up for the given migration VERSION.
  • db:migrate:down Runs the down for the given migration VERSION.
  • db:migrate:status Displays the current migration status.

  • db:migrate:rollback Rolls back the last migration.

  • db:version Prints the current schema version.
  • db:forward Pushes the schema to the next version.

  • db:seed Runs the db/seeds.rb file.

  • db:schema:load Recreates the database from the schema.rb file.

  • db:schema:dump Dumps the current environment’s schema to db/schema.rb.

  • db:structure:load Recreates the database from the structure.sql file.

  • db:structure:dump Dumps the current environment’s schema to db/structure.sql. (Specify another file with SCHEMA=db/my_structure.sql)

  • db:setup Runs db:create, db:schema:load and db:seed.
  • db:reset Runs db:drop and db:setup.

  • db:migrate:reset Runs db:drop, db:create and db:migrate.

  • db:test:prepare Check for pending migrations and load the test schema. (If you run rake without any arguments it will do this by default.)
  • db:test:clone Recreate the test database from the current environment’s database schema.

  • db:test:clone_structure Similar to db:test:clone, but it will ensure that your test database has the same structure, including charsets and collations, as your current environment’s database.

  • db:environment:set Set the current RAILS_ENV environment in the ar_internal_metadata table. (Used as part of the protected environment check.)
  • db:check_protected_environments Checks if a destructive action can be performed in the current RAILS_ENV environment. Used internally when running a destructive action such as db:drop or db:schema:load.

This was all taken from a combination of StackOverflow and the Rails source code.

Now updated for Rails 5! Happy coding.