SQL Server Schema Synchronization

This page provides additional information about the SQL Server synchronization tool available in dbForge Studio for SQL Server.

Schema synchronization is a process of generating a SQL script, necessary to migrate the schema of a source database to a target database (patch script).

With dbForge Studio for SQL Server, you can:

Generate a standards-driven schema synchronization script with all updates
Synchronize schemas located on different server versions
Control schema objects that will be included in a synchronization script
Customize a synchronization process up to your needs
Automate a synchronization process through the command line

Preparing for synchronization

Before running a sync process, you can review the schema comparison results on the Results grid and do the following:

Select the schema objects for synchronization
Remove the objects from the synchronization
Change the operation for the objects
Group the objects by status (default option), object type, or operation

To start synchronizing SQL schemas, click Synchronize.

Working with the Schema Synchronization Wizard

Schema Synchronization Wizard is designed to guide you through the script generation process and help tune the synchronization result.

On the Output page, you can choose whether to:

Open a synchronization script in the editor
Save the script to a local file on your computer
Execute the script immediately without reviewing it

Customizing synchronization

The wizard includes advanced options for customization of a SQL synchronization script. In particular, you can:

Back up a database before sync
Set additional rules for synchronization
Check the list of objects automatically included into synchronization as they depend on some compared objects
View the synchronization actions and the list of warnings generated during mapping

Viewing the synchronization script

When the synchronization options are all set, you can open the script in the internal editor to review it. To complete the schema synchronization, you need to run it against the selected database by clicking Execute on the SQL toolbar.

Scheduling tasks through the command line

The command-line interface of dbForge Studio and Windows Task Scheduler can help you automate and schedule routine schema synchronization tasks to keep database schemas in sync.

Create a *.bat file: In the Schema Synchronization Wizard, set the synchronization options and then click Save Command Line. In the Command line execution file settings window that opens, configure the settings to manage the *.bat file.
Open the Windows Task Scheduler to create a sync task.