Using ef6.exe

Note

This article assumes you know how to use Code First Migrations in basic scenarios. If you don't, then read Code First Migrations before continuing.

Code First Migrations can update a database from Visual Studio, but you can also run migrations from the command line with ef6.exe. This utility replaces migrate.exe.

Locate ef6.exe

When you install Entity Framework using NuGet, ef6.exe is in the tools folder of the NuGet package. With PackageReference, the package is stored in the global packages folder. For example:

%USERPROFILE%\.nuget\packages\entityframework\6.5.2\tools\net45\any\ef6.exe

Replace 6.5.2 with the version of Entity Framework installed in your project.

View the options

ef6.exe database update --help

Migrate to the latest migration

ef6.exe database update --assembly MyMvcApplication.dll --config ..\web.config

The assembly containing the migrations is required. Other settings use conventions when they aren't specified.

Migrate to a specific migration

ef6.exe database update --assembly MyApp.exe --config MyApp.exe.config --target AddTitle

Use --target to apply all migrations through a specific migration.

Specify project directory

ef6.exe database update --assembly MyApp.exe --config MyApp.exe.config --project-dir C:\MyApp

Use --project-dir to set the project directory used to resolve dependencies and relative file paths.

Specify migration configuration to use

ef6.exe database update --assembly MyAssembly.dll --migrations-config CustomConfig --config ..\web.config

If the assembly contains multiple migration configuration classes, use --migrations-config to specify which one to use.

Provide connection string

ef6.exe database update --assembly BlogDemo.dll --connection-string "Data Source=localhost;Initial Catalog=BlogDemo;Integrated Security=SSPI" --connection-provider System.Data.SqlClient

When you specify a connection string, you must also specify its provider name.

Generate a SQL script

Use --script to write the SQL migration script to standard output. Redirect the output to save the script to a file:

ef6.exe database update --assembly MyApp.dll --script > migration.sql

Use --source and --target to control the range of migrations included in the script.

migrate.exe option equivalents

The following table maps migrate.exe arguments to their ef6.exe database update equivalents:

migrate.exe	ef6.exe database update
<assembly>	--assembly
<configurationType>	--migrations-config
<contextAssembly>	No equivalent. Put it in the same directory as the assembly passed to --assembly.
/targetMigration	--target
/startupDirectory	--project-dir
/scriptFile	--script
/sourceMigration	--source
/startupConfigurationFile	--config
/startupDataDirectory	--data-dir
/connectionStringName	--connection-string-name
/connectionString	--connection-string
/connectionProviderName	--connection-provider
/force	--force
/verbose	--verbose
/?	--help