I’m migrating n8n 1.51.2 to a cloud SQL instance. The service fails with a migration error because the ‘migrations’ table already exists. When are migrations triggered?
I have encountered a similar situation when deploying a new n8n version in a containerized environment. In my case, the migrations ran automatically as part of the startup process, and because I had an existing database from a previous deployment, the migration scripts didn’t account for certain objects that were already there. I resolved this by adjusting the migration behavior in the configuration to skip existing tables. It might be worth checking if your deployment method allows you to fine-tune the migration execution or even disable it if you’re certain the schema is already appropriately configured.
My experience with n8n upgrades on cloud environments has shown that migrations are typically triggered automatically at startup. During migration, the system checks for existing schema data, leading to issues when legacy tables like ‘migrations’ remain from previous deployments. In my case, ensuring a clean state prior to deployment was key. Removing or backing up the pre-existing table before the update helped prevent migration errors. Alternatively, I found it useful to adjust the deployment process to handle known schema versions when transitioning to a new cloud SQL instance.
hey, i faced a simlar issue. i ended up droppin the migrations table b4 update. maybe check your startup scripts and config for any override options so the migration doesn’t run unnecessarily.
I have been in a similar situation migrating n8n to a cloud SQL instance. In my experience, the migration process is automatically triggered during the node startup, regardless of whether certain tables already exist in the legacy database. I found that the migration error occurred because the system expected a clean database state. My workaround was to export the existing data, remove the conflicting tables, and then re-import upon successful migration, ensuring that the new schema was correctly established without conflicts. This approach helped me bypass the issues caused by pre-existing objects.
Through my experience, I learned that migrations in n8n are automatically triggered during the initialization process, strictly when connecting to the database. This behavior can lead to unexpected conflicts if the database has remnants from earlier deployments. In one instance, I resolved a similar problem by first running a separate diagnostic script that confirmed which tables were causing conflicts. I then opted to adjust the deployment pipeline, ensuring that new migrations were only applied after cleaning up outdated schema elements or using a dedicated migration configuration. Backing up the database before each upgrade is always a wise precaution.