Flyway Desktop Preview available!

David Atkinson

Flyway Desktop is a from-the-ground-up rewrite of SQL Source Control. We have designed this to rectify a handful of deficiencies in SQL Source Control.

1. It's a standalone app, which means that it works for those not necessarily using SSMS.
2. Improved performance with large schemas and over slow connections/VPNs
3. Supports Azure SQL Database / Managed Instances (including Azure AD Interactive MFS auth)
4. High DPI is supported
5. Designed to support migrations-based deployments (in addition to state-based)

As this is our first preview we are eager to get feedback from the beginning. Not all SQL Source Control features have been ported so do let us know which ones are missing, so we can prioritize accordingly.

To try, download the most recent installer here.

DROP_TABLE_Students

Excellent @David Atkinson.  I've been looking forward to this and will try to test it out soon.  Thank you for the preview.

DROP_TABLE_Students

Maybe my expectations were a bit off for this product.  I was expecting something similar to SQL Source Control where I could authenticate to a server, link a DB to source control, then see pending changes and perform check-ins.  

I haven't gotten too deep in the new stand-alone product yet, but it seems fundamentally different than SSC.  It depends on everything being contained in a "project" which stores files locally and, as far as I know, is not a concept in SSC.  I've created a test project, but not really sure where to go from there.  I'll keep looking, not sure why source control must be contained in a project.

Also, the branding is inconsistent.  The splash screen on the installer says "Redgate Deploy" then the installer itself calls it "Redgate Change Control" and clicking the "More details" link in the installer takes me to the "Redgate Deploy" webpage (https://www.red-gate.com/products/redgate-deploy/).

Version control tab only mentions Git - we use TFS for Redgate source control because we use the Shared development model.  Is this not supported?

PlantBasedSQL

Hey @DROP_TABLE_Students thanks for sharing!

I was asked about using Redgate Change Control by a customer recently who had a need for the Shared Model and TFVC - so I created this video for them to run through a few features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tzvCtFTacs&ab_channel=RedgateVideos 

Let me know if this addresses some of your questions! 

I believe branding is on the teams radar but thank you for the feedback

StephanieHerr

Hi @DROP_TABLE_Students and everyone else,

I hope Chris' video above has helped answer some of your questions about the project and how you can use Redgate Change Control with TFS. 

We are looking to set up some user research calls on the new solution - Redgate Change Control (branding still being worked).  The session would take an hour.  We would like to learn more about what you're currently doing with SQL Source Control and any "pain points" or suggestions for improvements that you may have.  We'll also plan to share our screen and have you take remote control to walk through some tasks to get a better understanding of how you see the preview and get your feedback on it early.

If you are interested in joining us for a research call, please sign up for an available time at 
https://calendly.com/d/gyj5-d4bp/redgate-devops-preview-research-call?month=2021-09.  Depending on how many sign-ups we get and what we learn from the calls, we may contact you to reschedule. 

We look forward to working with you on this as we move from preview to release candidate and beyond.

pablolerner

Hello. We use Source Control with TFS as well. All databases set up as Shared. I have look at the video posted above but the process being described does not seem to work for my team. We can't go from Source Control already connected to TFS to two different tools, one for Database to folder versioning, and another (Visual Studio) for commiting changes into TFS. There are several members of my team who currently refuses to use Source Control due to the performance penalty in SSMS, I can't propose two tools as an alternative.
The best scenario for us would be to have the same functionality that Source Control provides currently, but without the performance penalty in SSMS.

David Atkinson

@pablolerner - SSMS integration won't be in the first version although it's something that will be considered in future as we're aware of the convenience this brings.

Regarding TFS integration, we're seeing the market move very swiftly away from TFVC and on to Git. Even Microsoft no longer recommend using TFVC, so I'd be curious to know if your organization have any plans to migrate? See the following article for more details. 

DROP_TABLE_Students

David Atkinson said:

Regarding TFS integration, we're seeing the market move very swiftly away from TFVC and on to Git. Even Microsoft no longer recommend using TFVC, so I'd be curious to know if your organization have any plans to migrate? See the following article for more details. 

@David Atkinson - We use Git for all our .NET code, and we wanted to use Git for SSC, but since we use the shared development model, we could not.

David Atkinson

@DROP_TABLE_Students - You'll be pleased to know that in the new tool we've lifted that restriction, although there are implications when using a shared database. Scroll down to the last paragraph in this docs page.

pablolerner

David Atkinson said:

@pablolerner - SSMS integration won't be in the first version although it's something that will be considered in future as we're aware of the convenience this brings.

Regarding TFS integration, we're seeing the market move very swiftly away from TFVC and on to Git. Even Microsoft no longer recommend using TFVC, so I'd be curious to know if your organization have any plans to migrate? See the following article for more details. 

Thanks David. The reason for staying in TFS is the same DROP_TABLE_Students mentioned: Source Control does not support the shared model for git. We need to stick to it since a databases bigger than 4 TB does not allow copies for every developer. But then, if the new tool does allow for the shared model with git we will be very happy to migrate. Integration with SSMS is not a must for us.

But one question then. We currently use Source Control to commit to TFS and then SQL Compare to implement from TFS to the production environment. We don't care about repeatable migration scripts. Will we be able to stick to this procedure with the new tool?

David Atkinson

@pablolerner - Great to hear that you are able to move to git. Please give this a go and let us know if there are any significant shortcomings.

Have you considered a tool like SQL Clone, which can provide database clones for each developer without incurring a larg overhead? Development is so much simpler if each developer has their own sandbox.

If you choose not to use migration scripts, you can still use the new tool. The project will still contain the schema model ("scripts folder" in SQL Source Control) and whether you use this as a deployment source (eg, with SQL Compare) or whether you use this as a source from which to create migration scripts, is entirely your choice.

pablolerner

Thank you, David. Will try to get to test the new tool as soon as I can

Mike_C

I am testing the preview  version of the new Change Control tool, but it's telling me my free trial is expired. How do I continue testing during the preview period?

Mike_C

Mike_C said:

I am testing the preview  version of the new Change Control tool, but it's telling me my free trial is expired. How do I continue testing during the preview period?

Any ideas?

StephanieHerr

Hi @Mike_C.  Sorry I missed this.  We've released a new major version since then and the tool has been renamed to Flyway Desktop.  You should be able to Check For Updates within the tool and get the upgrade.  New major versions will start a new trial.  If you ever get stuck again and want to extend your trial period, please email sales@red-gate.com.  Thank you!

Sizzlepop

Just given this a closer look - and disappointed to see it's still Windows-only! What's the plan for those of us using Mac / Linux? There was talk a couple of years ago on these forums of having cross-platform tooling, especially given that SQL Server can run on these platforms too, but so far no sign of comparable tooling from Redgate.

David Atkinson

@Sizzlepop - which are you hoping for - Mac or Linux? 

We've got this working internally for Mac but we've not yet released it as we have installer work to do, but it shouldn't be more than a few weeks now.

Sizzlepop

Thanks @David Atkinson - for me personally Mac is preferable (M1 if that isn't pushing it too much ). Definitely happy to be part of any trials, even if it is rough & ready!

Sizzlepop

@David Atkinson is there any news on the Mac (preview?) release? Has been more than a few weeks now, but I can still only see a Windows version supported https://documentation.red-gate.com/fd/system-requirements-138346956.html

David Atkinson

@Sizzlepop - Apologies for the radio silence. We're working on this behind the scenes and we are pretty confident that we will be ready in September.

StephanieHerr

A preview release of Flyway Desktop on Mac is now available.      
You can get download it from our installers page .  We're looking forward to you're feedback.