Databricks Lakebase Migration Tools
Managed Postgres inside a Databricks workspace
Load an existing database into Lakebase, move data back out, and keep the two aligned on a schedule - with DBConvert.
Move Data In and Out of Databricks Lakebase
DBConvert copies data between Databricks Lakebase and MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Access or another PostgreSQL, in either direction - and keeps both sides aligned afterwards on a schedule.
Lakebase is Databricks' managed PostgreSQL, so it connects like any Postgres server. The one thing it does not allow is a replication stream, which is why ongoing sync with Lakebase is trigger-based rather than log-based.
- Load another engine into Lakebase - schema, types, indexes and keys handled.
- Export Lakebase back out to PostgreSQL you run yourself.
- Keep both sides aligned on a schedule once the first copy is done.
Enable a native Postgres role first
A new Lakebase project accepts Databricks OAuth identities only, and those tokens expire after an hour. Turn on Password (Native postgres roles) in the project settings and create a role, or no external tool can connect at all.
Start your Lakebase migration
Pick your other database - each converter runs both ways, into Lakebase or back out. Free trial, Windows.
Leaving Lakebase? The same downloads export back out.
Lakebase Blocks Logical Replication. Triggers Still Work.
Which decides how you keep a Lakebase database in sync with anything else.
You cannot stream changes out of Lakebase
Databricks blocks the publication that PostgreSQL logical replication depends on. Tools that read the replication log - Debezium, Fivetran, DBConvert Streams and the rest - have nothing to read.
CREATE PUBLICATION ...
ERROR: Feature not supported by Databricks (SQLSTATE 0A000)
It is not a setting you missed and not a temporary outage: Databricks has listed logical replication as unavailable since Lakebase shipped, with no date for changing it.
Trigger-based sync works instead
DBConvert watches the tables themselves. Trigger-based synchronization puts INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE triggers on the tables you sync and writes every change to a history table, then reads that history on the next run.
It never touches the replication log, so the block does not apply. All it needs is permission to create tables and triggers, and Lakebase gives you both.
We confirmed it on a live Lakebase database: triggers fire normally on insert, update and delete.
Both observations above were measured against a live Lakebase instance, not taken from documentation. A validated end-to-end synchronization run against Lakebase is in progress; if you are planning one, tell us about your setup and we will confirm against it.
Lakebase Connection Parameters
Standard PostgreSQL fields. Take the values from the Connect dialog in your Databricks workspace.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Host | ep-name-id.database.region.cloud.databricks.com |
| Port | 5432 |
| Database | databricks_postgres on a new project |
| User | A native Postgres role, not your Databricks identity |
| SSL | Required. Unencrypted connections are refused |
Step-by-step setup, including the exact Databricks screens, is in Connect Databricks Lakebase. In the Connect dialog, set Role to your password role before copying the string. Left on your Databricks identity it produces an OAuth string, and connecting with it fails on SQLSTATE 28P01.
Common Lakebase Scenarios
Seed an application database
Move an existing MySQL, SQL Server or Oracle database into Lakebase so the application that will run next to the lakehouse starts with real data.
Take data back out
Export Lakebase tables into PostgreSQL you run yourself, for an environment outside Databricks or to leave the platform.
Keep two systems aligned
Run scheduled synchronization between Lakebase and a production database when a one-time copy is not enough and the replication log is unavailable.
Ready to Move Data In or Out of Lakebase?
Lakebase is PostgreSQL on the wire, so the PostgreSQL tools are the ones you need.