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Migrate To KubeDB

KubeDB Migration lets you move an existing database — such as a MySQL instance running on AWS RDS or any external host — entirely into a KubeDB-managed database. The migration runs in the background while your source database continues to serve live traffic, and you only cut over once the streaming lag has dropped to a few megabytes — at which point stopping writes to the source drains the remaining lag to zero almost instantly.

Why It Matters

• No maintenance window — the source database stays fully operational and accepting reads and writes before the cutover
• Minimal downtime cutover — you only stop writes to the source for the brief moment it takes for streaming lag to reach zero, then immediately redirect application endpoints to the new KubeDB-managed database.
• Source stays untouched — KubeDB never modifies the source database; you remain in control of when and whether to cut over.

Setup

Fresh Install

Add --set kubedb-migrator.enabled=true to the standard KubeDB helm install guide.

Upgrade Existing Install

The Migrator CRD is required to apply the Migrator CR. Helm upgrade command doesnt apply CRD. So apply it manually:

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubedb/apimachinery/refs/heads/master/crds/migrator.kubedb.com_migrators.yaml

Add --set kubedb-migrator.enabled=true to the Kubedb helm upgrade

Migration Steps

1. Create a Migrator CR with your source connection details and target KubeDB database reference. Migration starts automatically.
2. Source stays live — the KubeDB Migrator first copies the schema, then takes an initial bulk snapshot of your data. Your source database continues to accept reads and writes throughout.
3. Streaming phase begins — once the snapshot is complete, KubeDB streams ongoing changes from the source using CDC (change-data capture).
4. Stop writes to the source — when the streaming lag approaches zero, stop source database write
5. Wait for lag to reach zero — once lag is exactly zero, the two databases are fully in sync.
6. Switch endpoints — update your application connection string to point to the new KubeDB-managed database.
7. Downtime is minimal — the only downtime is the window between steps 4 and 6, which is typically just a few minutes.

Supported Database

The following database has migration support.

PostgreSQL

MySQL

MariaDB