Change the IDENTITY property of a column, the column needs to be dropped and recreated
Asked Answered
R

17

63

I am using EF Core 2.1

This was my initial model definition.

public class Customer //Parent
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string Name { get; set; }

    public string Email { get; set; }

    public BankAccount BankAccount { get; set; }

}


public class BankAccount
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string Branch { get; set; }

    public string AcntNumber { get; set; }

    public DateTime CreatedDate { get; set; }

    public int CustomerId { get; set; }

    public Customer Customer { get; set; }

}

But I realized having Id & CustomerId both is overhead as its One-to-One relation, I can update my BankAccount model definition as below.

public class BankAccount
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    public string Branch { get; set; }

    public string AcntNumber { get; set; }

    public DateTime CreatedDate { get; set; }

    public Customer Customer { get; set; }

}

While in DbContext class defined the principal entity as below.

HasOne(b => b.Customer).WithOne(c => c.BankAccount).HasForeignKey<BankAccount>(f => f.Id);

While running the update-database I am getting the below error.

System.InvalidOperationException: To change the IDENTITY property of a column, the column needs to be dropped and recreated.

However, ideally I should not but just get rid of this error, I deleted the column, constraints and as well table and then the complete database as well. But still the same error.

Replete answered 21/11, 2018 at 8:44 Comment(5)
what do you mean by '...I realized having Id & CustomerId both is overhead as its One-to-One relation'? Id is the primary key and CustomerId is a foreign key so what's the overhead here?Mania
@ElyasEsna, One Customer One BankAccount, so the Id in Customer entity could be used as FK & primary key in BankAccount entityReplete
seems to be the issue github.com/aspnet/EntityFrameworkCore/issues/7444 , which is an open issue in EF core.Coniology
To future answerers: people keep piling up "solutions" to this question, all amounting to roughly the same thing and none of them really suitable for a production environment that doesn't allow data loss and has foreign keys to the primary key. If you have a solid solution taking that into account, please post it, otherwise please think twice before adding more noiseVernavernacular
@GertArnold I'm of the mindset by the time you are in production with any meaningful amount of production data, you probably shouldn't still be using migrations for your db schema changes. This reliance on automating (for lack of a better word) db changes based on changes to models in code has been a worry of mine w/ code-first approaches since their inception. Buyer beware.Jeanelle
S
39

I ran into the same problem, and I solved it by two steps and two migrations:

Step 1

  1. Drop the identity column.
  2. Comment the ID in BankAccount and add a new one (i.e., BankAccountId as
    identity, add migration and update - this drops id).
  3. Add a new column as identity.

Step 2

  1. Drop the newly added column and re-add the previous one. Comment BankAccountId and un-comment ID.
  2. Add migration and update (this drops the BankAccountId and adds Id as identity).
Scenarist answered 18/6, 2019 at 12:11 Comment(2)
Only works in the super simple scenario without foreign keys. Not really a feasible solution.Vernavernacular
This was enough for me to get over the line thaksKimikokimitri
K
14

I had this problem when I tried to change a model from public byte Id {get; set;} to public int Id {get; set;}. To face the issue, I did the following things:

  1. Remove all the migrations until the creation of the target model with Remove-Migration -Project <target_project> in the Package Manager Console
  2. Delete the actual database
  3. If you have some migrations in the middle that you have not created, (for example they came from another branch), copy the migrations files and also the ModelSnapshot file and paste them in your branch (overwrite them carefully!).
  4. create a new migration with add-migration <migration_name> in the Package Manager Console
  5. update the database with update-database in the Package Manager Console

I can solve it in this way because my code was not in a production environment. Maybe you have to face another complex issues if the model is already in there.

Knickknack answered 3/4, 2019 at 9:1 Comment(1)
While this strategy is perfectly valid if you are in a development environment it gets problematic if you are in a pre-production environment.Bipropellant
S
9

I had to:

  1. Comment the table totally from code
  2. Run a migration that clears it from DB
  3. Uncomment table again with corrected mapping
  4. Run migration again

Done

Schreiber answered 26/9, 2020 at 15:44 Comment(4)
Only works in the super simple scenario without foreign keys. Not really a viable solution.Vernavernacular
No, there were already foreign keys. That's why the problem occurred.Schreiber
What do you mean? These 4 steps don't not work with foreign keys to the table you drop.Vernavernacular
Fixed it by doing something similar; 1. removed all tables from the context (to many foreign keys and was still an empty db except for the seeds), 2. created migration 3. put everything back in the context 4. create migration (essentialy the same as just removing all migrations and the db, but didn't want to risk losing anything)Fredela
C
7

The question has a 2 part answer:

TL;DR.: Let the EF do it for you.

First: Let the EF do the relations

In short, the identity property is what the DB uses to manage a dedicated ID column, so it does not depend on anything outside itself to identify each row, therefore the bankAccount class needs it's own Id field to have the identity property; now, if you try to tell the EF manually how to do the relations like you do with the line

    HasOne(b => b.Customer).WithOne(c => c.BankAccount).HasForeignKey<BankAccount>(f => f.Id);

what you do is to override the inside logic of the EF itself and in this case you are telling the EF that the bank account Id is the field that references the costumer, which is not the case, and so EF tries to drop the IDENTITY from the id field in the bank account model, but that is only because you told it that the bank accound Id should be the same as the Customer ID. I think I understand what you are trying to say with the one to one relation, but what happens when the customer tries to open another bank account? D: Instead, you should keep the int CustomerId field and delete the Customer Customer one, not only because it's cleaner but also because the EF will recognize the relation between the two as long as there is a class called Customer with a field Id.

   public int CustomerId { get; set; } //keep

   public Customer Customer { get; set; } //delete

So then, the customer gets to open as many accounts with the bank as they please, the table does not suffer, and the EF knows what to do.

It will automatically generate the appropriate foreign key and add it to the migration file like so:

    migrationBuilder.AddForeignKey(
            name: "FK_BankAccount_Customer_CustomerId",
            table: "BankAccount",
            column: "CustomerId",
            principalTable: "Customer",
            principalColumn: "Id",
            onDelete: ReferentialAction.Cascade);

That will reflect a one to many relation, which is fine and dandy.

Now, to answer the question, if you still want to drop the property:

Second: Force the EF to drop the Identity property

(but it will not solve the foreign key problem of the original question).

First, just to recap: to change the identity property, the DB manager (mysql, sqlserver, etc.) will always ask you to drop and recreate the table because that field is the heart of the table. So you need to trick the EF to do a workaround for you.

  1. Add a second Id element to the model class with an obvious name like duplicateId.

    public class BankAccount
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        public int duplicateId { get; set; }
        ...
    }
    
  2. THIS IS THE TRICK ;)
    In the class there you implemented the DbContext interface, add the following method where you tell the ef which field you want the primary key to be:

    protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        modelBuilder.Entity<BankAccount>().HasKey(x => new { x.duplicateId });
    }
    
  3. Add a new Migration with $ dotnet ef migrations add ModelIdChange1, since this changes the primary key of the table and the migration Up method should look lile this:

    protected override void Up(MigrationBuilder migrationBuilder)
    {
        migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_BankAccount",
            table: "BankAccountTableName");
    
        migrationBuilder.AddColumn<int>(
            name: "duplicateId",
            table: "BankAccountTableName",
            type: "int",
            nullable: false,
            defaultValue: 0)
            .Annotation("SqlServer:Identity", "1, 1");
    
        migrationBuilder.AddPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_BankAccount",
            table: "BankAccountTableName",
            column: "duplicateId");
    ...
    }
    
  4. Then do the database update with $ dotnet ef database update (these commands may vary, use whatever syntax you already used before).

  5. (OPTIONAL) If you are need to preserve the original IDs, check that they got preserved or simply do a dirty update on the table to copy the data from the Id field into the duplicateId.

  6. Now the original Id field is free to be deleted or updated, so go ahead and just delete de original field from the model:

    public class BankAccount
    {
        public int duplicateId { get; set; }
        ...
    }
    

If you are still trying to force the original command that links the BankAccount Id with the Customer's Id, it should work if you run the command at this step, but please don't.

  1. And add a new Migration with $ dotnet ef migrations add ModelIdChange2, and then do the database update with $ dotnet ef database update, which deletes the original Id column and leaves duplicateId as the primary key.

  2. Now, the model looks almost the Original one but with a new identity column, you can leave it like that or just rename the field back from duplicateId to Id in the BankAccount class like this:

    public class BankAccount
    {
        public int Id { get; set; }
        ...
    }
    

    and do $ dotnet ef migrations add ModelIdChange3, and then do the database update with $ dotnet ef database update.

Ceasar answered 21/5, 2021 at 17:50 Comment(0)
A
5

For those who are lazy like me: You want to change the datatype of a primary key column "Id" from int to Guid in a table called "Translations" as my case was.

  1. Your generated migration in that case is
migrationBuilder.AlterColumn<Guid>(
     name: "Id",
     table: "Translations",
     type: "uniqueidentifier",
     nullable: false,
     oldClrType: typeof(int),
     oldType: "int")
     OldAnnotation("SqlServer:Identity", "1, 1");

You can delete or comment that out

  1. From the update-database error System.InvalidOperationException: To change the IDENTITY property of a column, the column needs to be dropped and recreated.
  2. We also know that we cannot drop the column without dropping the primary key constraint first. Our new migration becomes
migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
    name: "PK_Translations",
    table: "Translations");
  migrationBuilder.DropColumn(
    name: "Id",
    table: "Translations");
  migrationBuilder.AddColumn<Guid>(
    name: "Id",
    table: "Translations",
    type: "uniqueidentifier",
    nullable: false);

Remember to do the opposite in the Down override method in case you may want to reverse the migration

Appel answered 3/6, 2021 at 6:49 Comment(1)
How does this answer the question?Vernavernacular
A
4

This error occurs when you try to alter or modify a table that already exists when you want to change schema or the table that already exists, which EF core Doesn't support it yet it needs manual action. here is what you can do about this:

  • Comment related code in migration file to avoid this error.
  • or Remove migration files and create a fresh one.
  • Delete upstream migration and let migration generate new code.
Andalusite answered 28/3, 2019 at 4:7 Comment(0)
S
3

(Note: I'm using .Net 6 with EF 6.0.5)

I received this error, but the situation isn't an exact match. I have 2 models with a 1 to many relationship. On the model that had the many relationship, I realized I had marked the foreign key property as the key so it was both the PK and FK and identity. I didn't want this.

I changed the [Key] annotation to the field I wanted and created a migration. When I ran the migration, I got this error. I resolved this by commenting out the AlterColumn statement in the new migration and adding the Identity annotation to the PK Field.

    protected override void Up(MigrationBuilder migrationBuilder)
    {
        migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_EmailListAddresses",
            table: "EmailListAddresses");

        //migrationBuilder.AlterColumn<int>(
        //    name: "AddressId",             //Property I wanted to make the new PK
        //    table: "EmailListAddresses",   //Class/Entity Name
        //    type: "int",
        //    nullable: false,
        //    oldClrType: typeof(int),
        //    oldType: "int")
        //    .Annotation("SqlServer:Identity", "1, 1");

        //Added annotation here
        migrationBuilder.AddPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_EmailListAddresses",
            table: "EmailListAddresses",
            column: "AddressId").Annotation("SqlServer:Identity", "1, 1");

        migrationBuilder.CreateIndex(
            name: "IX_EmailListAddresses_EmailListId",
            table: "EmailListAddresses",
            column: "EmailListId");
    }

From here I ran the update-database command and things worked as intended. AddressId became the PK and EmailListId remained a FK.

Sultana answered 10/6, 2022 at 21:41 Comment(0)
H
3

Have a nice time

for solving this problem:

  1. Delete all your tables in the database
  2. You should also remove the entire Migrations folder from your .NET
  3. Run the Add-Migration command again
  4. Then run the Update-Database command

Important note: If your database contains data, be sure to back it up before deleting the database.

I am Farhad Rezvani from Iran

Henceforth answered 4/6, 2023 at 17:39 Comment(4)
Basically just repeats this answer See: "I've deleted manually migrations..." "I've deleted manually the tables which have been created in the database", well, etc.Vernavernacular
As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.Vancouver
This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From ReviewBorax
سلام. چطوری فرهاد رضوانی؟Nygaard
T
2

In my opinion running the EF Migrations against anything but your development database is asking for trouble as you are naturally limited by the fact that EF migrations will sometimes flatly refuse to work when altering the structure of you objects (changing primary keys and changing foreign keys being the most often encountered).

For many years I have used tools to ensure DB schema is included in version control (complementary to EF migrations). Do your developments to change your dev database (where the data is not important), create multiple migrations but then use the tools to roll these up into a DB deployment script.

Here’s a summary of what I would do in this case: -

  1. Remove (comment out) all references to the old class BankAccount
  2. Create Migration and apply to dev database
  3. Re-Add the BankAccount class with it’s corrected definition
  4. Create Migration and apply to dev database
  5. Use a DB comparison tool (my preference is APEX SQL Diff, but there are other in the marketplace) to create a deployment script that rolls up both migrations.
  6. Test this script on your staging environment (where you should have some data)
  7. If test is good apply to Production

The reality is if you have production data that you want to radically change the structure of with a code first approach it will probably end badly for you unless you understand and address the data migration from one structure to the other.

Tendentious answered 15/3, 2020 at 0:15 Comment(3)
"For many years I have used tools ..." - сan you tell please what tools did you use?Cosentino
ApexSQL is my preferred tool for comparing both DB schema and DB data to help the deployment process. They have various purchase options and a fully functional free trial. Red Gate have a similar offering called “SQL Compare”.Tendentious
Any answer (even if MS Docs Team tells me) that revolves around code first with migrations, is for students' projects and tutorials. In a real world with live DB instances, it's a terrible joke. What @Cueball6118 answered above, is a real answer (whether you use Apex etc., Visual Studio DB Comparison, or just SQL scripts). We support Live DB instances (MSSQL) and advise freshers to unlearn these tutorial level practices to avoid sleepless nights in job. Even a perfect looking migration may give an unacceptable downtime in live environments.Turbellarian
R
2

In my case, table SharedBalances is renamed to Balances and it's identity column SharedBalancesId is renamed BalanceId. SQL commands are executed on SQL Server. You can also try migrationBuilder.Sql(my_sql_command_here)

I created the migration and got the same error.

Rename the column and the table using TSQL command:

EXEC sp_RENAME 'SharedBalances.SharedBalanceId', 'BalanceId', 'COLUMN';

EXEC sp_RENAME 'SharedBalances', 'Balances';

-- Caution: Changing any part of an object name could break scripts and stored procedures.

Comment the RenameTable command in your migration:

/*
migrationBuilder.RenameTable(
    name: "SharedBalances",
    newName: "Balances");
*/

Comment the AddPrimaryKey command in your migration:

/*
migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
    name: "PK_SharedBalances",
    table: "Balances");
migrationBuilder.AddPrimaryKey(
    name: "PK_Balances",
    table: "Balances",
    column: "BalanceId");
*/

Update occurences of the table name DropForeignKey commands in your migration:

From this....

        migrationBuilder.DropForeignKey(
            name: "FK_SharedBalances_Users_OwnerUserId",
            table: "SharedBalances");

        migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_SharedBalances",
            table: "SharedBalances");

To this:

        migrationBuilder.DropForeignKey(
            name: "FK_SharedBalances_Users_OwnerUserId",
            table: "Balances");

        migrationBuilder.DropPrimaryKey(
            name: "PK_SharedBalances",
            table: "Balances");

Now your migration will work. This is how it happened:

Raising answered 24/1, 2021 at 20:0 Comment(0)
B
2

I ran into the same problem ( In my case I didn't have any data in the tables ), and I solved it in this way ( It's not the proper way, but it worked for me ):

  1. I've deleted manually migrations from the EFCore project. I removed those lines which have been added from the file _ContextModelSnapshot as well. ( I had one migration which has been applied and one which has been created but it wasn't applied, as I was getting an error - Change the IDENTITY property of a column, the column needs to be dropped and recreated )
  2. I've deleted manually the tables which have been created in the database ( by the first migration)
  3. I've deleted the row in the table _EFMigrationHistory, that one which related to the Migration I wanted to remove.
  4. Re-run VS
  5. Add-Migration NewOneCleanMigration
  6. Update-Database
Blink answered 7/4, 2021 at 11:48 Comment(0)
N
1
  1. Table has no important data
  • Rename the table entity.ToTable("BankAccount2")
  • Add Run migration Add-Migration BankAccountTempChanges
  • Update the database Update-Database
  • Rename back the table entity.ToTable("BankAccount")
  • Add Run migration Add-Migration BankAccountOk
  • Update the database again Update-Database
  1. Table has data not to be lost
  • Apply solution from @Hani answer
Night answered 12/7, 2021 at 19:21 Comment(0)
D
0

please follow this step:

1-please do all change of identity column in sql server(not in your code first entity framework)

2-comment identity column changes in the migration (.cs file)

3-update-database

enjoy that

Diaspora answered 23/2, 2021 at 22:10 Comment(0)
S
0

I had a similar problem where I was changing the relational navigation component of a table's configuration from WithMany to WithRequiredDependent. Entity framework wanted to drop the index and recreate the column, even though nothing in the database should have changed.

To fix this, I rescaffolded the latest migration which allowed entity to absorb the change without any new migration being created. You can rescaffold the latest migration by reverting the migration from the target database, and re-running the Add-Migration script for the latest migration with the exact same migration name.

Sneakbox answered 16/6, 2021 at 22:44 Comment(0)
A
0

public class BankAccount { public int Id { get; set; }

public string Branch { get; set; }

public string AcntNumber { get; set; }

public DateTime CreatedDate { get; set; }

public int CustomerId { get; set; }

public Customer Customer { get; set; }

}

To solve the migration issue, you need to make changes to the navigation table. Where it states that drop the column which is Id" primary key column" or change it to BankAccountID even that work too. Run Migration!

Note: if you think of another name then add [Key] above the column.

Alicia answered 19/9, 2022 at 1:45 Comment(0)
D
0

As a work around, make the change manually via SQL management studio or whatever program you are using for your platform. Then comment out the command in the migrations file which is trying to alter the column.

Diaeresis answered 23/9, 2022 at 7:57 Comment(0)
U
0

I had the same problem when I attempted to change the Primary Key of a table from an int to a string.

I fixed it by opening the .cs file where I had extended the DbContext class and remmed out all references to the class object of the table that needed to be changed.

After adding a migration and updating the database I unremmed those lines of code and reran a migration and database update.

Note: this does cause a destruction of any data in that table, so if you need to preserve that data, it is best to open up your database IDE and save your table into a staging table.

Unmake answered 22/6, 2023 at 15:39 Comment(0)

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