Adding EF Core migrations

Directory.Packages.props

@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup Label="Infrastructure">
     <PackageVersion Include="Azure.Storage.Blobs" Version="12.23.0" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="8.0.10" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="8.0.10" />
-    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="8.0.10" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore" Version="8.0.11" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite" Version="8.0.11" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer" Version="8.0.11" />
+		<PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design" Version="8.0.11" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Diagnostics.HealthChecks.Abstractions" Version="9.0.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="MongoDB.Driver" Version="2.30.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Pomelo.EntityFrameworkCore.MySql" Version="8.0.2" />

MIGRATION.md

@@ -3,6 +3,27 @@ This document describes the changes that need to be made to migrate from one ver
 
 ## 8.0 to 9.0
 
+### SQL - Entity Framework Migrations
+
+Starting with `v9.0` the blog uses Entity Framework Migrations for all SQL providers. If you are already having a database you need to run the following script that creates the history table and the initial entry:
+```bash
+IF OBJECT_ID(N'[__EFMigrationsHistory]') IS NULL
+BEGIN
+    CREATE TABLE [__EFMigrationsHistory] (
+        [MigrationId] nvarchar(150) NOT NULL,
+        [ProductVersion] nvarchar(32) NOT NULL,
+        CONSTRAINT [PK___EFMigrationsHistory] PRIMARY KEY ([MigrationId])
+    );
+END;
+GO
+
+INSERT INTO [__EFMigrationsHistory] ([MigrationId], [ProductVersion])
+VALUES (N'20241128180004_Initial', N'8.0.11');
+GO
+```
+
+Read more in the [documentation](docs/Storage/Readme.md).
+
 ### Support / Donation section
 If you used the sponsor/donation mechanism in the `appsettings.json` like this:
 ```json

docs/Storage/Readme.md

@@ -31,5 +31,24 @@ For MySql use the following:
 "ConnectionString": "Server=YOURSERVER;User ID=YOURUSERID;Password=YOURPASSWORD;Database=YOURDATABASE"
 ```
 
+## Entity Framework Migrations
+
+For the SQL providers (`SqlServer`, `Sqlite`, `MySql`), you can use Entity Framework Core Migrations to create and manage the database schema. The whole documentation can be found under [*"Entity Framework Core tools reference"*](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/core/cli/dotnet). The short version is that you can use the following steps:
+
+```bash
+dotnet ef database update --project src/LinkDotNet.Blog.Infrastructure --startup-project src/LinkDotNet.Blog.Web --connection "<ConnectionString>"
+```
+
+The `--connection` parameter is optional - if you don't specify it, it will try to grab it from your `appsettings.json` file.
+The other options is to create a sql script you can execute against your database:
+
+```bash
+dotnet ef migrations script --project src/LinkDotNet.Blog.Infrastructure --startup-project src/LinkDotNet.Blog.Web  
+```
+
+Here is the full documentation: [*"Applying Migrations"*](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/core/managing-schemas/migrations/applying).
+
+Alternatively, the blog calls `Database.EnsureCreated()` on startup, which creates the database schema if it does not exist. So you are not forced to use migrations.
+
 ## Considerations
 For most people a Sqlite database might be the best choice between convienence and ease of setup. As it runs "in-process" there are no additional dependencies or setup required (and therefore no additional cost). As the blog tries to cache many things, the load onto the database is not that big (performance considerations). The advantages of a "real" database like SqlServer or MySql are more in the realm of backups, replication, and other enterprise features (which are not needed often times for a simple blog).