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Migration lock timeout (SQL0053)

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Posted: 2026-09-16 · Report this thread
brandon Site Admin brandon profile Posts: 96
could not take a lock needed by the migration step

A transactional migration step could not acquire a database lock within its allowed wait. That step rolls back. Earlier completed steps remain applied.

Find the blocking session

Run while the migration is attempting the step:

SELECT waiting.pid AS waiting_pid, waiting.query AS waiting_query,
    blocker.pid AS blocking_pid, blocker.application_name,
    blocker.state, statement_timestamp() - blocker.xact_start AS transaction_age,
    blocker.query AS blocking_query
FROM pg_stat_activity AS waiting
CROSS JOIN LATERAL unnest(pg_blocking_pids(waiting.pid)) AS blocked_by(pid)
JOIN pg_stat_activity AS blocker ON blocker.pid = blocked_by.pid
WHERE waiting.datname = current_database()
    AND waiting.pid <> pg_backend_pid();
Result Action
waiting_query is the migration step Use its blocking_pid and application name in the correction below.
Rows belong to other queries Identify the migration’s session before interrupting another transaction.
No rows The failed attempt has already released its wait, or no blocker exists now. Retry the same migration target and observe during its lock wait if it fails again.

Release the lock

  1. Have the blocking application finish or roll back its transaction. For an active operation that is expected to finish shortly, let it finish before retrying the migration.

  2. If an abandoned session is idle in a transaction, terminate that exact session. This disconnects it and rolls back its uncommitted work:

    SELECT pg_terminate_backend({blocking_pid});

  3. Run the original migration command again with the same target. Completed versions are retained. The migration resumes from the installed version rather than reapplying every previous step.

An “another migration is already in progress” message refers to the separate installation migration lock. Let that migration finish before starting another.

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