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SchemaSmith Learn SchemaSmith

Module 1 — Install & connect

A schema tool you can’t install — or can’t point at a database — is just a README. So let’s get SchemaSmith onto your machine and talking to a live database, on whatever engine you run.

Get the tools

Section titled “Get the tools”

SchemaSmith ships as three self-contained executables — schemaquench, schematongs, and datatongs. No runtime to install, no service to configure. One command and they’re on your PATH.

  • Windows: choco install schemasmith
  • Linux / macOS: curl -fsSL https://schemasmith.com/dl/install.sh | sh

Every other channel — .deb, .rpm, manual download, signature verification — is in the Installation guide. Pick your path, then confirm the install:

Terminal window
schemaquench --version
SchemaQuench - Version: 2.0.0.0

Command not found? The CLI isn’t on your PATH yet — the install guide has the fix per platform. One tool, one check, done.

Stand up a sandbox

Section titled “Stand up a sandbox”

You need a database to connect to. The Module 1 lab ships a throwaway three-engine sandbox — SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MySQL, all at once. From the lab’s docker folder:

Terminal window
docker compose up -d
./verify-sandbox.sh

When all three report PASS, you’ve got a learn database waiting on every engine. Full setup and credentials are in the lab README.

Connect — kindle the forge

Section titled “Connect — kindle the forge”

Here’s the thing: SchemaSmith doesn’t have a “ping” button. It proves a connection by doing the first real piece of work — connecting and kindling the forge. That’s the one-time setup that installs SchemaSmith’s helper routines into a target database. We’ll run a tiny starter package that has no tables yet, just to make first contact.

From the lab’s sqlserver folder (or postgres, or mysql):

Terminal window
schemaquench --ConfigFile:connect.settings.json

Watch the log. The lines that matter:

localhost,11433 (…) connection succeeded
Validate Server
Locate Databases To Quench
[localhost,11433].[learn] Begin Quench
[localhost,11433].[learn]   Kindling the forge
[localhost,11433].[learn] Successfully Quenched
Completed quench of LearnConnect

There’s your proof. SchemaSmith connected, validated the server, found the learn database, and kindled the forge. No tables in the package yet, so nothing else deployed — exactly right. Run the other two engine folders and you’ll see the same three-act story with different connection details: SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, same flow.

That starter package isn’t throwaway. It’s the anvil for Module 2 — next time, you’ll lay your first table on it and quench it for real.

Check yourself: What two things must be true before SchemaQuench can deploy to a target?

The CLI is installed and on your PATH, and it has a working connection — host, port, and credentials — to the target database.

Tools on your PATH, a forge kindled on every engine you care about. That’s the cold, fiddly part behind you — from here on, it’s shaping metal.

Hit a snag getting installed or connected — a stubborn PATH, a connection that won’t take? Email me at forgebarrett@schemasmith.com — I read every one.

Next up: Module 2 — Your first schema package. We declare a table and quench it into being.

Until then, may your forge light on the first strike and your connection hold true.

— Forge