Postgres: How to create index concurrently using liquibase

You can specify runInTransaction as false to create the index concurrently.

Update Comments suggest you can put it in your sql file:

--changeset your.name: some_table_idx_name runInTransaction:false

Or put it in the changeset file like this:

<changeSet id="1.7" author="jrj" runInTransaction="false">

Creating a concurrent index must be done with the arbitrary sql change:

<changeSet runInTransaction="false" id="10-add-widgets-kind-index" author="username">
    <sql dbms="postgresql">
        CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY
        IF NOT EXISTS idx_widgets_kind 
        ON widgets(kind)
    </sql>
</changeSet>

This is a combination of a_horse_with_no_name's comment and TheDude's answer.

The previous answers do the job. I would like to offer an alternative that doesn't directly answer the OP's question, but does offer a solution with the same end result with some added advantages. I feel it is good to show other options for people that stumble upon this answer like I did.

In order to create the index using only Liquibase, you would need to use the <sql> tag. I caution against this as it can cause undesired consequences in the event that you use a different database for any reason (development, evaluation, testing, etc). The sql statement will be skipped and you can be left thinking that the index was added when in reality it was not.

Additionally, this can lead to a less controlled migration, assuming you are running this on a production system without taking it down for maintenance and the migration being part of the build process.

I would propose creating the index directly on Postgres and adding the index migration normally using Liquibase and a precondition check.

First, add the index manually:

CREATE INDEX CONCURRENTLY widgets_kind_idx ON widgets (kind);

And then add to your Liquibase changeSet:

<changeSet id="10-add-widgets-kind-index" author="username">

    <preConditions onFail="MARK_RAN">
        <not>
            <indexExists indexName="widgets_kind_idx" />
        </not>
    </preConditions>

    <createIndex tableName="widgets" indexName="widgets_kind_idx">
        <column name="kind" />
    </createIndex>

</changeSet>

This offers the ability to add the index in any manner desired and keeps your Liquibase migrations in a known state. A fresh database being setup would not require the CONCURRENTLY keyword.