Why dbdeployer Matters to Me — and Why ProxySQL Took Over Its Maintenance

Open source projects are often more than code. Some become part of your daily work, shaping the way an ecosystem grows—and for me, dbdeployer is one of those projects.

I have known Giuseppe Maxia (@datacharmer), the original developer, for almost two decades. Our long friendship and my deep respect for his work made ProxySQL’s decision to take over dbdeployer’s maintenance more than just a technical one—it was personal.

What is dbdeployer?

For those unfamiliar, dbdeployer simplifies creating local database sandboxes for development, testing, and experimentation. Instead of manually setting up database instances every time you need to reproduce an issue or test a configuration, dbdeployer allows you to do it quickly and repeatably.

This “invisible foundation” helps developers move faster and DBAs test more safely, reducing the friction of working in clean, controlled environments.

Modernizing for a Broader Ecosystem

When we took over, dbdeployer was still valuable but had become somewhat frozen in time, supporting MySQL only up to version 8.0. We saw an opportunity to not only keep it alive but to evolve it. We have since modernized the tool to support MySQL 8.4 and the 9.x series, and—most importantly—introduced PostgreSQL support.

At ProxySQL, we are increasingly investing in PostgreSQL alongside our commitment to MySQL. Expanding dbdeployer to serve both communities reflects our belief that healthy ecosystems need both flagship projects and the practical, everyday tools that support them.

Looking Ahead

This first post is intentionally non-technical; it’s about the why. Our modernization work, new version support, and roadmap will follow in upcoming technical updates.

We are proud to give dbdeployer a long-term home at ProxySQL. It is a project I have respected for years, and we are committed to ensuring it continues to offer value to the broader database community.

This is only the beginning. Stay tuned for more technical updates, or explore the project on GitHub: https://github.com/ProxySQL/dbdeployer