diff --git a/higgins/cmd/db_manage.py b/higgins/cmd/db_manage.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c67a8c5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/higgins/cmd/db_manage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+"""Starter script for higgins-db-manage."""
+
+from oslo_config import cfg
+
+from higgins.db import migration
+
+
+CONF = cfg.CONF
+
+
+def do_version():
+    print('Current DB revision is %s' % migration.version())
+
+
+def do_upgrade():
+    migration.upgrade(CONF.command.revision)
+
+
+def do_stamp():
+    migration.stamp(CONF.command.revision)
+
+
+def do_revision():
+    migration.revision(message=CONF.command.message,
+                       autogenerate=CONF.command.autogenerate)
+
+
+def add_command_parsers(subparsers):
+    parser = subparsers.add_parser('version')
+    parser.set_defaults(func=do_version)
+
+    parser = subparsers.add_parser('upgrade')
+    parser.add_argument('revision', nargs='?')
+    parser.set_defaults(func=do_upgrade)
+
+    parser = subparsers.add_parser('stamp')
+    parser.add_argument('revision')
+    parser.set_defaults(func=do_stamp)
+
+    parser = subparsers.add_parser('revision')
+    parser.add_argument('-m', '--message')
+    parser.add_argument('--autogenerate', action='store_true')
+    parser.set_defaults(func=do_revision)
+
+
+def main():
+    command_opt = cfg.SubCommandOpt('command',
+                                    title='Command',
+                                    help='Available commands',
+                                    handler=add_command_parsers)
+    CONF.register_cli_opt(command_opt)
+
+    CONF(project='higgins')
+    CONF.command.func()
diff --git a/higgins/db/migration.py b/higgins/db/migration.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..865224525
--- /dev/null
+++ b/higgins/db/migration.py
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+"""Database setup and migration commands."""
+
+from oslo_config import cfg
+from stevedore import driver
+
+_IMPL = None
+
+
+def get_backend():
+    global _IMPL
+    if not _IMPL:
+        cfg.CONF.import_opt('backend', 'oslo_db.options', group='database')
+        _IMPL = driver.DriverManager("higgins.database.migration_backend",
+                                     cfg.CONF.database.backend).driver
+    return _IMPL
+
+
+def upgrade(version=None):
+    """Migrate the database to `version` or the most recent version."""
+    return get_backend().upgrade(version)
+
+
+def version():
+    return get_backend().version()
+
+
+def stamp(version):
+    return get_backend().stamp(version)
+
+
+def revision(message, autogenerate):
+    return get_backend().revision(message, autogenerate)
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index eed617dc9..87367bace 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ oslo.db>=4.1.0 # Apache-2.0
 six>=1.9.0 # MIT
 WSME>=0.8 # MIT
 SQLAlchemy<1.1.0,>=1.0.10 # MIT
+stevedore>=1.10.0 # Apache-2.0