A computer-implemented method of migrating data from a source database to a target database including executing, using at least one processor, instructions recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, wherein in the source database and in the target database , database objects are columns, tables, indexes, or spaces, the method comprising: creating an image copy of the data in the source database wherein the image copy is a snapshot in time of the data in the source database including source object identifiers of the source database , wherein the source object identifiers identify the database objects in the source database , wherein the image copy is an image copy file of a single table or of a collection of tables; collecting metadata to a metadata export file , describing the source database by describing attributes of the image copy and describing database structures contained within the image copy ; using the metadata to ensure the source database and the target database are compatible, wherein the metadata is configured for translating the source object identifiers in the image copy to target object identifiers, using the metadata by creating a temporary database table from the information contained in the metadata export file , thereby mapping the name of a source table to a name of the target table and verifying that the table structures are compatible; using the metadata from the temporary database table to perform mapping other objects to verify that the structures of the other objects such as indexes or spaces are compatible, and when other source database objects of the source database , such as indexes and spaces of the source of the source database, and other target database objects of the target database , such as indexes and spaces of the target database, are compatible as well: refreshing data in the target database using the image copy file of the data in the source database , or when the source database objects of the source database and target database objects of the target database are not compatible: averting the refreshing. creating an image copy of the data in the source database wherein the image copy is a snapshot in time of the data in the source database including source object identifiers of the source database , wherein the source object identifiers identify the database objects in the source database , wherein the image copy is an image copy file of a single table or of a collection of tables; collecting metadata to a metadata export file , describing the source database by describing attributes of the image copy and describing database structures contained within the image copy ; using the metadata to ensure the source database and the target database are compatible, wherein the metadata is configured for translating the source object identifiers in the image copy to target object identifiers, using the metadata by creating a temporary database table from the information contained in the metadata export file , thereby mapping the name of a source table to a name of the target table and verifying that the table structures are compatible; using the metadata from the temporary database table to perform mapping other objects to verify that the structures of the other objects such as indexes or spaces are compatible, and when other source database objects of the source database , such as indexes and spaces of the source of the source database, and other target database objects of the target database , such as indexes and spaces of the target database, are compatible as well: refreshing data in the target database using the image copy file of the data in the source database , or when the source database objects of the source database and target database objects of the target database are not compatible: averting the refreshing. <EOS>