CreateOrMigrateDatabase()

Application_Start.cs

// Call me on startup, such as in Application_Start() of Global.asax.cs
private static void CreateOrMigrateDatabase()
{
    // Disable automatic migrations as it prevents us from deploying DB changes without breaking the production web instance.
    Database.SetInitializer<ApplicationDbContext>(null);

    var migrator = new DbMigrator(new Configuration());
    
    // Order by migration names to get oldest first, such as 201403221133523_AddSetting
    List<string> pendingMigrations = migrator.GetPendingMigrations().OrderBy(x => x).ToList();
    List<string> localMigrations = migrator.GetLocalMigrations().OrderBy(x => x).ToList();
    List<string> databaseMigrations = migrator.GetDatabaseMigrations().OrderBy(x => x).ToList();

    // Sanity check, avoid trying to migrate a DB that is newer or has different history than our local migrations
    if (pendingMigrations.Any())
    {
        bool migrationsCompatibleWithDb = localMigrations.StartsWith(databaseMigrations);
        if (!migrationsCompatibleWithDb)
        {
            var ex = new Exception("Unable to migrate database. Not compatible.");
            ex.Data["localMigrations"] = string.Join("\n", localMigrations);
            ex.Data["databaseMigrations"] = string.Join("\n", databaseMigrations);
            ex.Data["pendingMigrations"] = string.Join("\n", pendingMigrations);
            throw ex;
        }

        Trace.TraceInformation($"Migrating DB from {databaseMigrations.LastOrDefault() ?? "(empty)"} to {pendingMigrations.Last()}");
        migrator.Update(pendingMigrations.Last());
    }

    using (var db = new ApplicationDbContext())
    {
        db.Database.CreateIfNotExists();
        db.Database.Initialize(false);
    }
}