Alembic is an easy-to-use database migration tool which can be used in conjunction with the SQLAlchemy Python database toolkit. Alembic was written by the same author as SQLAlchemy. Alembic is a system-wide installation, but it's most common to install it locally in a virtualized environment. This is because it uses libraries like SQLAlchemy, and database drivers which are better suited for local installations. Can emit statements into a database to change the table structure and other constructs. The system allows for the creation of "migration scripts". Each script specifies a specific series of steps to "upgrade" an existing database into a newer version. Configuration and operation are transparent and very open-ended. When first setup occurs, a new Alembic environment can be generated from a template set that is selected from a list of options.