diff --git a/frappe/migrate.py b/frappe/migrate.py
index 094abbe099..3e7d660596 100644
--- a/frappe/migrate.py
+++ b/frappe/migrate.py
@@ -5,11 +5,13 @@ from __future__ import unicode_literals
 
 import json
 import os
+import sys
 import frappe
 import frappe.translate
 import frappe.modules.patch_handler
 import frappe.model.sync
 from frappe.utils.fixtures import sync_fixtures
+from frappe.utils.connections import check_connection
 from frappe.utils.dashboard import sync_dashboards
 from frappe.cache_manager import clear_global_cache
 from frappe.desk.notifications import clear_notifications
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ from frappe.modules.utils import sync_customizations
 from frappe.core.doctype.scheduled_job_type.scheduled_job_type import sync_jobs
 from frappe.utils import global_search
 
+
 def migrate(verbose=True, rebuild_website=False, skip_failing=False):
 	'''Migrate all apps to the latest version, will:
 	- run before migrate hooks
@@ -32,6 +35,19 @@ def migrate(verbose=True, rebuild_website=False, skip_failing=False):
 	- run after migrate hooks
 	'''
 
+	service_status = check_connection(redis_services=["redis_cache"])
+	if False in service_status.values():
+		for service in service_status:
+			if not service_status.get(service, True):
+				print("{} service is not running.".format(service))
+		print("""Cannot run bench migrate without the services running.
+If you are running bench in development mode, make sure that bench is running:
+
+$ bench start
+
+Otherwise, check the server logs and ensure that all the required services are running.""")
+		sys.exit(1)
+
 	touched_tables_file = frappe.get_site_path('touched_tables.json')
 	if os.path.exists(touched_tables_file):
 		os.remove(touched_tables_file)
diff --git a/frappe/utils/connections.py b/frappe/utils/connections.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6bd24d57ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frappe/utils/connections.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import socket
+
+from six.moves.urllib.parse import urlparse
+from frappe import get_conf
+
+config = get_conf()
+REDIS_KEYS = ('redis_cache', 'redis_queue', 'redis_socketio')
+
+
+def is_open(ip, port, timeout=10):
+	s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
+	s.settimeout(timeout)
+	try:
+		s.connect((ip, int(port)))
+		s.shutdown(socket.SHUT_RDWR)
+		return True
+	except socket.error:
+		return False
+	finally:
+		s.close()
+
+
+def check_database():
+	db_type = config.get("db_type", "mariadb")
+	db_host = config.get("db_host", "localhost")
+	db_port = config.get("db_port", 3306 if db_type == "mariadb" else 5342)
+	return {db_type: is_open(db_host, db_port)}
+
+
+def check_redis(redis_services=None):
+	services = redis_services or REDIS_KEYS
+	status = {}
+	for conn in services:
+		redis_url = urlparse(config.get(conn)).netloc
+		redis_host, redis_port = redis_url.split(":")
+		status[conn] = is_open(redis_host, redis_port)
+	return status
+
+
+def check_connection(redis_services=None):
+	service_status = {}
+	service_status.update(check_database())
+	service_status.update(check_redis(redis_services))
+	return service_status