mongodump
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Definition
mongodump
is a utility that creates a binary export of
a database's contents. mongodump
can export data from:
Standalone deployments
Replica sets
Sharded clusters
You can use the MongoDB Database Tools to migrate from a self-hosted deployment to MongoDB Atlas. MongoDB Atlas is the fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud. To learn more, see Seed with mongorestore.
To learn all the ways you can migrate to MongoDB Atlas, see Migrate or Import Data.
mongodump
can connect to mongod
and
mongos
instances.
You can restore the BSON files generated from mongodump
into MongoDB
deployments running the same or newer version as the source deployment.
However, restoring files into a newer version deployment is not the
recommended way to upgrade your deployment. To learn how to upgrade your
deployment, see the upgrade documentation.
Run mongodump
from the system command line, not the
mongo
shell.
If you are archiving stale data to save on storage costs, consider Online Archive in MongoDB Atlas. Online Archive automatically archives infrequently accessed data to fully-managed S3 buckets for cost-effective data tiering.
mongodump
dumps:
Collection documents, metadata, and options.
Index definitions.
Writes that occur during the export, if run with the
mongodump
--oplog
option.
mongodump
dumps data to a directory or a binary archive file.
Dump Data to a Directory
Example mongodump
directory dump structure and files:
dump ├── easternSalesDatabase │ ├── sales.bson │ ├── sales.metadata.json │ └── salesByMonthView.metadata.json ├── westernSalesDatabase │ ├── sales.bson │ ├── sales.metadata.json │ └── salesByMonthView.metadata.json └── oplog.bson
For a directory dump, mongodump
creates:
A root directory with the default name
dump
. You can set the name with themongodump
--out
option.A subdirectory in the root directory for each database. For example, if a database name is
easternSalesDatabase
, the subdirectory name is alsoeasternSalesDatabase
.A BSON file with documents for each collection. For example, if a collection name is
sales
, the BSON file issales.bson
.A metadata JSON file for each collection in each database directory. For example, a metadata
sales.metadata.json
file. The file contains a document with the exported collection metadata, options, and indexes.A metadata JSON file for each view. For example, a metadata
salesByMonthView.metadata.json
file. A view doesn't have a BSON file.An optional oplog
oplog.bson
file, located in the root directory, which contains write operations that occurred during themongodump
run. To output anoplog.bson
file, use themongodump
--oplog
option.
If you use the mongodump
--gzip
option,
the BSON files and JSON metadata files are compressed. The compressed
exported files have bson.gz
and metadata.json.gz
at the end of
the names.
Dump Data to a Binary Archive File
To dump data to a binary archive file, use the mongodump
--archive
option. mongodump
creates
a binary file that contains the archived data.
Syntax
mongodump
syntax:
mongodump <options> <connection-string>
To connect to a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017 and
use the default settings to export the content, run mongodump
without any command-line options:
mongodump
To specify a host and/or port of the MongoDB instance, you can:
Specify the hostname and port in the
--uri connection string
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
option:mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
and--port
options:mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com" --port=27017 [additional options]
To connect to a replica set to export its data, you can:
Specify the replica set name and members in the
--uri connection string
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName" [additional options] Specify the replica set name and members in the
--host
option:mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com" [additional options]
By default, mongodump
reads from the primary of the
replica set. To override the default, you can specify the read
preference:
You can specify the read preference in the
--uri connection string
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary" [additional options] If specifying the read preference tags, include the
readPreferenceTags
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" [additional options] You can specify the read preference using the
--readPreference
command-line option. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary [additional options] Or, the command-line option can take a quote-enclosed document
'{ mode: <mode>, tagSets: [ <tag1>, ... ], maxStalenessSeconds:<num>}'
to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' [additional options]
Note
To avoid data inconsistencies, pause the following actions on your
sharded cluster when you run mongodump
:
Cross-shard transactions
Data definition language operations (operations that create and modify collections)
Chunk balancing
To stop the balancer, use the sh.stopBalancer()
method.
To connect to a sharded cluster to export its data, you can:
Specify the hostname of the
mongos
instance in the--uri connection string
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port of the
mongos
instance in the--host
option:mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" [additional options]
By default, mongodump
reads from the primary of the
shard replica set. To override the default, you can specify the read
preference:
You can specify the read preference in the
--uri connection string
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/?readPreference=secondary" [additional options] If specifying the read preference tags, include the
readPreferenceTags
option:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/?readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" [additional options] You can specify the read preference using the
--readPreference
command-line option. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary [additional options] Or, the command-line option can take a quote-enclosed document
'{ mode: <mode>, tagSets: [ <tag1>, ... ], maxStalenessSeconds: <num>}'
to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' [additional options]
Options
--verbose, -v
Increases the amount of internal reporting returned on standard output or in log files. Increase the verbosity with the
-v
form by including the option multiple times. For example:-vvvvv
.
--quiet
Runs
mongodump
in a quiet mode that attempts to limit the amount of output.This option suppresses:
Output from database commands
Replication activity
Connection accepted and closed events
All logs, including error messages, except for those that occur when parsing options
--config=<filename>
New in version 100.3.0.
Specifies the full path to a YAML configuration file containing sensitive values for the following options to
mongodump
:This is the recommended way to specify a password to
mongodump
, aside from specifying it through a password prompt.The configuration file takes the following form:
password: <password> uri: mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017 sslPEMKeyPassword: <password> Specifying a password to the
password:
field and providing a connection string in theuri:
field which contains a conflicting password will result in an error.Be sure to secure this file with appropriate filesystem permissions.
Note
If you specify a configuration file with
--config
and also use the--password
,--uri
or--sslPEMKeyPassword
option tomongodump
, each command line option overrides its corresponding option in the configuration file.
--uri=<connectionString>
Specifies the resolvable URI connection string of the MongoDB deployment, enclosed in quotes:
--uri="mongodb://[username:password@]host1[:port1][,host2[:port2],...[,hostN[:portN]]][/[database][?options]]" Starting with version
100.0
ofmongodump
, the connection string may alternatively be provided as a positional parameter, without using the--uri
option:mongodump mongodb://[username:password@]host1[:port1][,host2[:port2],...[,hostN[:portN]]][/[database][?options]] As a positional parameter, the connection string may be specified at any point on the command line, as long as it begins with either
mongodb://
ormongodb+srv://
. For example:mongodump --username joe --password secret1 mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017 --ssl Only one connection string can be provided. Attempting to include more than one, whether using the
--uri
option or as a positional argument, will result in an error.For information on the components of the connection string, see the Connection String URI Format documentation.
Note
Some components in the
connection string
may alternatively be specified using their own explicit command-line options, such as--username
and--password
. Providing a connection string while also using an explicit option and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.Note
If using
mongodump
on Ubuntu 18.04, you may experience acannot unmarshal DNS
error message when using SRV connection strings (in the formmongodb+srv://
) with the--uri
option. If so, use one of the following options instead:the
--uri
option with a non-SRV connection string (in the formmongodb://
)the
--host
option to specify the host to connect to directly
Warning
On some systems, a password provided in a connection string with the
--uri
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:omitting the password in the connection string to receive an interactive password prompt, or
using the
--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password.
--host=<hostname><:port>, -h=<hostname><:port>
Default: localhost:27017
Specifies the resolvable hostname of the MongoDB deployment. By default,
mongodump
attempts to connect to a MongoDB instance running on the localhost on port number27017
.To connect to a replica set, specify the
replSetName
and a seed list of set members, as in the following:--host=<replSetName>/<hostname1><:port>,<hostname2><:port>,<...> When specifying the replica set list format,
mongodump
always connects to the primary.You can also connect to any single member of the replica set by specifying the host and port of only that member:
--host=<hostname1><:port> If you use IPv6 and use the
<address>:<port>
format, you must enclose the portion of an address and port combination in brackets. For example:[<address>]
.Alternatively, you can also specify the hostname directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--host
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--port=<port>
Default: 27017
Specifies the TCP port on which the MongoDB instance listens for client connections.
Alternatively, you can also specify the port directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--port
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--ssl
Enables a connection to a
mongod
ormongos
that has TLS/SSL support enabled.Alternatively, you can also configure TLS/SSL support directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--ssl
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--sslCAFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains the root certificate chain from the Certificate Authority. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.Alternatively, you can also specify the
.pem
file directly in theURI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslCAFile
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--sslPEMKeyFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains both the TLS/SSL certificate and key. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.This option is required when using the
--ssl
option to connect to amongod
ormongos
that hasCAFile
enabled withoutallowConnectionsWithoutCertificates
.Alternatively, you can also specify the
.pem
file directly in theURI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslPEMKeyFile
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--sslPEMKeyPassword=<value>
Specifies the password to de-crypt the certificate-key file (i.e.
--sslPEMKeyFile
). Use the`--sslPEMKeyPassword
option only if the certificate-key file is encrypted. In all cases,mongodump
will redact the password from all logging and reporting output.If the private key in the PEM file is encrypted and you do not specify the
--sslPEMKeyPassword
option,mongodump
will prompt for a passphrase. See TLS/SSL Certificate Passphrase.Alternatively, you can also specify the password directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslPEMKeyPassword
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.Warning
On some systems, a password provided directly using the
--sslPEMKeyPassword
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider using the--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password instead.
--sslCRLFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains the Certificate Revocation List. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.
--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
Bypasses the validation checks for server certificates and allows the use of invalid certificates. When using the
allowInvalidCertificates
setting, MongoDB logs as a warning the use of the invalid certificate.Warning
Although available, avoid using the
--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
option if possible. If the use of--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
is necessary, only use the option on systems where intrusion is not possible.Connecting to a
mongod
ormongos
instance without validating server certificates is a potential security risk. If you only need to disable the validation of the hostname in the TLS/SSL certificates, see--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
.Alternatively, you can also disable certificate validation directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
Disables the validation of the hostnames in TLS/SSL certificates. Allows
mongodump
to connect to MongoDB instances even if the hostname in their certificates do not match the specified hostname.Alternatively, you can also disable hostname validation directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--username=<username>, -u=<username>
Specifies a username with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the
--password <mongodump --password>
and--authenticationDatabase <mongodump --authenticationDatabase>
options.Alternatively, you can also specify the username directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--username
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, you can specify your AWS access key ID in:this field,
the
connection string
, orthe
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
--password=<password>, -p=<password>
Specifies a password with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the
--username <mongodump --username>
and--authenticationDatabase <mongodump --authenticationDatabase>
options.To prompt the user for the password, pass the
--username <mongodump --username>
option without--password <mongodump --password>
or specify an empty string as the--password <mongodump --password>
value, as in--password ""
.Alternatively, you can also specify the password directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--password
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, you can specify your AWS secret access key in:this field,
the
connection string
, orthe
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
Warning
On some systems, a password provided directly using the
--password
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:omitting the
--password
option to receive an interactive password prompt, orusing the
--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password.
--awsSessionToken=<AWS Session Token>
If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, and using session tokens in addition to your AWS access key ID and secret access key, you can specify your AWS session token in:this field,
the
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
authMechanismProperties
parameter to theconnection string
, orthe
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
Only valid when using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
.
--authenticationDatabase=<dbname>
Specifies the authentication database where the specified
--username <mongodump --username>
has been created. See Authentication Database.If you do not specify an authentication database,
mongodump
assumes that the database specified to export holds the user's credentials.If you do not specify an authentication database or a database to export,
mongodump
assumes theadmin
database holds the user's credentials.If using the GSSAPI (Kerberos), PLAIN (LDAP SASL), or
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanisms
, you must set--authenticationDatabase
to$external
.Alternatively, you can also specify the authentication database directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--authenticationDatabase
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--authenticationMechanism=<name>
Default: SCRAM-SHA-1
Specifies the authentication mechanism the
mongodump
instance uses to authenticate to themongod
ormongos
.Changed in version 100.1.0: Starting in version
100.1.0
,mongodump
adds support for theMONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism when connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster.ValueDescriptionRFC 5802 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-1 hash function.RFC 7677 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-256 hash function.
Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to
4.0
.MongoDB TLS/SSL certificate authentication.MONGODB-AWS
External authentication using AWS IAM credentials for use in connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster. See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials.
New in version 100.1.0.
GSSAPI (Kerberos)External authentication using Kerberos. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.PLAIN (LDAP SASL)External authentication using LDAP. You can also usePLAIN
for authenticating in-database users.PLAIN
transmits passwords in plain text. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.Alternatively, you can also specify the authentication mechanism directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--authenticationMechanism
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--gssapiServiceName
Specify the name of the service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the service does not use the default name of
mongodb
.This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.
Alternatively, you can also specify the service name directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--gssapiServiceName
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--gssapiHostName
Specify the hostname of a service using
GSSAPI/Kerberos </core/kerberos>
. Only required if the hostname of a machine does not match the hostname resolved by DNS.This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.
--db=<database>, -d=<database>
Specifies a database to backup. If you do not specify a database,
mongodump
copies all databases in this instance into the dump files.Alternatively, you can also specify the database directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--db
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--collection=<collection>, -c=<collection>
Specifies a collection to backup. If you do not specify a collection, this option copies all collections in the specified database or instance to the dump files.
--query=<json>, -q=<json>
Provides a JSON document as a query that optionally limits the documents included in the output of
mongodump
. To use the--query
option, you must also specify the--collection <mongodump --collection>
option.You must enclose the query document in single quotes (
'{ ... }'
) to ensure that it does not interact with your shell environment.The query must be in Extended JSON v2 format (either relaxed or canonical/strict mode), including enclosing the field names and operators in quotes. For example:
mongodump -d=test -c=records -q='{ "a": { "$gte": 3 }, "date": { "$lt": { "$date": "2016-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } } }' To use
$regex
withmongodump
, use the following syntax:mongodump -d=sample_mflix -c=movies -q='{ "year": { "$regex": "20" } }' Note
When you use the
--query
option on a time series collection, you can only query the field specified as themetaField
.
--queryFile=<path>
Specifies the path to a file containing a JSON document as a query filter that limits the documents included in the output of
mongodump
.--queryFile
enables you to create query filters that are too large to fit in your terminal's buffer.Note
When you use the
--queryFile
option on a time series collection, you can only query the field specified as themetaField
.
--readPreference=<string|document>
Default:
primary
Specifies the read preference for
mongodump
. The--readPreference
option can take:A string if specifying only the read preference mode:
--readPreference=secondary A quote-enclosed document to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:
--readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ], maxStalenessSeconds: 120}' If specifying the maxStalenessSeconds, the value must be greater than or equal to 90.
mongodump
defaults toprimary
read preference.If the read preference is also included in the
--uri connection string <--uri>
, the command-line--readPreference
overrides the read preference specified in the URI string.
--gzip
Compresses the output. If
mongodump
outputs to the dump directory, the new feature compresses the individual files. The files have the suffix.gz
.If
mongodump
outputs to an archive file or the standard out stream, the new feature compresses the archive file or the data output to the stream.
--out=<path>, -o=<path>
Specifies the directory where
mongodump
will write BSON files for the dumped databases. By default,mongodump
saves output files in a directory nameddump
in the current working directory.To send the database dump to standard output, specify "
-
" instead of a path. Write to standard output if you want process the output before saving it, such as to usegzip
to compress the dump. When writing standard output,mongodump
does not write the metadata that writes in a<dbname>.metadata.json
file when writing to files directly.You cannot use the
--archive
option with the--out
option.
--archive=<file>
Writes the output to a specified archive file or, if the archive file is unspecified, writes to the standard output (
stdout
). An archive file is a single-file alternative to multiple BSON files.To output the dump to an archive file, run
mongodump
with the--archive <mongodump --archive>
option and the archive filename.mongodump --archive=<file> To output the dump to the standard output stream in order to pipe to another process, run
mongodump
with the--archive <mongodump --archive>
option but omit the filename.mongodump --archive
You cannot use the
--archive <mongodump --archive>
option with the--out <mongodump --out>
option.Note
If
mongodump
writes to an archive file,mongodump
performance can improve. For more information onmongodump
performance impacts, see Output Format Considerations.
--oplog
Creates a file named
oplog.bson
as part of themongodump
output. Theoplog.bson
file, located in the top level of the output directory, contains oplog entries that occur during themongodump
operation.To apply oplog entries from the
oplog.bson
file in the restore operation, usemongorestore --oplogReplay
. You can usemongodump --oplog
together withmongorestore --oplogReplay
to ensure the data is current and has all the writes that occurred during the dump.Without
--oplog
, if there are write operations during the dump operation, the dump will not reflect a single moment in time. Changes made to the database during the update process can affect the output of the backup.To back up individual replica sets while still accepting writes, use
--oplog
. To back up sharded clusters withmongodump
, see Back Up a Self-Managed Sharded Cluster with a Database Dump.Important
A
mongodump
running with--oplog
fails if a client issues any of the listed operations during the dump process.--oplog
has no effect when runningmongodump
on amongos
instance to dump the entire contents of a sharded cluster.--oplog
only works against nodes that maintain an oplog. This includes all members of a replica set.--oplog
does not dump the oplog collection.Note
To use
mongodump
with--oplog
, you must create a full dump of a replica set member.mongodump
with--oplog
fails if you use any of the following options to limit the data to be dumped:--db
--collection
--dumpDbUsersAndRoles
--query
--dumpDbUsersAndRoles
Includes user and role definitions in the database's dump directory when performing
mongodump
on a specific database. This option applies only when you specify a database in the--db
option. MongoDB always includes user and role definitions whenmongodump
applies to an entire instance and not just a specific database.
--excludeCollection=<string>
Excludes the specified collection from the
mongodump
output. To exclude multiple collections, specify the--excludeCollection
multiple times.
--excludeCollectionsWithPrefix=<string>
Excludes all collections with a specified prefix from the
mongodump
outputs. To specify multiple prefixes, specify the--excludeCollectionsWithPrefix
multiple times.
--numParallelCollections=<int>, -j=<int>
Default: 4
Number of collections
mongodump
should export in parallel.
--viewsAsCollections
When specified,
mongodump
exports views as collections.Note
Only views are exported. By default,
mongodump
only exports a view's metadata. To export the documents in a view, use the--viewsAsCollections
option.For each view,
mongodump
creates a BSON file containing the documents in the view. If you usemongorestore
with a BSON file created bymongodump
, the view is restored as a collection.If you do not include
--viewsAsCollections
,mongodump
captures each view's metadata. If you include a view's metadata file in amongorestore
operation, the view is recreated.
Learn More
For more information about mongodump
, see:
For a tutorial, see Back Up a Self-Managed Sharded Cluster with a Database Dump.
For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.