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mongodump

On this page
- Versioning
- MongoDB Server Compatibility
- Platform Support
- Additional Considerations for Ubuntu 18.04
- Connect to a MongoDB Instance
- Connect to a Replica Set
- Connect to a Sharded Cluster
- Using
mongodump
Without anauthSource
- Restore to Matching Server Version
- Read Preference
- Data Exclusion
- Metadata Format
- Overwrite Files
mongodump
During Resharding- Data Compression Handling
- Working Set
- FIPS
- Standalone Deployments and Replica Sets
- Sharded Clusters
- Use
mongodump
with a Collection - Use
mongodump
with a Database and Exclude Specified Collections - Use
mongodump
with Access Control - Output to an Archive File
- Output an Archive to Standard Output
- Compress the Output
- Copy and Clone Databases
- Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials
- Authenticating with a Specific Database
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 mongodump
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.
Run mongodump
from the system command line, not the mongo
shell.
Tip
See also:
mongorestore
, which allows you to import data that was
exported from mongodump
.
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.
Versioning
Starting with MongoDB 4.4, mongodump
is now released separately
from the MongoDB Server and uses its own versioning, with an initial
version of 100.0.0
. Previously, mongodump
was released
alongside the MongoDB Server and used matching versioning.
For documentation on the MongoDB 4.2 or earlier versions of
mongodump
, reference the MongoDB Server Documentation for that version of the tool:
This documentation is for version 100.9.0
of mongodump
.
Tip
See also: Links to older documentation
Compatibility
MongoDB Server Compatibility
mongodump
version 100.9.0
supports the following versions
of the MongoDB Server:
MongoDB 7.0
MongoDB 6.0
MongoDB 5.0
MongoDB 4.4
MongoDB 4.2
While mongodump
may work on earlier versions of MongoDB server,
any such compatibility is not guaranteed.
Platform Support
mongodump
version 100.9.0
is supported on these platforms:
x86_64 | ARM64 | PPC64LE | s390x | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon Linux 2023 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Amazon 2 | ✓ | |||
Amazon 2013.03+ | ✓ | |||
Debian 10 | ✓ | |||
Debian 9 | ✓ | |||
Debian 8 | ✓ | |||
RHEL / CentOS 9 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
RHEL / CentOS 8 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
RHEL / CentOS 7 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
RHEL / CentOS 6 | ✓ | |||
SUSE 15 | ✓ | |||
SUSE 12 | ✓ | |||
Ubuntu 20.04 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Ubuntu 18.04 | ✓ | ✓ | ||
Ubuntu 16.04 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Windows 8 and later | ✓ | |||
Windows Server 2012 and later | ✓ | |||
macOS 11 and later | ✓ | ✓ | ||
macOS 10.12 - 10.15 | ✓ |
Additional Considerations for Ubuntu 18.04
Ubuntu 18.04 may use a non-standard DNS resolver. When you use a
non-standard DNS resolver, mongodump
returns an error message like:
error parsing uri: lookup <HOSTNAME> on 127.0.0.53:53: cannot unmarshal DNS message
To resolve the problem, edit /etc/resolv.conf
to point to a
different DNS resolver.
Installation
The mongodump
tool is part of the MongoDB Database Tools package:
➤ Follow the Database Tools Installation Guide to install mongodump
.
Syntax
mongodump
syntax:
mongodump <options> <connection-string>
Run mongodump
from the system command line, not the mongo
shell.
Connect to a MongoDB Instance
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 either:
Specify the hostname and port in the
--uri connection string
:mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
:mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
and--port
:mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com" --port=27017 [additional options]
For more information on the options available, see Options.
Connect to a Replica Set
To connect to a replica set to export its data, you can either:
Specify the replica set name and members in the
--uri connection string
: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
: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
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 takes 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]
For more information on the options available, see Options.
Connect to a Sharded Cluster
To connect to a sharded cluster to export its data, you can either:
Specify the hostname of the
mongos
instance in the--uri connection string
mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017" [additional options] Specify the hostname and port of the
mongos
instance in the--host
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
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 takes 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]
For more information on the options available, see Options.
Tip
See also:
Behavior
Warning
When dumping to a case-insensitive file system such as Windows or macOS, collections with names that differ only by capitalization will be overwritten. For case-insensitive file systems, always use the --archive option.
Using mongodump
Without an authSource

When authSource
is not specified in the MongoDB URI, the
database name specified in --db
is used both to authenticate
your mongodump
session and to indicate the database being dumped. For
an example of using a different database for authentication when using
mongodump
, see Authenticating with a Specific Database.
Restore to Matching Server Version
When using mongorestore
to load data files created by
mongodump
, the MongoDB versions of your source and
destination deployments must be either:
The same major version.
The same feature compatibility version.
For example, if your dump was created from a MongoDB deployment running
version 4.4
, the MongoDB deployment you restore to must also run
version 4.4
or have its FCV set to 4.4
.
To change your feature compatibility version, see
setFeatureCompatibilityVersion
.
Note
You can restore the BSON files generated from mongodump
into MongoDB deployments running the same or newer version
as the source deployment.
This guarantee does not apply to metadata, archive, or oplog replay
files. If you try to restore these files using different
source and destination deployment versions, the mongorestore
process could result in failure, silent failure, or corrupted
metadata.
In addition, ensure that you are using the same version of
mongorestore
to load the data files as the version of
mongodump
that you used to create them. For example, if
you used mongodump
version 100.9.0
to create the
dump, use mongorestore
version 100.9.0
to restore
it.
Read Preference
By default, mongodump
uses read preference
primary
. To override the default, you can specify the
read preference in the
--readPreference
command-line
option or in the --uri connection string
.
If read preference is specified in both the URI string and the
--readPreference
option, the --readPreference
value overrides the read preference specified in the URI string.
Data Exclusion
mongodump
excludes the content of the local
database
in its output.
mongodump
output:
Contains the documents in the database and the index definitions.
Does not contain the index data.
mongorestore
or mongod
must rebuild the
indexes after restoring data.
If you're using views:
By default,
mongodump
only exports a view's metadata.mongodump
doesn't create a binary export of the documents included in the view.To export the documents in a view, use
--viewsAsCollections
.
Metadata Format
mongodump
uses Extended
JSON v2.0 (Canonical) format
for the metadata files. To parse these files for restore, use
mongorestore
, which supports Extended
JSON v2.0 (Canonical or Relaxed mode) format.
Overwrite Files
mongodump
overwrites output files if they exist in the
backup data folder. Before running the mongodump
command
multiple times, either ensure that you no longer need the files in the
output folder (the default is the dump/
folder) or rename the
folders or files.
mongodump
During Resharding
mongodump
fails if:
mongodump
is initiated when a resharding operation is in progress.The
reshardCollection
command is run during amongodump
operation.
Data Compression Handling
When run against a mongod
instance that uses the
WiredTiger storage engine,
mongodump
outputs uncompressed data.
Working Set
mongodump
can adversely affect performance of the
mongod
. If your data is larger than system memory, the
mongodump
will push the working set out of memory.
FIPS
mongodump
automatically creates FIPS-compliant
connections to a mongod
/mongos
that is
configured to use FIPS mode.
Required Access
To run mongodump
against a MongoDB deployment that has
access control enabled, you must have
privileges that grant find
action for each database to
back up. The built-in backup
role provides the required
privileges to perform backup of any and all databases.
Usage in Backup Strategy
Standalone Deployments and Replica Sets
For standalone or a replica set, mongodump
can be a part
of a backup strategy with
mongorestore
for partial backups based on a query,
syncing from production to staging or development environments, or
changing the storage engine of a standalone.
For details on using mongodump
with
mongorestore
as part of a backup and recovery strategy,
see:
Sharded Clusters
mongodump
and mongorestore
cannot be part of a backup strategy for 4.2+ sharded clusters
that have sharded transactions in progress, as backups created with
mongodump
do not maintain the atomicity guarantees
of transactions across shards.
For 4.2+ sharded clusters with in-progress sharded transactions, use one of the following coordinated backup and restore processes which do maintain the atomicity guarantees of transactions across shards:
Options
--help
Returns information on the options and use of
mongodump
.
--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, (e.g.-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
--version
Returns the
mongodump
release number.
--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 (e.g.[<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 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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--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, themongodump
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, themongodump
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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--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.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--username=<username>, -u=<username>
Specifies a username with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the
--password
and--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
and--authenticationDatabase
options.To prompt the user for the password, pass the
--username
option without--password
or specify an empty string as the--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
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. 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
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
, 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
).
--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. This file provides an effective point-in-time snapshot of the state of amongod
instance. To restore to a specific point-in-time backup, use the output created with this option in conjunction withmongorestore --oplogReplay
.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.Important
--oplog
has no effect when runningmongodump
against amongos
instance to dump the entire contents of a sharded cluster. However, you can use--oplog
to dump individual shards.--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:Tip
See also:
--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.
Examples
Run mongodump
from the system command line, not the mongo
shell.
Use mongodump
with a Collection
The following operation creates a dump file that contains only the
collection named records
in the database named test
. In
this case the database is running on the local interface on port
27017
:
mongodump --db=test --collection=records
Use mongodump
with a Database and Exclude Specified Collections
The following operation dumps all collections in the test
database
except for users
and salaries
:
mongodump --db=test --excludeCollection=users --excludeCollection=salaries
Use mongodump
with Access Control
In the next example, mongodump
creates a database dump
located at /opt/backup/mongodump-2011-10-24
, from a database
running on port 37017
on the host mongodb1.example.net
and
authenticating using the username user
as follows:
mongodump --host=mongodb1.example.net --port=37017 --username=user --authenticationDatabase=admin --out=/opt/backup/mongodump-2011-10-24
If you do not include the --password
,
mongodump
prompts the user for the password.
Output to an Archive File
To output the dump to an archive file, run mongodump
with the
--archive
option and the archive filename. For example, the following
operation creates a file test.20150715.archive
that contains the dump
of the test
database.
mongodump --archive=test.20150715.archive --db=test
Output an Archive to Standard Output
To output the archive to the standard output stream in order to pipe to
another process, run mongodump
with the archive
option but omit the filename:
mongodump --archive --db=test --port=27017 | mongorestore --archive --port=27018
Note
You cannot use the --archive
option with the
--out
option.
Compress the Output
To compress the files in the output dump directory, run
mongodump
with the new --gzip
option. For example,
the following operation outputs compressed files into the default
dump
directory.
mongodump --gzip --db=test
To compress the archive file output by mongodump
, use the
--gzip
option in conjunction with the --archive
option, specifying the name of the compressed file.
mongodump --archive=test.20150715.gz --gzip --db=test
Copy and Clone Databases
Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB removes the deprecated copydb
command and clone
command.
As an alternative, users can use mongodump
and
mongorestore
(with the mongorestore
options
--nsFrom
and --nsTo
).
For example, to copy the test
database from a local instance
running on the default port 27017 to the examples
database on the
same instance, you can:
Use
mongodump
to dump thetest
database to an archivemongodump-test-db
:mongodump --archive="mongodump-test-db" --db=test Use
mongorestore
with--nsFrom
and--nsTo
to restore (with database name change) from the archive:mongorestore --archive="mongodump-test-db" --nsFrom='test.*' --nsTo='examples.*'
Tip
Include additional options as necessary, such as to specify the uri or host, username, password and authentication database.
Alternatively, instead of using an archive file, you can
mongodump
the test
database to the standard
output stream and pipe into mongorestore
:
mongodump --archive --db=test | mongorestore --archive --nsFrom='test.*' --nsTo='examples.*'
Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials
New in version 100.1.0.
To connect to a MongoDB Atlas cluster which
has been configured to support authentication via AWS IAM credentials,
provide a connection string
to
mongodump
similar to the following:
mongodump 'mongodb+srv://<aws access key id>:<aws secret access key>@cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' <other options>
Connecting to Atlas using AWS IAM credentials in this manner uses the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
and the $external
authSource
, as shown in this example.
If using an AWS session token,
as well, provide it with the AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
authMechanismProperties
value, as follows:
mongodump 'mongodb+srv://<aws access key id>:<aws secret access key>@cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS&authMechanismProperties=AWS_SESSION_TOKEN:<aws session token>' <other options>
Note
If the AWS access key ID, secret access key, or session token include the following characters:
: / ? # [ ] @
those characters must be converted using percent encoding.
Alternatively, the AWS access key ID, secret access key, and optionally
session token can each be provided outside of the connection string
using the --username
,
--password
, and
--awsSessionToken
options instead, like so:
mongodump 'mongodb+srv://cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' --username <aws access key id> --password <aws secret access key> --awsSessionToken <aws session token> <other options>
When provided as command line parameters, these three options do not require percent encoding.
You may also set these credentials on your platform using standard
AWS IAM environment variables.
mongodump
checks for the following environment variables when you
use the MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
:
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
If set, these credentials do not need to be specified in the connection string or via their explicit options.
Note
If you chose to use the AWS environment variables to specify these values, you cannot mix and match with the corresponding explicit or connection string options for these credentials. Either use the environment variables for access key ID and secret access key (and session token if used), or specify each of these using the explicit or connection string options instead.
The following example sets environment variables in the bash
shell:
export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID='<aws access key id>' export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY='<aws secret access key>' export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN='<aws session token>'
The syntax for setting environment variables in other shells is different. For more information, see the documentation for your shell.
To verify the environment variables are set, use this command:
env | grep AWS
After you set the environment variables, run the following example to connect to a MongoDB Atlas cluster:
mongodump 'mongodb+srv://cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' <other options>
Authenticating with a Specific Database
To authenticate with a different database than the one being dumped, you
must specify authSource
in the MongoDB URI.
In this example:
The username
myuser
and passwordmypassword
is used. This user has read access totestdb
.The
admin
database is used to authenticate the user.The
testdb
database is being dumped.
mongodump 'mongodb+srv://myuser:mypassword@cluster0.example.com/?authSource=admin' --db testdb