mongoexport

Synopsis

mongoexport is a command-line tool that produces a JSON or CSV export of data stored in a MongoDB instance.

Run mongoexport from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

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.

Compatibility

Installation

The mongoexport tool is part of the MongoDB Database Tools package:

➤ Follow the Database Tools Installation Guide to install mongoexport.

Syntax

The mongoexport command has the following form:

mongoexport --collection=<coll> <options> <connection-string>

Run mongoexport from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

You must specify the collection to export. If you do not specify an output file, mongoexport writes to the standard output (e.g. stdout).

mongoexport --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json

Required Access

mongoexport requires read access on the target database.

Ensure that the connecting user possesses, at a minimum, the read role on the target database.

When connecting to a mongod or mongos that enforces Authentication, ensure you use the required security parameters based on the configured authentication mechanism.

Behavior

mongoexport --jsonFormat=canonical --collection=<coll> <connection-string>

Options

--help

Returns information on the options and use of mongoexport.

--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 mongoexport 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 mongoexport 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 mongoexport:

• --password

• --uri

• --sslPEMKeyPassword

This is the recommended way to specify a password to mongoexport, 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 the uri: 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 to mongoexport, 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 of mongoexport, the connection string may alternatively be provided as a positional parameter, without using the --uri option:

mongoexport 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:// or mongodb+srv://. For example:

mongoexport --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 mongoexport on Ubuntu 18.04, you may experience a cannot unmarshal DNS error message when using SRV connection strings (in the form mongodb+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 form mongodb://)

• 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 as ps 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, mongoexport attempts to connect to a MongoDB instance running on the localhost on port number 27017.

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, mongoexport 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 or mongos 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 the URI 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 a mongod or mongos that has CAFile enabled without allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates.

Alternatively, you can also specify the .pem file directly in the URI 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, the mongoexport 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, the mongoexport 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 as ps 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 or mongos 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 mongoexport 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, or

• the 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, or

• the 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 as ps that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:

• omitting the --password option to receive an interactive password prompt, or

• using 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 the connection string, or

• the 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, mongoexport assumes that the database specified to export 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 mongoexport instance uses to authenticate to the mongod or mongos.

Changed in version 100.1.0: Starting in version 100.1.0, mongoexport adds support for the MONGODB-AWS authentication mechanism when connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster.

Value	Description
SCRAM-SHA-1	RFC 5802 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-1 hash function.
SCRAM-SHA-256	RFC 7677 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-256 hash function. Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to 4.0.
MONGODB-X509	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 use PLAIN 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=<serviceName>

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.

--gssapiHostName=<hostname>

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 the name of the database on which to run the mongoexport.

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 the collection to export.

--fields=<field1[,field2]>, -f=<field1[,field2]>

Specifies a field or fields to include in the export. Use a comma separated list of fields to specify multiple fields.

If any of your field names include white space, use quotation marks to enclose the field list. For example, if you wished to export two fields, phone and user number, you would specify --fields "phone,user number".

For csv output formats, mongoexport includes only the specified field(s), and the specified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.

For JSON output formats, mongoexport includes only the specified field(s) and the _id field, and if the specified field(s) is a field within a sub-document, the mongoexport includes the sub-document with all its fields, not just the specified field within the document.

See: Export Data in CSV Format using --fields option for sample usage.

--fieldFile=<filename>

An alternative to --fields. The --fieldFile option allows you to specify in a file the field or fields to include in the export and is only valid with the --type option with value csv. The file must have only one field per line, and the line(s) must end with the LF character (0x0A).

mongoexport includes only the specified field(s). The specified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.

See Use a File to Specify the Fields to Export in CSV Format for sample usage.

--query=<JSON>, -q=<JSON>

Provides a query as a JSON document (enclosed in quotes) to return matching documents in the export.

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, given a collection named records in the database test with the following documents:

{ "_id" : ObjectId("51f0188846a64a1ed98fde7c"), "a" : 1, "date" : ISODate("1960-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("520e61b0c6646578e3661b59"), "a" : 1, "b" : 2, "date" : ISODate("1970-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("520e642bb7fa4ea22d6b1871"), "a" : 2, "b" : 3, "c" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2010-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"), "a" : 3, "b" : 3, "c" : 6, "date" : ISODate("2015-05-02T00:00:00Z") }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("520e6445b7fa4ea22d6b1873"), "a" : 5, "b" : 6, "c" : 8, "date" : ISODate("2018-03-01T00:00:00Z") }
{ "_id" : ObjectId("5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"), "a" : 15, "b" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2015-03-01T00:00:00Z") }

The following mongoexport uses the -q option to export only the documents with the field a greater than or equal to ($gte) to 3 and the field date less than ISODate("2016-01-01T00:00:00Z") (using the extended JSON v2 format (relaxed mode) for dates { "$date": "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.mmm<offset>"}):

mongoexport -d=test -c=records -q='{ "a": { "$gte": 3 }, "date": { "$lt": { "$date": "2016-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } } }' --out=exportdir/myRecords.json

The resulting file contains the following documents:

{"_id":{"$oid":"520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"},"a":3.0,"b":3.0,"c":6.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-05-02T00:00:00Z"}}
{"_id":{"$oid":"5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"},"a":15.0,"b":5.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-03-01T00:00:00Z"}}

You can sort the results with the --sort option to mongoexport.

--type=<string>

Default: json

Specifies the file type to export. Specify csv for CSV format or json for JSON format.

If you specify csv, then you must also use either the --fields or the --fieldFile option to declare the fields to export from the collection.

--out=<file>, -o=<file>

Specifies a file to write the export to. If you do not specify a file name, the mongoexport writes data to standard output (e.g. stdout).

--jsonFormat=<canonical|relaxed>

Default: relaxed

Modifies the output to use either canonical or relaxed mode of the MongoDB Extended JSON (v2) format.

For differences between canonical and relaxed modes, see MongoDB Extended JSON (v2).

--jsonArray

Modifies the output of mongoexport to write the entire contents of the export as a single JSON array. By default mongoexport writes data using one JSON document for every MongoDB document.

--pretty

Outputs documents in a pretty-printed format JSON.

--noHeaderLine

By default, mongoexport includes the exported field names as the first line in a CSV output. --noHeaderLine directs mongoexport to export the data without the list of field names. --noHeaderLine is only valid with the --type option with value csv.

See Exclude Field Names from CSV Output for sample usage.

--readPreference=<string|document>

Default: primary

Specifies the read preference for mongoexport. 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.

mongoexport defaults to primary 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.

--skip=<number>

Use --skip to control where mongoexport begins exporting documents. See skip() for information about the underlying operation.

--limit=<number>

Specifies a maximum number of documents to include in the export. See limit() for information about the underlying operation.

--sort=<JSON>

Specifies an ordering for exported results. If an index does not exist that can support the sort operation, the results must be less than 32 megabytes.

Use --sort conjunction with --skip and --limit to limit number of exported documents.

mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --out=export.0.json
mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=100 --out=export.1.json
mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=200 --out=export.2.json

See sort() for information about the underlying operation.

Examples

Run mongoexport from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fields=name,address --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

name, address
Sophie Monroe, 123 Example Road
Charles Yu, 345 Sample Street

name
address

mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fieldFile=fields.txt --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fields=name,address --noHeaderLine --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

Sophie Monroe, 123 Example Road
Charles Yu, 345 Sample Street

mongoexport --db=sales --collection=contacts --out=contacts.json

mongoexport --host=mongodb1.example.net --port=27017 --username=someUser --authenticationDatabase=admin --collection=contacts --db=marketing --out=mdb1-examplenet.json

mongoexport --uri='mongodb://someUser@mongodb0.example.com:27017/marketing?authsource=admin' --collection=contacts --out=mdb1-examplenet.json

mongoexport --db=sales --collection=contacts --query='{"dept": "ABC", date: { $gte: { "$date": "2018-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } }}'

mongoexport 'mongodb+srv://<aws access key id>:<aws secret access key>@cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' <other options>

mongoexport '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>

: / ? # [ ] @

mongoexport '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>

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>'

env | grep AWS

mongoexport 'mongodb+srv://cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS'  <other options>