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Self-Managed Configuration File Options

On this page

  • Configuration File
  • File Format
  • Use the Configuration File
  • Core Options
  • systemLog Options
  • processManagement Options
  • net Options
  • security Options
  • setParameter Option
  • storage Options
  • operationProfiling Options
  • replication Options
  • sharding Options
  • auditLog Options
  • mongos -only Options
  • Windows Service Options
  • Removed MMAPv1 Options

The following page describes the configuration options available in MongoDB 8.0. For configuration file options for other versions of MongoDB, see the appropriate version of the MongoDB Manual.

Note

If you're using MongoDB Atlas to manage your MongoDB deployments in the cloud, you don't need to create a configuration file. To learn how to configure settings for your MongoDB Atlas deployment, see Configure Additional Settings.

In addition to using the configuration file options, the default configuration for the MongoDB binaries also uses the operating system environment variables.

You can configure mongod and mongos instances at startup using a configuration file. The configuration file contains settings that are equivalent to the mongod and mongos command-line options. See Self-Managed Configuration File Settings and Command-Line Options Mapping.

Using a configuration file makes managing mongod and mongos options easier, especially for large-scale deployments. You can also add comments to the configuration file to explain the server's settings.

  • If you installed MongoDB with a package manager such as yum or apt on Linux or brew on macOS, or with the MSI installer on Windows, a default configuration file has been provided as part of your installation:

    Platform
    Method
    Configuration File

    Linux

    apt, yum, or zypper Package Manager

    /etc/mongod.conf

    macOS

    brew Package Manager

    Windows

    MSI Installer

    <install directory>\bin\mongod.cfg

  • If you installed MongoDB through a downloaded TGZ or ZIP file, you must create your own configuration file. The basic example configuration is a good place to start.

MongoDB configuration files use the YAML format [1].

The following sample configuration file contains several mongod settings that you may adapt to your local configuration:

Note

YAML does not support tab characters for indentation: use spaces instead.

systemLog:
destination: file
path: "/var/log/mongodb/mongod.log"
logAppend: true
processManagement:
fork: true
net:
bindIp: 127.0.0.1
port: 27017
setParameter:
enableLocalhostAuthBypass: false
...

The Linux package init scripts included in the official MongoDB packages depend on specific values for systemLog.path, storage.dbPath, and processManagement.fork or MONGODB_CONFIG_OVERRIDE_NOFORK system environment variable. If you modify these settings in the default configuration file, mongod may not start.

[1] YAML is a superset of JSON.

Note

MongoDB supports using expansion directives in configuration files to load externally sourced values. Expansion directives can load values for specific configuration file options or load the entire configuration file.

The following expansion directives are available:

Expansion Directive
Description

Allows users to specify a REST endpoint as the external source for configuration file options or the full configuration file.

If the configuration file includes the __rest expansion, on Linux/macOS, the read access to the configuration file must be limited to the user running the mongod / mongos process only.

Allows users to specify a shell or terminal command as the external source for configuration file options or the full configuration file.

If the configuration file includes the __exec expansion, on Linux/macOS, the write access to the configuration file must be limited to the user running the mongod / mongos process only.

For complete documentation, see Externally Sourced Configuration File Values for Self-Managed Deployments.

To configure mongod or mongos using a config file, specify the config file with the --config option or the -f option, as in the following examples:

For example, the following uses mongod --config <configuration file> mongos --config <configuration file>:

mongod --config /etc/mongod.conf
mongos --config /etc/mongos.conf

You can also use the -f alias to specify the configuration file, as in the following:

mongod -f /etc/mongod.conf
mongos -f /etc/mongos.conf

If you installed from a package and have started MongoDB using your system's init script, you are already using a configuration file.

If you are using expansion directives in the configuration file, you must include the --configExpand option when starting the mongod or mongos. For example:

mongod --config /etc/mongod.conf --configExpand "rest,exec"
mongos --config /etc/mongos.conf --configExpand "rest,exec"

If the configuration file includes an expansion directive and you start the mongod / mongos without specifying that directive in the --configExpand option, the mongod / mongos fails to start.

For complete documentation, see Externally Sourced Configuration File Values for Self-Managed Deployments.

systemLog:
verbosity: <int>
quiet: <boolean>
traceAllExceptions: <boolean>
syslogFacility: <string>
path: <string>
logAppend: <boolean>
logRotate: <string>
destination: <string>
timeStampFormat: <string>
component:
accessControl:
verbosity: <int>
command:
verbosity: <int>
# COMMENT additional component verbosity settings omitted for brevity
systemLog.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The default log message verbosity level for components. The verbosity level determines the amount of Informational and Debug messages MongoDB outputs. [2]

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

To use a different verbosity level for a named component, use the component's verbosity setting. For example, use the systemLog.component.accessControl.verbosity to set the verbosity level specifically for ACCESS components.

See the systemLog.component.<name>.verbosity settings for specific component verbosity settings.

For various ways to set the log verbosity level, see Configure Log Verbosity Levels.

[2] Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB includes the Debug verbosity level (1-5) in the log messages. For example, if the verbosity level is 2, MongoDB logs D2. In previous versions, MongoDB log messages only specified D for Debug level.
systemLog.quiet

Type: boolean

Default: false

Run mongos or mongod in a quiet mode that attempts to limit the amount of output.

systemLog.quiet is not recommended for production systems as it may make tracking problems during particular connections much more difficult.

systemLog.traceAllExceptions

Type: boolean

Default: false

Print verbose information for debugging. Use for additional logging for support-related troubleshooting.

systemLog.syslogFacility

Type: string

Default: user

The facility level used when logging messages to syslog. The value you specify must be supported by your operating system's implementation of syslog. To use this option, you must set systemLog.destination to syslog.

systemLog.path

Type: string

The path of the log file to which mongod or mongos should send all diagnostic logging information, rather than the standard output or the host's syslog. MongoDB creates the log file at the specified path.

The Linux package init scripts do not expect systemLog.path to change from the defaults. If you use the Linux packages and change systemLog.path, you must use your own init scripts and disable the built-in scripts.

systemLog.logAppend

Type: boolean

Default: false

When true, mongos or mongod appends new entries to the end of the existing log file when the instance restarts. Without this option, mongod or mongos backs up the existing log and create a new file.

systemLog.logRotate

Type: string

Default: rename

Determines the behavior for the logRotate command when rotating the server log and/or the audit log. Specify either rename or reopen:

  • rename renames the log file.

  • reopen closes and reopens the log file following the typical Linux/Unix log rotate behavior. Use reopen when using the Linux/Unix logrotate utility to avoid log loss.

    If you specify reopen, you must also set systemLog.logAppend to true.

systemLog.destination

Type: string

The destination to which MongoDB sends all log output. Specify either file or syslog. If you specify file, you must also specify systemLog.path.

If you do not specify systemLog.destination, MongoDB sends all log output to standard output.

Warning

The syslog daemon generates timestamps when it logs a message, not when MongoDB issues the message. This can lead to misleading timestamps for log entries, especially when the system is under heavy load. We recommend using the file option for production systems to ensure accurate timestamps.

systemLog.timeStampFormat

Type: string

Default: iso8601-local

The time format for timestamps in log messages. Specify one of the following values:

Value
Description

iso8601-utc

Displays timestamps in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in the ISO-8601 format. For example, for New York at the start of the Epoch: 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z

iso8601-local

Displays timestamps in local time in the ISO-8601 format. For example, for New York at the start of the Epoch: 1969-12-31T19:00:00.000-05:00

Note

systemLog.timeStampFormat no longer supports ctime. An example of ctime formatted date is: Wed Dec 31 18:17:54.811.

systemLog:
component:
accessControl:
verbosity: <int>
command:
verbosity: <int>
# COMMENT some component verbosity settings omitted for brevity
replication:
verbosity: <int>
election:
verbosity: <int>
heartbeats:
verbosity: <int>
initialSync:
verbosity: <int>
rollback:
verbosity: <int>
storage:
verbosity: <int>
journal:
verbosity: <int>
recovery:
verbosity: <int>
write:
verbosity: <int>

Note

Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB includes the Debug verbosity level (1-5) in the log messages. For example, if the verbosity level is 2, MongoDB logs D2. In previous versions, MongoDB log messages only specified D for Debug level.

systemLog.component.accessControl.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to access control. See ACCESS components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.command.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to commands. See COMMAND components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.control.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to control operations. See CONTROL components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.ftdc.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to diagnostic data collection operations. See FTDC components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.geo.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to geospatial parsing operations. See GEO components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.index.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to indexing operations. See INDEX components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.network.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to networking operations. See NETWORK components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.query.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to query operations. See QUERY components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.queryStats.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to invocations of $queryStats. See QUERYSTATS components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the default log verbosity level, and only includes informational messages. No $queryStats calls are logged at this level.

  • 1 to 2 increases the verbosity level to include $queryStats calls where algorithm is "hmac-sha-256". Any HMAC keys are redacted.

  • 3 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include $queryStats calls where algorithm is "hmac-sha-256", and the corresponding results. Each result is its own entry and there is a final entry with the string "we finished".

systemLog.component.replication.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to replication. See REPL components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.replication.election.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to election. See ELECTION components.

If systemLog.component.replication.election.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.replication.verbosity level also applies to election components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.replication.heartbeats.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to heartbeats. See REPL_HB components.

If systemLog.component.replication.heartbeats.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.replication.verbosity level also applies to heartbeats components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.replication.initialSync.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to initialSync. See INITSYNC components.

If systemLog.component.replication.initialSync.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.replication.verbosity level also applies to initialSync components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.replication.rollback.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to rollback. See ROLLBACK components.

If systemLog.component.replication.rollback.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.replication.verbosity level also applies to rollback components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.sharding.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to sharding. See SHARDING components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to storage. See STORAGE components.

If systemLog.component.storage.journal.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.storage.verbosity level also applies to journaling components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.journal.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to journaling. See JOURNAL components.

If systemLog.component.storage.journal.verbosity is unset, the journaling components have the same verbosity level as the parent storage components: i.e. either the systemLog.component.storage.verbosity level if set or the default verbosity level.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.recovery.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to recovery. See RECOVERY components.

If systemLog.component.storage.recovery.verbosity is unset, systemLog.component.storage.verbosity level also applies to recovery components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity level for components related to the WiredTiger storage engine. See WT components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtBackup.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity level for components related to backup operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTBACKUP components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtCheckpoint.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to checkpoint operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTCHKPT components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtCompact.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to compaction operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTCMPCT components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtEviction.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to eviction operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTEVICT components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtHS.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to history store operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTHS components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtRecovery.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to recovery operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTRECOV components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtRTS.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to rollback to stable (RTS) operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTRTS components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtSalvage.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to salvage operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTSLVG components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtTimestamp.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to timestamps used by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTTS components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtTransaction.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to transaction operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTTXN components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtVerify.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to verification operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTVRFY components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.storage.wt.wtWriteLog.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: -1

New in version 5.3.

The log message verbosity for components related to log write operations performed by the WiredTiger storage engine. See WTWRTLOG components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.transaction.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to transaction. See TXN components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

systemLog.component.write.verbosity

Type: integer

Default: 0

The log message verbosity level for components related to write operations. See WRITE components.

The verbosity level can range from 0 to 5:

  • 0 is the MongoDB's default log verbosity level, to include Informational messages.

  • 1 to 5 increases the verbosity level to include Debug messages.

processManagement:
fork: <boolean>
pidFilePath: <string>
timeZoneInfo: <string>
processManagement.fork

Type: boolean

Default: false

Enable a daemon mode that runs the mongos or mongod process in the background. By default mongos or mongod does not run as a daemon. To use mongos or mongod as a daemon, set processManagement.fork or use a controlling process that handles the daemonization process (for example, systemd).

The processManagement.fork option is not supported on Windows.

The Linux package init scripts do not expect processManagement.fork to change from the defaults. If you use the Linux packages and change processManagement.fork, you must use your own init scripts and disable the built-in scripts.

Note

Alternatively, you can set the MONGODB_CONFIG_OVERRIDE_NOFORK environment variable on your system to true to run the mongos or mongod process in the background. If you set the environment variable, it overrides the setting for processManagement.fork.

processManagement.pidFilePath

Type: string

Specifies a file location to store the process ID (PID) of the mongos or mongod process. The user running the mongod or mongos process must be able to write to this path. If the processManagement.pidFilePath option is not specified, the process does not create a PID file. This option is generally only useful in combination with the processManagement.fork setting.

Note

Linux

On Linux, PID file management is generally the responsibility of your distro's init system: usually a service file in the /etc/init.d directory, or a systemd unit file registered with systemctl. Only use the processManagement.pidFilePath option if you are not using one of these init systems. For more information, please see the respective Installation Guide for your operating system.

Note

macOS

On macOS, PID file management is generally handled by brew. Only use the processManagement.pidFilePath option if you are not using brew on your macOS system. For more information, please see the respective Installation Guide for your operating system.

processManagement.timeZoneInfo

Type: string

The full path from which to load the time zone database. If this option is not provided, then MongoDB uses its built-in time zone database.

The configuration file included with Linux and macOS packages sets the time zone database path to /usr/share/zoneinfo by default.

The built-in time zone database is a copy of the Olson/IANA time zone database. It is updated along with MongoDB releases, but the time zone database release cycle differs from the MongoDB release cycle. The most recent release of the time zone database is available on our download site.

Warning

MongoDB uses the third party timelib library to provide accurate conversions between timezones. Due to a recent update, timelib could create inaccurate time zone conversions in older versions of MongoDB.

To explicitly link to the time zone database in versions of MongoDB prior to 5.0, download the time zone database. and use the timeZoneInfo parameter.

Changed in version 5.0: MongoDB removes the net.serviceExecutor configuration option and the corresponding --serviceExecutor command-line option.

net:
port: <int>
bindIp: <string>
bindIpAll: <boolean>
maxIncomingConnections: <int>
wireObjectCheck: <boolean>
ipv6: <boolean>
unixDomainSocket:
enabled: <boolean>
pathPrefix: <string>
filePermissions: <int>
tls:
certificateSelector: <string>
clusterCertificateSelector: <string>
mode: <string>
certificateKeyFile: <string>
certificateKeyFilePassword: <string>
clusterFile: <string>
clusterPassword: <string>
CAFile: <string>
clusterCAFile: <string>
clusterAuthX509:
attributes: <string>
extensionValue: <string>
CRLFile: <string>
allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates: <boolean>
allowInvalidCertificates: <boolean>
allowInvalidHostnames: <boolean>
disabledProtocols: <string>
FIPSMode: <boolean>
logVersions: <string>
compression:
compressors: <string>
net.port

Type: integer

Default:

The TCP port on which the MongoDB instance listens for client connections.

The net.port option accepts a range of values between 0 and 65535. Setting the port to 0 configures mongos or mongod to use an arbitrary port assigned by the operating system.

net.bindIp

Type: string

Default: localhost

The hostnames and/or IP addresses and/or full Unix domain socket paths on which mongos or mongod should listen for client connections. You may attach mongos or mongod to any interface. To bind to multiple addresses, enter a list of comma-separated values.

Example

localhost,/tmp/mongod.sock

You can specify both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, or hostnames that resolve to an IPv4 or IPv6 address.

Example

localhost, 2001:0DB8:e132:ba26:0d5c:2774:e7f9:d513

Note

If specifying an IPv6 address or a hostname that resolves to an IPv6 address to net.bindIp, you must start mongos or mongod with net.ipv6 : true to enable IPv6 support. Specifying an IPv6 address to net.bindIp does not enable IPv6 support.

If specifying a link-local IPv6 address (fe80::/10), you must append the zone index to that address (i.e. fe80::<address>%<adapter-name>).

Example

localhost,fe80::a00:27ff:fee0:1fcf%enp0s3

Important

To avoid configuration updates due to IP address changes, use DNS hostnames instead of IP addresses. It is particularly important to use a DNS hostname instead of an IP address when configuring replica set members or sharded cluster members.

Use hostnames instead of IP addresses to configure clusters across a split network horizon. Starting in MongoDB 5.0, nodes that are only configured with an IP address fail startup validation and do not start.

Warning

Before you bind your instance to a publicly-accessible IP address, you must secure your cluster from unauthorized access. For a complete list of security recommendations, see Security Checklist for Self-Managed Deployments. At minimum, consider enabling authentication and hardening network infrastructure.

For more information about IP Binding, refer to the IP Binding in Self-Managed Deployments documentation.

To bind to all IPv4 addresses, enter 0.0.0.0.

To bind to all IPv4 and IPv6 addresses, enter ::,0.0.0.0 or an asterisk "*" (enclose the asterisk in quotes to distinguish from YAML alias nodes). Alternatively, use the net.bindIpAll setting.

Note

  • net.bindIp and net.bindIpAll are mutually exclusive. That is, you can specify one or the other, but not both.

  • The command-line option --bind_ip overrides the configuration file setting net.bindIp.

To configure cluster nodes for split horizon DNS, use host names instead of IP addresses.

Starting in MongoDB v5.0, replSetInitiate and replSetReconfig reject configurations that use IP addresses instead of hostnames.

Use disableSplitHorizonIPCheck to modify nodes that cannot be updated to use host names. The parameter only applies to the configuration commands.

mongod and mongos do not rely on disableSplitHorizonIPCheck for validation at startup. Legacy mongod and mongos instances that use IP addresses instead of host names can start after an upgrade.

Instances that are configured with IP addresses log a warning to use host names instead of IP addresses.

net.bindIpAll

Type: boolean

Default: false

If true, the mongos or mongod instance binds to all IPv4 addresses (i.e. 0.0.0.0). If mongos or mongod starts with net.ipv6 : true, net.bindIpAll also binds to all IPv6 addresses (i.e. ::).

mongos or mongod only supports IPv6 if started with net.ipv6 : true. Specifying net.bindIpAll alone does not enable IPv6 support.

Warning

Before you bind your instance to a publicly-accessible IP address, you must secure your cluster from unauthorized access. For a complete list of security recommendations, see Security Checklist for Self-Managed Deployments. At minimum, consider enabling authentication and hardening network infrastructure.

For more information about IP Binding, refer to the IP Binding in Self-Managed Deployments documentation.

Alternatively, set net.bindIp to ::,0.0.0.0 or to an asterisk "*" (enclose the asterisk in quotes to distinguish from YAML alias nodes) to bind to all IP addresses.

Note

net.bindIp and net.bindIpAll are mutually exclusive. Specifying both options causes mongos or mongod to throw an error and terminate.

net.maxIncomingConnections

Type: integer

Default (Windows): 1,000,000
Default (Linux): (RLIMIT_NOFILE) * 0.8

The maximum number of simultaneous connections that mongos or mongod accepts. This setting has no effect if it is higher than your operating system's configured maximum connection tracking threshold.

Do not assign too low of a value to this option, or you may encounter errors during normal application operation.

This is particularly useful for a mongos if you have a client that creates multiple connections and allows them to timeout rather than closing them.

In this case, set maxIncomingConnections to a value slightly higher than the maximum number of connections that the client creates, or the maximum size of the connection pool.

This setting prevents the mongos from causing connection spikes on the individual shards. Spikes like these may disrupt the operation and memory allocation of the sharded cluster.

net.wireObjectCheck

Type: boolean

Default: true

When true, the mongod or mongos instance validates all requests from clients upon receipt to prevent clients from inserting malformed or invalid BSON into a MongoDB database.

For objects with a high degree of sub-document nesting, net.wireObjectCheck can have a small impact on performance.

net.ipv6

Type: boolean

Default: false

Set net.ipv6 to true to enable IPv6 support. mongos/mongod disables IPv6 support by default.

Setting net.ipv6 does not direct the mongos/mongod to listen on any local IPv6 addresses or interfaces. To configure the mongos/mongod to listen on an IPv6 interface, you must either:

  • Configure net.bindIp with one or more IPv6 addresses or hostnames that resolve to IPv6 addresses, or

  • Set net.bindIpAll to true.

net:
unixDomainSocket:
enabled: <boolean>
pathPrefix: <string>
filePermissions: <int>
net.unixDomainSocket.enabled

Type: boolean

Default: true

Enable or disable listening on the UNIX domain socket. net.unixDomainSocket.enabled applies only to Unix-based systems.

When net.unixDomainSocket.enabled is true, mongos or mongod listens on the UNIX socket.

The mongos or mongod process always listens on the UNIX socket unless one of the following is true:

mongos or mongod installed from official .deb and .rpm packages have the bind_ip configuration set to 127.0.0.1 by default.

net.unixDomainSocket.pathPrefix

Type: string

Default: /tmp

The path for the UNIX socket. net.unixDomainSocket.pathPrefix applies only to Unix-based systems.

If this option has no value, the mongos or mongod process creates a socket with /tmp as a prefix. MongoDB creates and listens on a UNIX socket unless one of the following is true:

net.unixDomainSocket.filePermissions

Type: int

Default: 0700

Sets the permission for the UNIX domain socket file.

net.unixDomainSocket.filePermissions applies only to Unix-based systems.

Note

The tls options provide identical functionality as the previous ssl options.

net:
tls:
mode: <string>
certificateKeyFile: <string>
certificateKeyFilePassword: <string>
certificateSelector: <string>
clusterCertificateSelector: <string>
clusterFile: <string>
clusterPassword: <string>
clusterAuthX509:
attributes: <string>
extensionValue: <string>
CAFile: <string>
clusterCAFile: <string>
CRLFile: <string>
allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates: <boolean>
allowInvalidCertificates: <boolean>
allowInvalidHostnames: <boolean>
disabledProtocols: <string>
FIPSMode: <boolean>
logVersions: <string>
net.tls.mode

Type: string

Enables TLS used for all network connections. The argument to the net.tls.mode setting can be one of the following:

Value
Description

disabled

The server does not use TLS.

allowTLS

Connections between servers do not use TLS. For incoming connections, the server accepts both TLS and non-TLS.

preferTLS

Connections between servers use TLS. For incoming connections, the server accepts both TLS and non-TLS.

requireTLS

The server uses and accepts only TLS encrypted connections.

If --tlsCAFile or tls.CAFile is not specified and you are not using x.509 authentication, you must set the tlsUseSystemCA parameter to true. This makes MongoDB use the system-wide CA certificate store when connecting to a TLS-enabled server.

If using x.509 authentication, --tlsCAFile or tls.CAFile must be specified unless using --tlsCertificateSelector.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.certificateKeyFile

Type: string

The .pem file that contains both the TLS certificate and key.

On macOS or Windows, you can use the net.tls.certificateSelector setting to specify a certificate from the operating system's secure certificate store instead of a PEM key file. certificateKeyFile and net.tls.certificateSelector are mutually exclusive. You can only specify one.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.certificateKeyFilePassword

Type: string

The password to de-crypt the certificate-key file (i.e. certificateKeyFile). Use the net.tls.certificateKeyFilePassword option only if the certificate-key file is encrypted. In all cases, the mongos or mongod redacts the password from all logging and reporting output.

On Linux/BSD, if the private key in the PEM file is encrypted and you do not specify the net.tls.certificateKeyFilePassword option, MongoDB prompts for a passphrase.

For more information, see TLS/SSL Certificate Passphrase.

On macOS, if the private key in the PEM file is encrypted, you must explicitly specify the net.tls.certificateKeyFilePassword option. Alternatively, you can use a certificate from the secure system store (see net.tls.certificateSelector) instead of a PEM key file or use an unencrypted PEM file.

On Windows, MongoDB does not support encrypted certificates. The mongod fails if it encounters an encrypted PEM file. Use net.tls.certificateSelector instead.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.certificateSelector

Type: string

Specifies a certificate property in order to select a matching certificate from the operating system's certificate store to use for TLS/SSL. Available on Windows and macOS as an alternative to net.tls.certificateKeyFile.

net.tls.certificateKeyFile and net.tls.certificateSelector options are mutually exclusive. You can only specify one.

net.tls.certificateSelector accepts an argument of the format <property>=<value> where the property can be one of the following:

Property
Value type
Description

subject

ASCII string

Subject name or common name on certificate

thumbprint

hex string

A sequence of bytes, expressed as hexadecimal, used to identify a public key by its SHA-1 digest.

The thumbprint is sometimes referred to as a fingerprint.

When using the system SSL certificate store, OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) is used to validate the revocation status of certificates.

The mongod searches the operating system's secure certificate store for the CA certificates required to validate the full certificate chain of the specified TLS certificate. Specifically, the secure certificate store must contain the root CA and any intermediate CA certificates required to build the full certificate chain to the TLS certificate.

Warning

If you use net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector, we do not recommend using net.tls.CAFile or net.tls.clusterFile to specify the root and intermediate CA certificate

For example, if the TLS certificate was signed with a single root CA certificate, the secure certificate store must contain that root CA certificate. If the TLS certificate was signed with an intermediate CA certificate, the secure certificate store must contain the intermedia CA certificate and the root CA certificate.

Note

You cannot use the rotateCertificates command or the db.rotateCertificates() shell method when using net.tls.certificateSelector or --tlsCertificateSelector set to thumbprint

net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector

Type: string

Specifies a certificate property to select a matching certificate from the operating system's secure certificate store to use for internal x.509 membership authentication.

Available on Windows and macOS as an alternative to net.tls.clusterFile.

net.tls.clusterFile and net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector options are mutually exclusive. You can only specify one.

net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector accepts an argument of the format <property>=<value> where the property can be one of the following:

Property
Value type
Description

subject

ASCII string

Subject name or common name on certificate

thumbprint

hex string

A sequence of bytes, expressed as hexadecimal, used to identify a public key by its SHA-1 digest.

The thumbprint is sometimes referred to as a fingerprint.

The mongod searches the operating system's secure certificate store for the CA certificates required to validate the full certificate chain of the specified cluster certificate. Specifically, the secure certificate store must contain the root CA and any intermediate CA certificates required to build the full certificate chain to the cluster certificate.

Warning

If you use net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector, we do not recommend using net.tls.CAFile or net.tls.clusterCAFile to specify the root and intermediate CA certificate.

For example, if the cluster certificate was signed with a single root CA certificate, the secure certificate store must contain that root CA certificate. If the cluster certificate was signed with an intermediate CA certificate, the secure certificate store must contain the intermediate CA certificate and the root CA certificate.

mongod / mongos logs a warning on connection if the presented x.509 certificate expires within 30 days of the mongod/mongos host system time.

net.tls.clusterFile

Type: string

The .pem file that contains the x.509 certificate-key file for membership authentication for the cluster or replica set.

On macOS or Windows, you can use the net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector option to specify a certificate from the operating system's secure certificate store instead of a PEM key file. net.tls.clusterFile and net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector options are mutually exclusive. You can only specify one.

If net.tls.clusterFile does not specify the .pem file for internal cluster authentication or the alternative net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector, the cluster uses the .pem file specified in the certificateKeyFile setting or the certificate returned by the net.tls.certificateSelector.

If using x.509 authentication, --tlsCAFile or tls.CAFile must be specified unless using --tlsCertificateSelector.

mongod / mongos logs a warning on connection if the presented x.509 certificate expires within 30 days of the mongod/mongos host system time.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

Important

For Windows only, MongoDB does not support encrypted PEM files. The mongod fails to start if it encounters an encrypted PEM file. To securely store and access a certificate for use with membership authentication on Windows, use net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector.

net.tls.clusterPassword

Type: string

The password to de-crypt the x.509 certificate-key file specified with --sslClusterFile. Use the net.tls.clusterPassword option only if the certificate-key file is encrypted. In all cases, mongos or mongod redacts the password from all logging and reporting output.

On Linux/BSD, if the private key in the x.509 file is encrypted and you do not specify the net.tls.clusterPassword option, MongoDB prompts for a passphrase.

For more information, see TLS/SSL Certificate Passphrase.

On macOS, if the private key in the x.509 file is encrypted, you must explicitly specify the net.tls.clusterPassword option. Alternatively, you can either use a certificate from the secure system store (see net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector) instead of a cluster PEM file or use an unencrypted PEM file.

On Windows, MongoDB does not support encrypted certificates. The mongod fails if it encounters an encrypted PEM file. Use net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.clusterAuthX509

New in version 7.0.

net:
tls:
clusterAuthX509:
attributes: <string>
extensionValue: <string>
net.tls.clusterAuthX509.attributes

Type: string

New in version 7.0.

Specifies a set of X.509 Distinguished Name (DN) attributes and values that the server expects cluster member nodes to contain in their certificate subject names. This lets you use certificates that don't contain DC, O, and OU values to authenticate cluster members.

When attributes is set, MongoDB matches certificates using the DN and ignores extension values.

net.tls.clusterAuthX509.extensionValue

Type: string

New in version 7.0.

Specifies an extension value that corresponds to the MongoDB cluster membership extension OID, 1.3.6.1.4.1.34601.2.1.2, that the server expects cluster member nodes to contain in their certificates. This allows you to use certificates that don't contain DC, O, and OU values to authenticate cluster members.

When extensionValue is set, MongoDB matches certificates using certificate extension values and ignores the Distinguished Name (DN).

net.tls.CAFile

Type: string

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.

Windows/macOS Only
If using net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector, do not use net.tls.CAFile to specify the root and intermediate CA certificates. Store all CA certificates required to validate the full trust chain of the net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector certificates in the secure certificate store.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.clusterCAFile

Type: string

The .pem file that contains the root certificate chain from the Certificate Authority used to validate the certificate presented by a client establishing a connection. Specify the file name of the .pem file using relative or absolute paths. net.tls.clusterCAFile requires that net.tls.CAFile is set.

If net.tls.clusterCAFile does not specify the .pem file for validating the certificate from a client establishing a connection, the cluster uses the .pem file specified in the net.tls.CAFile option.

net.tls.clusterCAFile lets you use separate Certificate Authorities to verify the client to server and server to client portions of the TLS handshake.

Starting in 4.0, on macOS or Windows, you can use a certificate from the operating system's secure store instead of a PEM key file. See net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector. When using the secure store, you do not need to, but can, also specify the net.tls.clusterCAFile.

Windows/macOS Only
If using net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector, do not use net.tls.clusterCAFile to specify the root and intermediate CA certificates. Store all CA certificates required to validate the full trust chain of the net.tls.certificateSelector and/or net.tls.clusterCertificateSelector certificates in the secure certificate store.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.CRLFile

Type: string

The .pem file that contains the Certificate Revocation List. Specify the file name of the .pem file using relative or absolute paths.

Note

  • You cannot specify net.tls.CRLFile on macOS. Instead, you can use the system SSL certificate store, which uses OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) to validate the revocation status of certificates. See net.tls.certificateSelector to use the system SSL certificate store.

  • To check for certificate revocation, MongoDB enables the use of OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) by default as an alternative to specifying a CRL file or using the system SSL certificate store.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates

Type: boolean

Default: false

If false, all clients must provide client TLS certificates. If true, clients don't need to provide client certificates, but mongod or mongos encrypts the TLS/SSL connection.

If a client provides a client certificate, regardless of what value you set for net.tls.allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates, mongos or mongod performs certificate validation using the root certificate chain specified by CAFile, or the system CA store if tlsUseSystemCA is true, and rejects clients with invalid certificates.

Use the net.tls.allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates option if you have a mixed deployment that includes clients that do not or cannot present certificates to the mongos or mongod.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

net.tls.allowInvalidCertificates

Type: boolean

Default: false

Enable or disable the validation checks for TLS certificates on other servers in the cluster and allows the use of invalid certificates to connect.

Note

If you specify --tlsAllowInvalidCertificates or tls.allowInvalidCertificates: true when using x.509 authentication, an invalid certificate is only sufficient to establish a TLS connection but is insufficient for authentication.

When using the net.tls.allowInvalidCertificates setting, MongoDB logs a warning regarding the use of the invalid certificate.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and Self-Managed Internal/Membership Authentication.

net.tls.allowInvalidHostnames

Type: boolean

Default: false

When net.tls.allowInvalidHostnames is true, MongoDB disables the validation of the hostnames in TLS certificates. This allows mongod or mongos to connect to other MongoDB instances in the cluster, even if the hostname of their certificates does not match the specified hostname.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL.

net.tls.disabledProtocols

Type: string

Prevents a MongoDB server running with TLS from accepting incoming connections that use a specific protocol or protocols. To specify multiple protocols, use a comma separated list of protocols, but do not use spaces after the commas. If you include a space before a protocol name, the server interprets it as an unrecognized protocol and doesn't start.

net.tls.disabledProtocols recognizes the following protocols: TLS1_0, TLS1_1, TLS1_2, and TLS1_3.

  • On macOS, you cannot disable TLS1_1 and leave both TLS1_0 and TLS1_2 enabled. You must disable at least one of the other two, for example, TLS1_0,TLS1_1.

  • To list multiple protocols, specify as a comma separated list of protocols without spaces after the commas. For example TLS1_0,TLS1_1.

  • Specifying an unrecognized protocol or including a space after a comma prevents the server from starting.

  • The specified disabled protocols overrides any default disabled protocols.

MongoDB disables the use of TLS 1.0 if TLS 1.1+ is available on the system. To enable TLS 1.0, specify none to net.tls.disabledProtocols.

Members of replica sets and sharded clusters must speak at least one protocol in common.

Tip

See also:

net.tls.FIPSMode

Type: boolean

Default: false

Enable or disable the use of the FIPS mode of the TLS library for the mongos or mongod. Your system must have a FIPS compliant library to use the net.tls.FIPSMode option.

Note

FIPS-compatible TLS/SSL is available only in MongoDB Enterprise. See Configure MongoDB for FIPS for more information.

net.tls.logVersions

Type: string

Instructs mongos or mongod to log a message when a client connects using a specified TLS version.

Specify either a single TLS version or a comma-separated list of multiple TLS versions.

Example

To instruct mongos or mongod to log a message when a client connects using either TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3, set net.tls.logVersions to "TLS1_2,TLS1_3".

net:
compression:
compressors: <string>
net.compression.compressors

Default: snappy,zstd,zlib

Specifies the default compressor(s) to use for communication between this mongod or mongos instance and:

  • other members of the deployment if the instance is part of a replica set or a sharded cluster

  • mongosh

  • drivers that support the OP_COMPRESSED message format.

MongoDB supports the following compressors:

To disable network compression, set the value to disabled.

Important

Messages are compressed when both parties enable network compression. Otherwise, messages between the parties are uncompressed.

If you specify multiple compressors, then the order in which you list the compressors matter as well as the communication initiator. For example, if mongosh specifies the following network compressors zlib,snappy and the mongod specifies snappy,zlib, messages between mongosh and mongod uses zlib.

If the parties do not share at least one common compressor, messages between the parties are uncompressed. For example, if mongosh specifies the network compressor zlib and mongod specifies snappy, messages between mongosh and mongod are not compressed.

security:
keyFile: <string>
clusterAuthMode: <string>
authorization: <string>
transitionToAuth: <boolean>
javascriptEnabled: <boolean>
redactClientLogData: <boolean>
clusterIpSourceAllowlist:
- <string>
sasl:
hostName: <string>
serviceName: <string>
saslauthdSocketPath: <string>
enableEncryption: <boolean>
encryptionCipherMode: <string>
encryptionKeyFile: <string>
kmip:
keyIdentifier: <string>
rotateMasterKey: <boolean>
serverName: <string>
port: <string>
clientCertificateFile: <string>
clientCertificatePassword: <string>
clientCertificateSelector: <string>
serverCAFile: <string>
connectRetries: <int>
connectTimeoutMS: <int>
ldap:
servers: <string>
bind:
method: <string>
saslMechanisms: <string>
queryUser: <string>
queryPassword: <string | array>
useOSDefaults: <boolean>
transportSecurity: <string>
timeoutMS: <int>
userToDNMapping: <string>
authz:
queryTemplate: <string>
validateLDAPServerConfig: <boolean>
security.keyFile

Type: string

The path to a key file that stores the shared secret that MongoDB instances use to authenticate to each other in a sharded cluster or replica set. keyFile implies security.authorization. See Self-Managed Internal/Membership Authentication for more information.

Keyfiles for internal membership authentication use YAML format to allow for multiple keys in a keyfile. The YAML format accepts either:

  • A single key string (same as in earlier versions)

  • A sequence of key strings

The YAML format is compatible with the existing single-key keyfiles that use the text file format.

security.clusterAuthMode

Type: string

Default: keyFile

The authentication mode used for cluster authentication. If you use internal x.509 authentication, specify so here. This option can have one of the following values:

Value
Description

keyFile

Use a keyfile for authentication. Accept only keyfiles.

sendKeyFile

For rolling upgrade purposes. Send a keyfile for authentication but can accept both keyfiles and x.509 certificates.

sendX509

For rolling upgrade purposes. Send the x.509 certificate for authentication but can accept both keyfiles and x.509 certificates.

x509

Recommended. Send the x.509 certificate for authentication and accept only x.509 certificates.

If --tlsCAFile or tls.CAFile is not specified and you are not using x.509 authentication, you must set the tlsUseSystemCA parameter to true. This makes MongoDB use the system-wide CA certificate store when connecting to a TLS-enabled server.

If using x.509 authentication, --tlsCAFile or tls.CAFile must be specified unless using --tlsCertificateSelector.

For more information about TLS and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

security.authorization

Type: string

Default: disabled

Enable or disable Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to govern each user's access to database resources and operations.

Set this option to one of the following:

Value
Description

enabled

A user can access only the database resources and actions for which they have been granted privileges.

disabled

A user can access any database and perform any action.

See Role-Based Access Control in Self-Managed Deployments for more information.

The security.authorization setting is available only for mongod.

security.transitionToAuth

Type: boolean

Default: false

Allows the mongod or mongos to accept and create authenticated and non-authenticated connections to and from other mongod and mongos instances in the deployment. Used for performing rolling transition of replica sets or sharded clusters from a no-auth configuration to internal authentication. Requires specifying a internal authentication mechanism such as security.keyFile.

For example, if using keyfiles for internal authentication, the mongod or mongos creates an authenticated connection with any mongod or mongos in the deployment using a matching keyfile. If the security mechanisms do not match, the mongod or mongos utilizes a non-authenticated connection instead.

A mongod or mongos running with security.transitionToAuth does not enforce user access controls. Users may connect to your deployment without any access control checks and perform read, write, and administrative operations.

Note

A mongod or mongos running with internal authentication and without security.transitionToAuth requires clients to connect using user access controls. Update clients to connect to the mongod or mongos using the appropriate user prior to restarting mongod or mongos without security.transitionToAuth.

security.javascriptEnabled

Type: boolean

Default: true

Important

Server-side JavaScript Deprecated

Starting in MongoDB 8.0, server-side JavaScript functions ($accumulator, $function, $where) are deprecated. MongoDB logs a warning when you run these functions.

Map-reduce is deprecated starting in MongoDB 5.0.

Enables or disables server-side JavaScript execution. When disabled, you cannot use operations that perform server-side execution of JavaScript code, such as the $where query operator, mapReduce command, $accumulator, and $function.

If you do not use these operations, disable server-side scripting.

The security.javascriptEnabled is available for both mongod and mongos. In earlier versions, the setting is only available for mongod.

security.redactClientLogData

Type: boolean

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

A mongod or mongos running with security.redactClientLogData redacts any message accompanying a given log event before logging. This prevents the mongod or mongos from writing potentially sensitive data stored on the database to the diagnostic log. Metadata such as error or operation codes, line numbers, and source file names are still visible in the logs.

Use security.redactClientLogData in conjunction with Encryption at Rest and TLS/SSL (Transport Encryption) to assist compliance with regulatory requirements.

For example, a MongoDB deployment might store Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in one or more collections. The mongod or mongos logs events such as those related to CRUD operations, sharding metadata, etc. It is possible that the mongod or mongos may expose PII as a part of these logging operations. A mongod or mongos running with security.redactClientLogData removes any message accompanying these events before being output to the log, effectively removing the PII.

Diagnostics on a mongod or mongos running with security.redactClientLogData may be more difficult due to the lack of data related to a log event. See the process logging manual page for an example of the effect of security.redactClientLogData on log output.

On a running mongod or mongos, use setParameter with the redactClientLogData parameter to configure this setting.

security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist

Type: list

New in version 5.0.

Changed in version 5.2.

A list of IP addresses/CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) ranges against which the mongod validates authentication requests from other members of the replica set and, if part of a sharded cluster, the mongos instances. The mongod verifies that the originating IP is either explicitly in the list or belongs to a CIDR range in the list. If the IP address is not present, the server does not authenticate the mongod or mongos.

security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist has no effect on a mongod started without authentication.

Starting in MongoDB 5.2, you can configure security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

This example updates security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist during runtime to include the IP addresses "1.1.1.1/24", "2.2.2.2/16", and "3.3.3.3".

db.adminCommand( {
setParameter: 1,
"clusterIpSourceAllowlist": ["1.1.1.1/24", "2.2.2.2/16", "3.3.3.3"]
} );

This example updates security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist during runtime to exclude all IP addresses:

db.adminCommand( {
setParameter: 1,
"clusterIpSourceAllowlist": null
} );

security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist has no effect on a mongod started without authentication.

security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist requires specifying each IPv4/6 address or Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) range as a YAML list:

security:
clusterIpSourceAllowlist:
- 192.0.2.0/24
- 127.0.0.1
- ::1

Important

Ensure security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist includes the IP address or CIDR ranges that include the IP address of each replica set member or mongos in the deployment to ensure healthy communication between cluster components.

security.clusterIpSourceWhitelist

Type: list

Deprecated in version 5.0: Use security.clusterIpSourceAllowlist instead.

A list of IP addresses/CIDR (Classless Inter-Domain Routing) ranges against which the mongod validates authentication requests from other members of the replica set and, if part of a sharded cluster, the mongos instances. The mongod verifies that the originating IP is either explicitly in the list or belongs to a CIDR range in the list. If the IP address is not present, the server does not authenticate the mongod or mongos.

security.clusterIpSourceWhitelist has no effect on a mongod started without authentication.

security.clusterIpSourceWhitelist requires specifying each IPv4/6 address or Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) range as a YAML list:

security:
clusterIpSourceWhitelist:
- 192.0.2.0/24
- 127.0.0.1
- ::1

Important

Ensure security.clusterIpSourceWhitelist includes the IP address or CIDR ranges that include the IP address of each replica set member or mongos in the deployment to ensure healthy communication between cluster components.

security:
enableEncryption: <boolean>
encryptionCipherMode: <string>
encryptionKeyFile: <string>
kmip:
keyIdentifier: <string>
rotateMasterKey: <boolean>
serverName: <string>
port: <string>
clientCertificateFile: <string>
clientCertificatePassword: <string>
clientCertificateSelector: <string>
serverCAFile: <string>
connectRetries: <int>
connectTimeoutMS: <int>
activateKeys: <boolean>
keyStatePollingSeconds: <int>
security.enableEncryption

Type: boolean

Default: false

Enables encryption for the WiredTiger storage engine. You must set to true to pass in encryption keys and configurations.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.encryptionCipherMode

Type: string

Default: AES256-CBC

The cipher mode to use for encryption at rest:

Mode
Description

AES256-CBC

256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard in Cipher Block Chaining Mode

AES256-GCM

256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard in Galois/Counter Mode

Available only on Linux.

MongoDB Enterprise on Windows no longer supports AES256-GCM as a block cipher for encryption at rest. This usage is only supported on Linux.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.encryptionKeyFile

Type: string

The path to the local keyfile when managing keys through a process other than KMIP. Only set when managing keys through a process other than KMIP. If data is already encrypted using KMIP, MongoDB throws an error.

Requires security.enableEncryption to be true.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.keyIdentifier

Type: string

Unique KMIP identifier for an existing key within the KMIP server. Include to use the key associated with the identifier as the system key. You can only use the setting the first time you enable encryption for the mongod instance. Requires security.enableEncryption to be true.

If unspecified, MongoDB requests that the KMIP server create a new key to utilize as the system key.

If the KMIP server cannot locate a key with the specified identifier or the data is already encrypted with a key, MongoDB throws an error.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.rotateMasterKey

Type: boolean

Default: false

If true, rotate the master key and re-encrypt the internal keystore.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.serverName

Type: string

Hostname or IP address of the KMIP server to connect to. Requires security.enableEncryption to be true.

You can specify multiple KMIP servers as a comma-separated list, for example server1.example.com,server2.example.com. On startup, the mongod attempts to establish a connection to each server in the order listed, and selects the first server to which it can successfully establish a connection. KMIP server selection occurs only at startup.

mongod verifies the connection to the KMIP server on startup.

The server name specified in --kmipServerName must match either the Subject Alternative Name SAN or the Common Name CN on the certificate presented by the KMIP server. SAN can be a system name or an IP address.

If SAN is present, mongod does not try to match against CN.

If the hostname or IP address of the KMIP server does does not match either SAN or CN, mongod does not start.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, when performing comparison of SAN, MongoDB supports comparison of DNS names or IP addresses. In previous versions, MongoDB only supports comparisons of DNS names.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.port

Type: string

Default: 5696

Port number to use to communicate with the KMIP server. Requires security.kmip.serverName. Requires security.enableEncryption to be true.

If specifying multiple KMIP servers with security.kmip.serverName, the mongod uses the port specified with security.kmip.port for all provided KMIP servers.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.clientCertificateFile

Type: string

Path to the .pem file used to authenticate MongoDB to the KMIP server. The specified .pem file must contain both the TLS/SSL certificate and key.

To use this setting, you must also specify the security.kmip.serverName setting.

Important

Enabling encryption using a KMIP server on Windows fails when using security.kmip.clientCertificateFile and the KMIP server enforces TLS 1.2.

To enable encryption at rest with KMIP on Windows, you must:

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.clientCertificatePassword

Type: string

The password to decrypt the Private Key of the Client Certificate that connects to the KMIP server. This option authenticates MongoDB to the KMIP server and requires that you provide a --kmipClientCertificateFile.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.clientCertificateSelector

Type: string

New in version 5.0: Available on Windows and macOS as an alternative to security.kmip.clientCertificateFile.

security.kmip.clientCertificateFile and security.kmip.clientCertificateSelector options are mutually exclusive. You can only specify one.

Specifies a certificate property in order to select a matching certificate from the operating system's certificate store to authenticate MongoDB to the KMIP server.

security.kmip.clientCertificateSelector accepts an argument of the format <property>=<value> where the property can be one of the following:

Property
Value type
Description

subject

ASCII string

Subject name or common name on certificate

thumbprint

hex string

A sequence of bytes, expressed as hexadecimal, used to identify a public key by its SHA-1 digest.

The thumbprint is sometimes referred to as a fingerprint.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.serverCAFile

Type: string

Path to CA File. Used for validating secure client connection to KMIP server.

Note

Starting in 4.0, on macOS or Windows, you can use a certificate from the operating system's secure store instead of a PEM key file. See security.kmip.clientCertificateSelector. When using the secure store, you do not need to, but can, also specify the security.kmip.serverCAFile.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.connectRetries

Type: int

Default: 0

How many times to retry the initial connection to the KMIP server. Use together with connectTimeoutMS to control how long the mongod waits for a response between each retry.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.connectTimeoutMS

Type: int

Default: 5000

Timeout in milliseconds to wait for a response from the KMIP server. If the connectRetries setting is specified, the mongod waits up to the value specified with connectTimeoutMS for each retry.

Value must be 1000 or greater.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

security.kmip.activateKeys

Type: boolean

Default: true

New in version 5.3.

Activates all newly created KMIP keys upon creation and then periodically checks those keys are in an active state.

When security.kmip.activateKeys is true and you have existing keys on a KMIP server, the key must be activated first or the mongod node fails to start.

If the key being used by the mongod transitions into a non-active state, the mongod node shuts down unless kmipActivateKeys is false. To ensure you have an active key, rotate the KMIP master key by using security.kmip.rotateMasterKey.

security.kmip.keyStatePollingSeconds

Type: int

Default: 900 seconds

New in version 5.3.

Frequency in seconds at which mongod polls the KMIP server for active keys.

To disable disable polling, set the value to -1.

security.kmip.useLegacyProtocol

Type: boolean

Default: false

New in version 7.0: (and 6.0.6)

When true, mongod uses KMIP protocol version 1.0 or 1.1 instead of the default version. The default KMIP protocol is version 1.2.

To use audit log encryption with KMIP version 1.0 or 1.1, you must specify auditEncryptKeyWithKMIPGet at startup.

To use KMIP protocol version 1.0 or 1.1, substitute your local values and add an entry like this to your mongod configuration file:

security:
enableEncryption: true
kmip:
serverName: "mdbhost.somecompany.com"
serverCAFile: "security/libs/trusted-ca.pem"
clientCertificateFile: "security/libs/trusted-client.pem"
useLegacyProtocol: true
security:
sasl:
hostName: <string>
serviceName: <string>
saslauthdSocketPath: <string>
security.sasl.hostName

Type: string

A fully qualified server domain name for the purpose of configuring SASL and Kerberos authentication. The SASL hostname overrides the hostname only for the configuration of SASL and Kerberos.

security.sasl.serviceName

Type: string

Registered name of the service using SASL. This option allows you to override the default Kerberos service name component of the Kerberos principal name, on a per-instance basis. If unspecified, the default value is mongodb.

MongoDB permits setting this option only at startup. The setParameter can not change this setting.

This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.

Important

Ensure that your driver supports alternate service names. For mongosh and other MongoDB tools to connect to the new serviceName, see the gssapiServiceName option.

security.sasl.saslauthdSocketPath

Type: string

The path to the UNIX domain socket file for saslauthd.

Note

Starting in MongoDB 8.0, LDAP authentication and authorization is deprecated. LDAP is available and will continue to operate without changes throughout the lifetime of MongoDB 8. LDAP will be removed in a future major release.

For details, see LDAP Deprecation.

security:
ldap:
servers: <string>
bind:
method: <string>
saslMechanisms: <string>
queryUser: <string>
queryPassword: <string | array>
useOSDefaults: <boolean>
transportSecurity: <string>
timeoutMS: <int>
retryCount: <int>
userToDNMapping: <string>
authz:
queryTemplate: <string>
validateLDAPServerConfig: <boolean>
security.ldap.servers

Type: string

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

The LDAP server against which the mongod or mongos authenticates users or determines what actions a user is authorized to perform on a given database. If the LDAP server specified has any replicated instances, you may specify the host and port of each replicated server in a comma-delimited list.

If your LDAP infrastructure partitions the LDAP directory over multiple LDAP servers, specify one LDAP server or any of its replicated instances to security.ldap.servers. MongoDB supports following LDAP referrals as defined in RFC 4511 4.1.10. Do not use security.ldap.servers for listing every LDAP server in your infrastructure.

You can prefix LDAP servers with srv: and srv_raw:.

If your connection string specifies "srv:<DNS_NAME>", mongod verifies that "_ldap._tcp.gc._msdcs.<DNS_NAME>" exists for SRV to support Active Directory. If not found, mongod verifies that "_ldap._tcp.<DNS_NAME>" exists for SRV. If an SRV record cannot be found, mongod warns you to use "srv_raw:<DNS_NAME>" instead.

If your connection string specifies "srv_raw:<DNS_NAME>", mongod performs an SRV record lookup for "<DNS NAME>".

This setting can be configured on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

If unset, mongod or mongos cannot use LDAP authentication or authorization.

security.ldap.bind.queryUser

Type: string

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

The identity with which mongod or mongos binds as, when connecting to or performing queries on an LDAP server.

Only required if any of the following are true:

You must use queryUser with queryPassword.

If unset, mongod or mongos does not attempt to bind to the LDAP server.

This setting can be configured on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

Note

Windows MongoDB deployments can use useOSDefaults instead of queryUser and queryPassword. You cannot specify both queryUser and useOSDefaults at the same time.

security.ldap.bind.queryPassword

Type: string or array

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

The password used to bind to an LDAP server when using queryUser. You must use queryPassword with queryUser.

If not set, mongod or mongos does not attempt to bind to the LDAP server.

You can configure this setting on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

The ldapQueryPassword setParameter command accepts either a string or an array of strings. If ldapQueryPassword is set to an array, MongoDB tries each password in order until one succeeds. Use a password array to roll over the LDAP account password without downtime.

Note

Windows MongoDB deployments can use useOSDefaults instead of queryUser and queryPassword. You cannot specify both queryPassword and useOSDefaults at the same time.

security.ldap.bind.useOSDefaults

Type: boolean

Default: false

Available in MongoDB Enterprise for the Windows platform only.

Allows mongod or mongos to authenticate, or bind, using your Windows login credentials when connecting to the LDAP server.

Only required if:

Use useOSDefaults to replace queryUser and queryPassword.

security.ldap.bind.method

Type: string

Default: simple

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

The method mongod or mongos uses to authenticate to an LDAP server. Use with queryUser and queryPassword to connect to the LDAP server.

method supports the following values:

If you specify sasl, you can configure the available SASL mechanisms using security.ldap.bind.saslMechanisms. mongod or mongos defaults to using DIGEST-MD5 mechanism.

security.ldap.bind.saslMechanisms

Type: string

Default: DIGEST-MD5

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

A comma-separated list of SASL mechanisms mongod or mongos can use when authenticating to the LDAP server. The mongod or mongos and the LDAP server must agree on at least one mechanism. The mongod or mongos dynamically loads any SASL mechanism libraries installed on the host machine at runtime.

Install and configure the appropriate libraries for the selected SASL mechanism(s) on both the mongod or mongos host and the remote LDAP server host. Your operating system may include certain SASL libraries by default. Defer to the documentation associated with each SASL mechanism for guidance on installation and configuration.

If using the GSSAPI SASL mechanism for use with Kerberos Authentication on Self-Managed Deployments, verify the following for the mongod or mongos host machine:

Linux
  • The KRB5_CLIENT_KTNAME environment variable resolves to the name of the client Linux Keytab Files for the host machine. For more on Kerberos environment variables, please defer to the Kerberos documentation.

  • The client keytab includes a User Principal for the mongod or mongos to use when connecting to the LDAP server and execute LDAP queries.

Windows
If connecting to an Active Directory server, the Windows Kerberos configuration automatically generates a Ticket-Granting-Ticket when the user logs onto the system. Set useOSDefaults to true to allow mongod or mongos to use the generated credentials when connecting to the Active Directory server and execute queries.

Set method to sasl to use this option.

Note

For a complete list of SASL mechanisms see the IANA listing. Defer to the documentation for your LDAP or Active Directory service for identifying the SASL mechanisms compatible with the service.

MongoDB is not a source of SASL mechanism libraries, nor is the MongoDB documentation a definitive source for installing or configuring any given SASL mechanism. For documentation and support, defer to the SASL mechanism library vendor or owner.

For more information on SASL, defer to the following resources:

security.ldap.transportSecurity

Type: string

Default: tls

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

By default, mongod or mongos creates a TLS/SSL secured connection to the LDAP server.

For Linux deployments, you must configure the appropriate TLS Options in /etc/openldap/ldap.conf file. Your operating system's package manager creates this file as part of the MongoDB Enterprise installation, through the libldap dependency. See the documentation for TLS Options in the ldap.conf OpenLDAP documentation for more complete instructions.

For Windows deployment, you must add the LDAP server CA certificates to the Windows certificate management tool. The exact name and functionality of the tool may vary depending on operating system version. Please see the documentation for your version of Windows for more information on certificate management.

Set transportSecurity to none to disable TLS/SSL between mongod or mongos and the LDAP server.

Warning

Setting transportSecurity to none transmits plaintext information and possibly credentials between mongod or mongos and the LDAP server.

security.ldap.timeoutMS

Type: int

Default: 10000

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

The amount of time in milliseconds mongod or mongos should wait for an LDAP server to respond to a request.

Increasing the value of timeoutMS may prevent connection failure between the MongoDB server and the LDAP server, if the source of the failure is a connection timeout. Decreasing the value of timeoutMS reduces the time MongoDB waits for a response from the LDAP server.

This setting can be configured on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

security.ldap.retryCount

New in version 6.1.

Type: int

Default: 0

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

Number of operation retries by the server LDAP manager after a network error.

This setting can be configured on a running mongod or mongos using setParameter.

security.ldap.userToDNMapping

Type: string

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

Maps the username provided to mongod or mongos for authentication to a LDAP Distinguished Name (DN). You may need to use userToDNMapping to transform a username into an LDAP DN in the following scenarios:

  • Performing LDAP authentication with simple LDAP binding, where users authenticate to MongoDB with usernames that are not full LDAP DNs.

  • Using an LDAP authorization query template that requires a DN.

  • Transforming the usernames of clients authenticating to Mongo DB using different authentication mechanisms (for example, x.509, kerberos) to a full LDAP DN for authorization.

userToDNMapping expects a quote-enclosed JSON-string representing an ordered array of documents. Each document contains a regular expression match and either a substitution or ldapQuery template used for transforming the incoming username.

Each document in the array has the following form:

{
match: "<regex>"
substitution: "<LDAP DN>" | ldapQuery: "<LDAP Query>"
}
Field
Description
Example

match

An ECMAScript-formatted regular expression (regex) to match against a provided username. Each parenthesis-enclosed section represents a regex capture group used by substitution or ldapQuery.

"(.+)ENGINEERING" "(.+)DBA"

substitution

An LDAP distinguished name (DN) formatting template that converts the authentication name matched by the match regex into a LDAP DN. Each curly bracket-enclosed numeric value is replaced by the corresponding regex capture group extracted from the authentication username through the match regex.

The result of the substitution must be an RFC4514 escaped string.

"cn={0},ou=engineering, dc=example,dc=com"

ldapQuery

A LDAP query formatting template that inserts the authentication name matched by the match regex into an LDAP query URI encoded respecting RFC4515 and RFC4516. Each curly bracket-enclosed numeric value is replaced by the corresponding regex capture group extracted from the authentication username through the match expression. mongod or mongos executes the query against the LDAP server to retrieve the LDAP DN for the authenticated user. mongod or mongos requires exactly one returned result for the transformation to be successful, or mongod or mongos skips this transformation.

"ou=engineering,dc=example, dc=com??one?(user={0})"

Note

An explanation of RFC4514, RFC4515, RFC4516, or LDAP queries is out of scope for the MongoDB Documentation. Please review the RFC directly or use your preferred LDAP resource.

For each document in the array, you must use either substitution or ldapQuery. You cannot specify both in the same document.

When performing authentication or authorization, mongod or mongos steps through each document in the array in the given order, checking the authentication username against the match filter. If a match is found, mongod or mongos applies the transformation and uses the output for authenticating the user. mongod or mongos does not check the remaining documents in the array.

If the given document does not match the provided authentication name, mongod or mongos continues through the list of documents to find additional matches. If no matches are found in any document, or the transformation the document describes fails, mongod or mongos returns an error.

mongod or mongos also returns an error if one of the transformations cannot be evaluated due to networking or authentication failures to the LDAP server. mongod or mongos rejects the connection request and does not check the remaining documents in the array.

Starting in MongoDB 5.0, userToDNMapping accepts an empty string "" or empty array [ ] in place of a mapping document. If providing an empty string or empty array to userToDNMapping, MongoDB maps the authenticated username as the LDAP DN. Previously, providing an empty mapping document would cause mapping to fail.

Example

The following shows two transformation documents. The first document matches against any string ending in @ENGINEERING, placing anything preceding the suffix into a regex capture group. The second document matches against any string ending in @DBA, placing anything preceding the suffix into a regex capture group.

Important

You must pass the array to userToDNMapping as a string.

"[
{
match: "(.+)@ENGINEERING.EXAMPLE.COM",
substitution: "cn={0},ou=engineering,dc=example,dc=com"
},
{
match: "(.+)@DBA.EXAMPLE.COM",
ldapQuery: "ou=dba,dc=example,dc=com??one?(user={0})"
}
]"

A user with username alice@ENGINEERING.EXAMPLE.COM matches the first document. The regex capture group {0} corresponds to the string alice. The resulting output is the DN "cn=alice,ou=engineering,dc=example,dc=com".

A user with username bob@DBA.EXAMPLE.COM matches the second document. The regex capture group {0} corresponds to the string bob. The resulting output is the LDAP query "ou=dba,dc=example,dc=com??one?(user=bob)". mongod or mongos executes this query against the LDAP server, returning the result "cn=bob,ou=dba,dc=example,dc=com".

If userToDNMapping is unset, mongod or mongos applies no transformations to the username when attempting to authenticate or authorize a user against the LDAP server.

This setting can be configured on a running mongod or mongos using the setParameter database command.

security.ldap.authz.queryTemplate

Type: string

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

A relative LDAP query URL formatted conforming to RFC4515 and RFC4516 that mongod executes to obtain the LDAP groups to which the authenticated user belongs to. The query is relative to the host or hosts specified in security.ldap.servers.

Note

For better performance, consider placing the LDAP groups used for MongoDB authorization into their own Organizational Unit (OU).

In the URL, you can use the following substitution tokens:

Substitution Token
Description

{USER}

Substitutes the authenticated username, or the transformed username if a userToDNMapping is specified.

{PROVIDED_USER}

Substitutes the supplied username, i.e. before either authentication or LDAP transformation.

When constructing the query URL, ensure that the order of LDAP parameters respects RFC4516:

[ dn [ ? [attributes] [ ? [scope] [ ? [filter] [ ? [Extensions] ] ] ] ] ]

If your query includes an attribute, mongod assumes that the query retrieves a list of the DNs which this entity is a member of.

If your query does not include an attribute, mongod assumes the query retrieves all entities which the user is member of.

For each LDAP DN returned by the query, mongod assigns the authorized user a corresponding role on the admin database. If a role on the on the admin database exactly matches the DN, mongod grants the user the roles and privileges assigned to that role. See the db.createRole() method for more information on creating roles.

Example

This LDAP query returns any groups listed in the LDAP user object's memberOf attribute.

"{USER}?memberOf?base"

Your LDAP configuration may not include the memberOf attribute as part of the user schema, may possess a different attribute for reporting group membership, or may not track group membership through attributes. Configure your query with respect to your own unique LDAP configuration.

If unset, mongod cannot authorize users using LDAP.

This setting can be configured on a running mongod using the setParameter database command.

Note

An explanation of RFC4515, RFC4516 or LDAP queries is out of scope for the MongoDB Documentation. Please review the RFC directly or use your preferred LDAP resource.

security.ldap.validateLDAPServerConfig

Type: boolean

Default: true

Available in MongoDB Enterprise

A flag that determines if the mongod or mongos instance checks the availability of the LDAP server(s) as part of its startup:

  • If true, the mongod or mongos instance performs the availability check and only continues to start up if the LDAP server is available.

  • If false, the mongod or mongos instance skips the availability check; i.e. the instance starts up even if the LDAP server is unavailable.

setParameter

Set MongoDB parameter or parameters described in MongoDB Server Parameters for a Self-Managed Deployment

To set parameters in the YAML configuration file, use the following format:

setParameter:
<parameter1>: <value1>
<parameter2>: <value2>

For example, to specify the enableLocalhostAuthBypass in the configuration file:

setParameter:
enableLocalhostAuthBypass: false
setParameter.ldapUserCacheInvalidationInterval

Type: int

Default: 30

For use with mongod servers using LDAP Authorization on Self-Managed Deployments.

The interval (in seconds) mongod waits between external user cache flushes. After mongod flushes the external user cache, MongoDB reacquires authorization data from the LDAP server the next time an LDAP-authorized user issues an operation.

Increasing the value specified increases the amount of time mongod and the LDAP server can be out of sync, but reduces the load on the LDAP server. Conversely, decreasing the value specified decreases the time mongod and the LDAP server can be out of sync while increasing the load on the LDAP server.

setParameter:
ldapUserCacheInvalidationInterval: <int>

Changed in version 6.1:

  • MongoDB always enables journaling. As a result, MongoDB removes the storage.journal.enabled option and the corresponding --journal and --nojournal command-line options.

storage:
dbPath: <string>
journal:
commitIntervalMs: <num>
directoryPerDB: <boolean>
syncPeriodSecs: <int>
engine: <string>
wiredTiger:
engineConfig:
cacheSizeGB: <number>
journalCompressor: <string>
directoryForIndexes: <boolean>
maxCacheOverflowFileSizeGB: <number>
collectionConfig:
blockCompressor: <string>
indexConfig:
prefixCompression: <boolean>
inMemory:
engineConfig:
inMemorySizeGB: <number>
oplogMinRetentionHours: <double>
storage.dbPath

Type: string

Default:

  • /data/db on Linux and macOS

  • \data\db on Windows

The directory where the mongod instance stores its data.

The storage.dbPath setting is available only for mongod.

Note

Configuration Files

The default mongod.conf configuration file included with package manager installations uses the following platform-specific default values for storage.dbPath:

Platform
Package Manager
Default storage.dbPath

RHEL / CentOS and Amazon

yum

/var/lib/mongo

SUSE

zypper

/var/lib/mongo

Ubuntu and Debian

apt

/var/lib/mongodb

macOS

brew

/usr/local/var/mongodb

The Linux package init scripts do not expect storage.dbPath to change from the defaults. If you use the Linux packages and change storage.dbPath, you must use your own init scripts and disable the built-in scripts.

storage.journal.commitIntervalMs

Type: number

Default: 100

The maximum amount of time in milliseconds that the mongod process allows between journal operations. Values can range from 1 to 500 milliseconds. Lower values increase the durability of the journal, at the expense of disk performance.

On WiredTiger, the default journal commit interval is 100 milliseconds. Additionally, a write that includes or implies j:true causes an immediate sync of the journal. For details or additional conditions that affect the frequency of the sync, see Journaling Process.

The storage.journal.commitIntervalMs setting is available only for mongod.

Not available for mongod instances that use the in-memory storage engine.

storage.directoryPerDB

Type: boolean

Default: false

When true, MongoDB uses a separate directory to store data for each database. The directories are under the storage.dbPath directory, and each subdirectory name corresponds to the database name.

The storage.directoryPerDB setting is available only for mongod.

Not available for mongod instances that use the in-memory storage engine.

Starting in MongoDB 5.0, dropping the final collection in a database (or dropping the database itself) when storage.directoryPerDB is enabled deletes the newly empty subdirectory for that database.

To change the storage.directoryPerDB option for existing deployments:

  • For standalone instances:

    1. Use mongodump on the existing mongod instance to generate a backup.

    2. Stop the mongod instance.

    3. Add the storage.directoryPerDB value and configure a new data directory

    4. Restart the mongod instance.

    5. Use mongorestore to populate the new data directory.

  • For replica sets:

    1. Stop a secondary member.

    2. Add the storage.directoryPerDB value and configure a new data directory to that secondary member.

    3. Restart that secondary.

    4. Use initial sync to populate the new data directory.

    5. Update remaining secondaries in the same fashion.

    6. Step down the primary, and update the stepped-down member in the same fashion.

storage.syncPeriodSecs

Type: number

Default: 60

The amount of time that can pass before MongoDB flushes data to the data files.

Do not set this value on production systems. In almost every situation, you should use the default setting.

The mongod process writes data very quickly to the journal and lazily to the data files. storage.syncPeriodSecs has no effect on Journaling, but if storage.syncPeriodSecs is set to 0 the journal eventually consumes all available disk space.

The storage.syncPeriodSecs setting is available only for mongod.

Not available for mongod instances that use the in-memory storage engine.

To provide durable data, WiredTiger uses checkpoints. For more details, see Journaling and the WiredTiger Storage Engine.

storage.engine

Default: wiredTiger

The storage engine for the mongod database. Available values include:

Value
Description

wiredTiger

inMemory

To specify the In-Memory Storage Engine for Self-Managed Deployments.

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

If you attempt to start a mongod with a storage.dbPath that contains data files produced by a storage engine other than the one specified by storage.engine, mongod refuses to start.

storage.oplogMinRetentionHours

Type: double

Specifies the minimum number of hours to preserve an oplog entry, where the decimal values represent the fractions of an hour. For example, a value of 1.5 represents one hour and thirty minutes.

The value must be greater than or equal to 0. A value of 0 indicates that the mongod should truncate the oplog starting with the oldest entries to maintain the configured maximum oplog size.

Defaults to 0.

A mongod started with oplogMinRetentionHours only removes an oplog entry if:

  • The oplog has reached the maximum configured oplog size and

  • The oplog entry is older than the configured number of hours based on the host system clock.

The mongod has the following behavior when configured with a minimum oplog retention period:

  • The oplog can grow without constraint so as to retain oplog entries for the configured number of hours. This may result in reduction or exhaustion of system disk space due to a combination of high write volume and large retention period.

  • If the oplog grows beyond its maximum size, the mongod may continue to hold that disk space even if the oplog returns to its maximum size or is configured for a smaller maximum size. See Reducing Oplog Size Does Not Immediately Return Disk Space.

  • The mongod compares the system wall clock to an oplog entries creation wall clock time when enforcing oplog entry retention. Clock drift between cluster components may result in unexpected oplog retention behavior. See Clock Synchronization for more information on clock synchronization across cluster members.

To change the minimum oplog retention period after starting the mongod, use replSetResizeOplog. replSetResizeOplog enables you to resize the oplog dynamically without restarting the mongod process. To persist the changes made using replSetResizeOplog through a restart, update the value of oplogMinRetentionHours.

storage:
wiredTiger:
engineConfig:
cacheSizeGB: <number>
journalCompressor: <string>
directoryForIndexes: <boolean>
maxCacheOverflowFileSizeGB: <number>
collectionConfig:
blockCompressor: <string>
indexConfig:
prefixCompression: <boolean>
storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.cacheSizeGB

Type: float

Defines the maximum size of the internal cache that WiredTiger uses for all data. The memory consumed by an index build (see maxIndexBuildMemoryUsageMegabytes) is separate from the WiredTiger cache memory.

Values can range from 0.25 GB to 10000 GB.

The default WiredTiger internal cache size is the larger of either:

  • 50% of (RAM - 1 GB), or

  • 256 MB.

For example, on a system with a total of 4GB of RAM the WiredTiger cache uses 1.5GB of RAM (0.5 * (4 GB - 1 GB) = 1.5 GB). Conversely, on a system with a total of 1.25 GB of RAM WiredTiger allocates 256 MB to the WiredTiger cache because that is more than half of the total RAM minus one gigabyte (0.5 * (1.25 GB - 1 GB) = 128 MB < 256 MB).

Note

In some instances, such as when running in a container, the database can have memory constraints that are lower than the total system memory. In such instances, this memory limit, rather than the total system memory, is used as the maximum RAM available.

To see the memory limit, see hostInfo.system.memLimitMB.

Avoid increasing the WiredTiger internal cache size above its default value.

With WiredTiger, MongoDB utilizes both the WiredTiger internal cache and the filesystem cache.

With the filesystem cache, MongoDB automatically uses all free memory that is not used by the WiredTiger cache or by other processes.

Note

The storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.cacheSizeGB limits the size of the WiredTiger internal cache. The operating system uses the available free memory for filesystem cache, which allows the compressed MongoDB data files to stay in memory. In addition, the operating system uses any free RAM to buffer file system blocks and file system cache.

To accommodate the additional consumers of RAM, you may have to decrease WiredTiger internal cache size.

The default WiredTiger internal cache size value assumes that there is a single mongod instance per machine. If a single machine contains multiple MongoDB instances, then you should decrease the setting to accommodate the other mongod instances.

If you run mongod in a container (for example, lxc, cgroups, Docker, etc.) that does not have access to all of the RAM available in a system, you must set storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.cacheSizeGB to a value less than the amount of RAM available in the container. The exact amount depends on the other processes running in the container. See memLimitMB.

storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.journalCompressor

Default: snappy

Specifies the type of compression to use to compress WiredTiger journal data.

Available compressors are:

storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.directoryForIndexes

Type: boolean

Default: false

When storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.directoryForIndexes is true, mongod stores indexes and collections in separate subdirectories under the data (i.e. storage.dbPath) directory. Specifically, mongod stores the indexes in a subdirectory named index and the collection data in a subdirectory named collection.

By using a symbolic link, you can specify a different location for the indexes. Specifically, when mongod instance is not running, move the index subdirectory to the destination and create a symbolic link named index under the data directory to the new destination.

storage.wiredTiger.engineConfig.zstdCompressionLevel

Type: integer

Default: 6

Specifies the level of compression applied when using the zstd compressor.

Values can range from 1 to 22.

The higher the specified value for zstdCompressionLevel the higher the compression which is applied.

Only applicable when blockCompressor is set to zstd.

Available starting in MongoDB 5.0

storage.wiredTiger.collectionConfig.blockCompressor

Default: snappy

Specifies the default compression for collection data. You can override this on a per-collection basis when creating collections.

Available compressors are:

storage.wiredTiger.collectionConfig.blockCompressor affects all collections created. If you change the value of storage.wiredTiger.collectionConfig.blockCompressor on an existing MongoDB deployment, all new collections uses the specified compressor. Existing collections continue to use the compressor specified when they were created, or the default compressor at that time.

storage.wiredTiger.indexConfig.prefixCompression

Default: true

Enables or disables prefix compression for index data.

Specify true for storage.wiredTiger.indexConfig.prefixCompression to enable prefix compression for index data, or false to disable prefix compression for index data.

The storage.wiredTiger.indexConfig.prefixCompression setting affects all indexes created. If you change the value of storage.wiredTiger.indexConfig.prefixCompression on an existing MongoDB deployment, all new indexes uses prefix compression. Existing indexes are not affected.

storage:
inMemory:
engineConfig:
inMemorySizeGB: <number>
storage.inMemory.engineConfig.inMemorySizeGB

Type: float

Default: 50% of physical RAM less 1 GB

Values can range from 256MB to 10TB and can be a float.

Maximum amount of memory to allocate for in-memory storage engine data, including indexes, oplog if the mongod is part of replica set, replica set or sharded cluster metadata, etc.

By default, the in-memory storage engine uses 50% of physical RAM minus 1 GB.

Note

Enterprise Feature

Available in MongoDB Enterprise only.

operationProfiling:
mode: <string>
slowOpThresholdMs: <int>
slowOpSampleRate: <double>
filter: <string>
operationProfiling.mode

Type: string

Default: off

Specifies which operations should be profiled. The following profiler levels are available:

Level
Description

off

The profiler is off and does not collect any data. This is the default profiler level.

slowOp

The profiler collects data for operations that take longer than the value of slowms.

all

The profiler collects data for all operations.

Warning

Profiling can degrade performance and expose unencrypted query data in the system log. Carefully consider any performance and security implications before configuring and enabling the profiler on a production deployment.

See Profiler Overhead for more information on potential performance degradation.

operationProfiling.slowOpThresholdMs

Type: integer

Default: 100

The slow operation time threshold, in milliseconds. Operations that run for longer than this threshold are considered slow.

Slow operations are logged based on workingMillis, which is the amount of time that MongoDB spends working on that operation. This means that factors such as waiting for locks and flow control do not affect whether an operation exceeds the slow operation threshold.

When logLevel is set to 0, MongoDB records slow operations to the diagnostic log at a rate determined by slowOpSampleRate.

At higher logLevel settings, all operations appear in the diagnostic log regardless of their latency with the following exception: the logging of slow oplog entry messages by the secondaries. The secondaries log only the slow oplog entries; increasing the logLevel does not log all oplog entries.

This setting is available for mongod and mongos.

  • For mongod instances, the setting affects both the diagnostic log and, if enabled, the profiler.

  • For mongos instances, the setting affects the diagnostic log only and not the profiler, since profiling is not available on mongos.

operationProfiling.slowOpSampleRate

Type: double

Default: 1.0

The fraction of slow operations that should be profiled or logged. operationProfiling.slowOpSampleRate accepts values between 0 and 1, inclusive.

The slowOpSampleRate setting is available for mongod and mongos.

  • For mongod instances, the setting affects both the diagnostic log and, if enabled, the profiler.

  • For mongos instances, the setting affects the diagnostic log only and not the profiler since profiling is not available on mongos.

operationProfiling.filter

Type: string representation of a query document

A filter expression that controls which operations are profiled and logged.

When filter is set, slowOpThresholdMs and slowOpSampleRate are not used for profiling and slow-query log lines.

When you set a profile filter in the configuration file, the filter applies to all databases in the deployment. To set a profile filter for a specific database, use the db.setProfilingLevel() method.

The option takes a string representation of a query document of the form:

{ <field1>: <expression1>, ... }

The <field> can be any field in the profiler output. The <expression> is a query condition expression.

To specify a profiling filter in a configuration file, you must:

  • Enclose the filter document in single quotes to pass the document as a string.

  • Use the YAML format of the configuration file.

For example, the following filter configures the profiler to log query operations that take longer than 2 seconds:

operationProfiling:
mode: all
filter: '{ op: "query", millis: { $gt: 2000 } }'
replication:
oplogSizeMB: <int>
replSetName: <string>
enableMajorityReadConcern: <boolean>
replication.oplogSizeMB

Type: integer

The maximum size in megabytes for the oplog. The oplogSizeMB setting configures the uncompressed size of the oplog, not the size on disk.

Note

The oplog can grow past its configured size limit to avoid deleting the majority commit point.

By default, the mongod process creates an oplog based on the maximum amount of space available. For 64-bit systems, the oplog is typically 5% of available disk space.

Once the