Options

General Options

--build-info

Returns a JSON-formatted document with information about the mongosh build.

--eval <javascript>

Evaluates a JavaScript expression that is specified as an argument. mongosh does not load its own environment when evaluating code. As a result many options of the shell environment are not available.

The result of evaluating a JavaScript argument is printed to your command line.

To get output suitable for automated parsing, use EJSON.stringify().

mongosh --quiet  --host rs0/centos1104 --port 27500 \
        --eval "EJSON.stringify(rs.status().members.map( \
          m => ({'id':m._id, 'name':m.name, 'stateStr':m.stateStr})));" \
| jq

After parsing with jq, the output resembles this:

[
  {
     "id": 0,
     "name": "centos1104:27500",
     "stateStr": "PRIMARY"
  },
  {
     "id": 1,
     "name": "centos1104:27502",
     "stateStr": "SECONDARY"
  },
  {
     "id": 2,
     "name": "centos1104:27503",
     "stateStr": "SECONDARY"
  }
]

Note

EJSON has built in formatting options which may eliminate the need for a parser like jq. For example, the following code produces output that is formatted the same as above.

mongosh --quiet  --host rs0/centos1104 --port 27500 \
        --eval "EJSON.stringify( rs.status().members.map( \
          ({ _id, name, stateStr }) => ({ _id, name, stateStr })), null, 2);"

--help, -h

Returns information on the options and use of the MongoDB Shell.

--nodb

Prevents the shell from connecting to any database instances.

--norc

Prevents the shell from sourcing and evaluating ~/.mongoshrc.js on startup.

--quiet

Skips all messages during startup (such as welcome messages and startup warnings) and goes directly to the prompt.

--shell

Enables the shell interface. If you invoke the mongosh command and specify a JavaScript file as an argument, or use --eval to specify JavaScript on the command line, the --shell option provides the user with a shell prompt after the file finishes executing.

--verbose

Increases the verbosity of the shell output during the connection process and when running commands.

--version

Returns the MongoDB Shell release number.

Connection Options

--host <hostname>

Specifies the name of the host machine where the mongod or mongos is running. If this is not specified, the MongoDB Shell attempts to connect to a MongoDB process running on the localhost.

To connect to a replica set,

Specify the replica set name and a seed list of set members. Use the following form:

<replSetName>/<hostname1><:port>,<hostname2><:port>,<...>

For TLS/SSL connections (--tls),

The MongoDB Shell shell verifies that the hostname (specified in the --host option or the connection string) matches the SAN (or, if SAN is not present, the CN) in the certificate presented by the mongod or mongos. If SAN is present, the MongoDB Shell does not match against the CN. If the hostname does not match the SAN (or CN), the MongoDB Shell shell fails to connect.

For DNS seedlist connections,

Specify the connection protocol as mongodb+srv, followed by the DNS SRV hostname record and any options. The authSource and replicaSet options, if included in the connection string, overrides any corresponding DNS-configured options set in the TXT record. Use of the mongodb+srv: connection string implicitly enables TLS / SSL (normally set with tls=true) for the client connection. The TLS option can be turned off by setting tls=false in the query string.

Example

mongodb+srv://server.example.com/?connectionTimeout=3000ms

--port <port>

Specifies the port where the mongod or mongos instance is listening. If --port is not specified, the MongoDB Shell attempts to connect to port 27017.

Authentication Options

--authenticationDatabase <dbname>

Specifies the authentication database where the specified --username has been created. See Authentication Database.

If you do not specify a value for --authenticationDatabase, the MongoDB Shell uses the database specified in the connection string.

--authenticationMechanism <name>

Default: SCRAM-SHA-1

Specifies the authentication mechanism the MongoDB Shell uses to authenticate to the mongod or mongos.

Note

Starting in version 4.0:

• MongoDB removes support for the deprecated MongoDB Challenge-Response (MONGODB-CR) authentication mechanism.
• MongoDB adds support for SCRAM mechanism using the SHA-256 hash function (SCRAM-SHA-256).

Value	Description
SCRAM-SHA-1	RFC 5802 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-1 hash function.
SCRAM-SHA-256	RFC 7677 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-256 hash function. Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to 4.0.
MONGODB-X509	MongoDB TLS / SSL certificate authentication.
GSSAPI (Kerberos)	External authentication using Kerberos. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.
PLAIN (LDAP SASL)	External authentication using LDAP. You can also use PLAIN for authenticating in-database users. PLAIN transmits passwords in plain text. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.

--gssapiServiceName

Specify the name of the service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the service does not use the default name of mongodb.

This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.

--sspiHostnameCanonicalization <string>

Specifies whether or not to use Hostname Canonicalization.

--sspiHostnameCanonicalization has the same effect as setting the CANONICALIZE_HOST_NAME:true|false key-pair in the authMechanismProperties portion of the connection string.

If --sspiHostnameCanonicalization is set to:

• forwardAndReverse, performs a forward DNS lookup and then a reverse lookup. New in mongosh 1.3.0.
• forward, the effect is the same as setting authMechanismProperties=CANONICALIZE_HOST_NAME:true.
• none, the effect is the same as setting authMechanismProperties=CANONICALIZE_HOST_NAME:false.

--password <password>, -p <password>

Specifies a password with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the --username and --authenticationDatabase options.

To force the MongoDB Shell to prompt for a password, enter the --password option as the last option and leave out the argument.

--username <username>, -u <username>

Specifies a username with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the --password and --authenticationDatabase options.

Session Options

--retryWrites

Enables Retryable Writes. Retryable writes are enabled by default in mongosh. Retryable writes are disabled by default in the legacy mongo shell. To disable retryable writes, use --retryWrites=false.

For more information on sessions, see Client Sessions and Causal Consistency Guarantees.

Client-Side Field Level Encryption Options

For information on Client-Side Field Level Encryption Options, refer to the MongoDB Manual.