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createRole

Definition

createRole

Creates a role and specifies its privileges. The role applies to the database on which you run the command. The createRole command returns a duplicate role error if the role already exists in the database.

The createRole command uses the following syntax:

{ createRole: "<new role>",
  privileges: [
    { resource: { <resource> }, actions: [ "<action>", ... ] },
    ...
  ],
  roles: [
    { role: "<role>", db: "<database>" } | "<role>",
    ...
  ],
  writeConcern: <write concern document>
}

The createRole command has the following fields:

Field Type Description
createRole string The name of the new role.
privileges array

The privileges to grant the role. A privilege consists of a resource and permitted actions. For the syntax of a privilege, see the privileges array.

You must include the privileges field. Use an empty array to specify no privileges.

roles array

An array of roles from which this role inherits privileges.

You must include the roles field. Use an empty array to specify no roles to inherit from.

writeConcern document Optional. The level of write concern to apply to this operation. The writeConcern document uses the same fields as the getLastError command.

In the roles field, you can specify both built-in roles and user-defined role.

To specify a role that exists in the same database where createRole runs, you can either specify the role with the name of the role:

"readWrite"

Or you can specify the role with a document, as in:

{ role: "<role>", db: "<database>" }

To specify a role that exists in a different database, specify the role with a document.

Behavior

A role’s privileges apply to the database where the role is created. The role can inherit privileges from other roles in its database. A role created on the admin database can include privileges that apply to all databases or to the cluster and can inherit privileges from roles in other databases.

Required Access

To create a role in a database, the user must have:

Built-in roles userAdmin and userAdminAnyDatabase provide createRole and grantRole actions on their respective resources.

Example

The following createRole command creates the myClusterwideAdmin role on the admin database:

use admin
db.runCommand({ createRole: "myClusterwideAdmin",
  privileges: [
    { resource: { cluster: true }, actions: [ "addShard" ] },
    { resource: { db: "config", collection: "" }, actions: [ "find", "update", "insert", "remove" ] },
    { resource: { db: "users", collection: "usersCollection" }, actions: [ "update", "insert", "remove" ] },
    { resource: { db: "", collection: "" }, actions: [ "find" ] }
  ],
  roles: [
    { role: "read", db: "admin" }
  ],
  writeConcern: { w: "majority" , wtimeout: 5000 }
})