mongoexport
On this page
This documentation is for version 100.10.0
of mongoexport
.
Synopsis
mongoexport
is a database tool that produces a JSON
or CSV export of data stored in a MongoDB instance.
Run mongoexport
from the system command line, not the
mongo
shell.
mongoexport
is not a tool for backing up deployments. If you want to
create a backup solution, see Back Up and Restore with MongoDB Tools.
Note
If you are archiving stale data to save on storage costs, consider Online Archive in MongoDB Atlas. Online Archive automatically archives infrequently accessed data to fully-managed S3 buckets for cost-effective data tiering.
You can use the MongoDB Database Tools to migrate from a self-hosted deployment to MongoDB Atlas. MongoDB Atlas is the fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud. To learn more, see Seed with mongorestore.
To learn all the ways you can migrate to MongoDB Atlas, see Migrate or Import Data.
Syntax
mongoexport
syntax:
mongoexport --collection=<coll> <options> <connection-string>
You must specify the collection
to
export. If you do not specify an output file
, mongoexport
writes to the standard output (e.g.
stdout).
Connect to a MongoDB Instance
To connect to a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017, you do not have to specify the host or port.
For example, to export the specified collection
to the specified output file
from a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017:
mongoexport --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json
To specify a host and/or port of the MongoDB instance, you can either:
Specify the hostname and port in the
--uri connection string
:mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017/reporting" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] When using the
--uri connection string
, the database can be specified as part of the string.Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
:mongoexport --host="mongodb0.example.com:27017" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options] Specify the hostname and port in the
--host
and--port
:mongoexport --host="mongodb0.example.com" --port=27017 --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]
For more information on the options available, see Options.
Connect to a Replica Set
Note
mongoexport
is not a tool for backing up data. To back up your
replica set, see Back Up and Restore with MongoDB Tools.
To connect to a replica set to export its data, you can either:
Specify the replica set name and members in the
--uri connection string
:mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] When using the
--uri connection string
, the database can be specified as part of the string.Specify the replica set name and members in the
--host
:mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]
By default, mongoexport
reads from the primary of the
replica set. To override the default, you can specify the read
preference:
You can specify the read preference in the
--uri connection string
mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] If specifying the read preference tags, include the
readPreferenceTags
option:mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] When using the
--uri connection string
, the database can be specified as part of the string.You can specify the read preference using the
--readPreference
command-line option. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options] Or, the command-line option can takes a quote-enclosed document
'{ mode: <mode>, tagSets: [ <tag1>, ... ], maxStalenessSeconds:<num>}'
to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]
For more information on the options available, see Options.
Connect to a Sharded Cluster
Note
mongoexport
is not a tool for backing up data. To back up your
sharded cluster, see Backup and Restore Sharded Clusters.
To connect to a sharded cluster to export its data, you can either:
Specify the hostname of the
mongos
instance in the--uri connection string
mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] When using the
--uri connection string
, the database can be specified as part of the string.Specify the hostname and port of the
mongos
instance in the--host
mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json[additional options]
By default, mongoexport
reads from the primary of the
shard replica set. To override the default, you can specify the read
preference:
You can specify the read preference in the
--uri connection string
mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting?readPreference=secondary" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] If specifying the read preference tags, include the
readPreferenceTags
option:mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting?readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options] When using the
--uri connection string
, the database can be specified as part of the string.You can specify the read preference using the
--readPreference
command-line option. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options] Or, the command-line option can takes a quote-enclosed document
'{ mode: <mode>, tagSets: [ <tag1>, ... ], maxStalenessSeconds:<num>}'
to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]
Options
--verbose, -v
Increases the amount of internal reporting returned on standard output or in log files. Increase the verbosity with the
-v
form by including the option multiple times, (e.g.-vvvvv
.)
--quiet
Runs
mongoexport
in a quiet mode that attempts to limit the amount of output.This option suppresses:
Output from database commands
Replication activity
Connection accepted and closed events
All logs, including error messages, except for those that occur when parsing options
--config=<filename>
New in version 100.3.0.
Specifies the full path to a YAML configuration file containing sensitive values for the following options to
mongoexport
:This is the recommended way to specify a password to
mongoexport
, aside from specifying it through a password prompt.The configuration file takes the following form:
password: <password> uri: mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017 sslPEMKeyPassword: <password> Specifying a password to the
password:
field and providing a connection string in theuri:
field which contains a conflicting password will result in an error.Be sure to secure this file with appropriate filesystem permissions.
Note
If you specify a configuration file with
--config
and also use the--password
,--uri
or--sslPEMKeyPassword
option tomongoexport
, each command line option overrides its corresponding option in the configuration file.
--uri=<connectionString>
Specifies the resolvable URI connection string of the MongoDB deployment, enclosed in quotes:
--uri="mongodb://[username:password@]host1[:port1][,host2[:port2],...[,hostN[:portN]]][/[database][?options]]" Starting with version
100.0
ofmongoexport
, the connection string may alternatively be provided as a positional parameter, without using the--uri
option:mongoexport mongodb://[username:password@]host1[:port1][,host2[:port2],...[,hostN[:portN]]][/[database][?options]] As a positional parameter, the connection string may be specified at any point on the command line, as long as it begins with either
mongodb://
ormongodb+srv://
. For example:mongoexport --username joe --password secret1 mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017 --ssl Only one connection string can be provided. Attempting to include more than one, whether using the
--uri
option or as a positional argument, will result in an error.For information on the components of the connection string, see the Connection String URI Format documentation.
Note
Some components in the
connection string
may alternatively be specified using their own explicit command-line options, such as--username
and--password
. Providing a connection string while also using an explicit option and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.Note
If using
mongoexport
on Ubuntu 18.04, you may experience acannot unmarshal DNS
error message when using SRV connection strings (in the formmongodb+srv://
) with the--uri
option. If so, use one of the following options instead:the
--uri
option with a non-SRV connection string (in the formmongodb://
)the
--host
option to specify the host to connect to directly
Warning
On some systems, a password provided in a connection string with the
--uri
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:omitting the password in the connection string to receive an interactive password prompt, or
using the
--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password.
--host=<hostname><:port>, -h=<hostname><:port>
Default: localhost:27017
Specifies the resolvable hostname of the MongoDB deployment. By default,
mongoexport
attempts to connect to a MongoDB instance running on the localhost on port number27017
.To connect to a replica set, specify the
replSetName
and a seed list of set members, as in the following:--host=<replSetName>/<hostname1><:port>,<hostname2><:port>,<...> When specifying the replica set list format,
mongoexport
always connects to the primary.You can also connect to any single member of the replica set by specifying the host and port of only that member:
--host=<hostname1><:port> If you use IPv6 and use the
<address>:<port>
format, you must enclose the portion of an address and port combination in brackets (e.g.[<address>]
).Alternatively, you can also specify the hostname directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--host
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--port=<port>
Default: 27017
Specifies the TCP port on which the MongoDB instance listens for client connections.
Alternatively, you can also specify the port directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--port
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--ssl
Enables connection to a
mongod
ormongos
that has TLS/SSL support enabled.Alternatively, you can also configure TLS/SSL support directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--ssl
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--sslCAFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains the root certificate chain from the Certificate Authority. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.Alternatively, you can also specify the
.pem
file directly in theURI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslCAFile
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--sslPEMKeyFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains both the TLS/SSL certificate and key. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.This option is required when using the
--ssl
option to connect to amongod
ormongos
that hasCAFile
enabled withoutallowConnectionsWithoutCertificates
.Alternatively, you can also specify the
.pem
file directly in theURI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslPEMKeyFile
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--sslPEMKeyPassword=<value>
Specifies the password to de-crypt the certificate-key file (i.e.
--sslPEMKeyFile
). Use the--sslPEMKeyPassword
option only if the certificate-key file is encrypted. In all cases, themongoexport
will redact the password from all logging and reporting output.If the private key in the PEM file is encrypted and you do not specify the
--sslPEMKeyPassword
option, themongoexport
will prompt for a passphrase. See TLS/SSL Certificate Passphrase.Alternatively, you can also specify the password directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslPEMKeyPassword
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
Warning
On some systems, a password provided directly using the
--sslPEMKeyPassword
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider using the--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password instead.
--sslCRLFile=<filename>
Specifies the
.pem
file that contains the Certificate Revocation List. Specify the file name of the.pem
file using relative or absolute paths.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
Bypasses the validation checks for server certificates and allows the use of invalid certificates. When using the
allowInvalidCertificates
setting, MongoDB logs as a warning the use of the invalid certificate.Warning
Although available, avoid using the
--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
option if possible. If the use of--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
is necessary, only use the option on systems where intrusion is not possible.Connecting to a
mongod
ormongos
instance without validating server certificates is a potential security risk. If you only need to disable the validation of the hostname in the TLS/SSL certificates, see--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
.Alternatively, you can also disable certificate validation directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslAllowInvalidCertificates
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
Disables the validation of the hostnames in TLS/SSL certificates. Allows
mongoexport
to connect to MongoDB instances even if the hostname in their certificates do not match the specified hostname.Alternatively, you can also disable hostname validation directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--sslAllowInvalidHostnames
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients.
--username=<username>, -u=<username>
Specifies a username with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the
--password
and--authenticationDatabase
options.Alternatively, you can also specify the username directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--username
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, you can specify your AWS access key ID in:this field,
the
connection string
, orthe
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
--password=<password>, -p=<password>
Specifies a password with which to authenticate to a MongoDB database that uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the
--username
and--authenticationDatabase
options.To prompt the user for the password, pass the
--username
option without--password
or specify an empty string as the--password
value, as in--password ""
.Alternatively, you can also specify the password directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--password
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, you can specify your AWS secret access key in:this field,
the
connection string
, orthe
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
Warning
On some systems, a password provided directly using the
--password
option may be visible to system status programs such asps
that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:omitting the
--password
option to receive an interactive password prompt, orusing the
--config
option to specify a configuration file containing the password.
--awsSessionToken=<AWS Session Token>
If connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
, and using session tokens in addition to your AWS access key ID and secret access key, you can specify your AWS session token in:this field,
the
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
authMechanismProperties
parameter to theconnection string
, orthe
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN
environment variable.
See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials for an example of each.
Only valid when using the
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism
.
--authenticationDatabase=<dbname>
Specifies the authentication database where the specified
--username
has been created. See Authentication Database.If you do not specify an authentication database,
mongoexport
assumes that the database specified to export holds the user's credentials.If using the GSSAPI (Kerberos), PLAIN (LDAP SASL), or
MONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanisms
, you must set--authenticationDatabase
to$external
.Alternatively, you can also specify the authentication database directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--authenticationDatabase
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--authenticationMechanism=<name>
Default: SCRAM-SHA-1
Specifies the authentication mechanism the
mongoexport
instance uses to authenticate to themongod
ormongos
.Changed in version 100.1.0: Starting in version
100.1.0
,mongoexport
adds support for theMONGODB-AWS
authentication mechanism when connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster.ValueDescriptionRFC 5802 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-1 hash function.RFC 7677 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-256 hash function.
Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to
4.0
.MongoDB TLS/SSL certificate authentication.MONGODB-AWS
External authentication using AWS IAM credentials for use in connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster. See Connect to a MongoDB Atlas Cluster using AWS IAM Credentials.
New in version 100.1.0.
GSSAPI (Kerberos)External authentication using Kerberos. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.PLAIN (LDAP SASL)External authentication using LDAP. You can also usePLAIN
for authenticating in-database users.PLAIN
transmits passwords in plain text. This mechanism is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.Alternatively, you can also specify the authentication mechanism directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--authenticationMechanism
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--gssapiServiceName=<serviceName>
Specify the name of the service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the service does not use the default name of
mongodb
.This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.
--gssapiHostName=<hostname>
Specify the hostname of a service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the hostname of a machine does not match the hostname resolved by DNS.
This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.
--db=<database>, -d=<database>
Specifies the name of the database on which to run the
mongoexport
.Alternatively, you can also specify the database directly in the
URI connection string
. Providing a connection string while also using--db
and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.
--fields=<field1[,field2]>, -f=<field1[,field2]>
Specifies a field or fields to include in the export. Use a comma separated list of fields to specify multiple fields.
If any of your field names include white space, use quotation marks to enclose the field list. For example, if you wished to export two fields,
phone
anduser number
, you would specify--fields "phone,user number"
.For
csv
output formats,mongoexport
includes only the specified field(s), and the specified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.For JSON output formats,
mongoexport
includes only the specified field(s) and the_id
field, and if the specified field(s) is a field within a sub-document, themongoexport
includes the sub-document with all its fields, not just the specified field within the document.See: Export Data in CSV Format using
--fields
option for sample usage.
--fieldFile=<filename>
An alternative to
--fields
. The--fieldFile
option allows you to specify in a file the field or fields to include in the export and is only valid with the--type
option with valuecsv
. The file must have only one field per line, and the line(s) must end with the LF character (0x0A
).mongoexport
includes only the specified field(s). The specified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.See Use a File to Specify the Fields to Export in CSV Format for sample usage.
--query=<JSON>, -q=<JSON>
Provides a query as a JSON document (enclosed in quotes) to return matching documents in the export.
You must enclose the query document in single quotes (
'{ ... }'
) to ensure that it does not interact with your shell environment.The query must be in Extended JSON v2 format (either relaxed or canonical/strict mode), including enclosing the field names and operators in quotes:
For example, given a collection named
records
in the databasetest
with the following documents:{ "_id" : ObjectId("51f0188846a64a1ed98fde7c"), "a" : 1, "date" : ISODate("1960-05-01T00:00:00Z") } { "_id" : ObjectId("520e61b0c6646578e3661b59"), "a" : 1, "b" : 2, "date" : ISODate("1970-05-01T00:00:00Z") } { "_id" : ObjectId("520e642bb7fa4ea22d6b1871"), "a" : 2, "b" : 3, "c" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2010-05-01T00:00:00Z") } { "_id" : ObjectId("520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"), "a" : 3, "b" : 3, "c" : 6, "date" : ISODate("2015-05-02T00:00:00Z") } { "_id" : ObjectId("520e6445b7fa4ea22d6b1873"), "a" : 5, "b" : 6, "c" : 8, "date" : ISODate("2018-03-01T00:00:00Z") } { "_id" : ObjectId("5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"), "a" : 15, "b" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2015-03-01T00:00:00Z") } The following
mongoexport
uses the-q
option to export only the documents with the fielda
greater than or equal to ($gte
)3
and the fielddate
less than ($lt
)ISODate("2016-01-01T00:00:00Z")
, which is specified using the extended JSON v2 format (relaxed mode) for dates ({ "$date": "YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.mmm\<offset\>"}
):mongoexport -d=test -c=records -q='{ "a": { "$gte": 3 }, "date": { "$lt": { "$date": "2016-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } } }' --out=exportdir/myRecords.json The resulting file contains the following documents:
{"_id":{"$oid":"520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"},"a":3.0,"b":3.0,"c":6.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-05-02T00:00:00Z"}} {"_id":{"$oid":"5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"},"a":15.0,"b":5.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-03-01T00:00:00Z"}} You can sort the results with the
--sort
option tomongoexport
.
--queryFile=<filename>
An alternative to
--query
. The--queryFile
option allows you to specify in a file the query in Extended JSON v2 format.
--type=<string>
Default: json
Specifies the file type to export. Specify
csv
for CSV format orjson
for JSON format.If you specify
csv
, then you must also use either the--fields
or the--fieldFile
option to declare the fields to export from the collection.
--out=<file>, -o=<file>
Specifies a file to write the export to. If you do not specify a file name, the
mongoexport
writes data to standard output (e.g.stdout
).
--jsonFormat=<canonical|relaxed>
Default: relaxed
Modifies the output to use either canonical or relaxed mode of the MongoDB Extended JSON (v2) format.
For differences between canonical and relaxed modes, see MongoDB Extended JSON (v2).
--jsonArray
Modifies the output of
mongoexport
to write the entire contents of the export as a single JSON array. By defaultmongoexport
writes data using one JSON document for every MongoDB document.
--noHeaderLine
By default,
mongoexport
includes the exported field names as the first line in a CSV output.--noHeaderLine
directsmongoexport
to export the data without the list of field names.--noHeaderLine
is only valid with the--type
option with valuecsv
.See Exclude Field Names from CSV Output for sample usage.
--readPreference=<string|document>
Default:
primary
Specifies the read preference for
mongoexport
. The--readPreference
option can take:A string if specifying only the read preference mode:
--readPreference=secondary A quote-enclosed document to specify the mode, the optional read preference tag sets, and the optional maxStalenessSeconds:
--readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ], maxStalenessSeconds: 120}' If specifying the maxStalenessSeconds, the value must be greater than or equal to 90.
mongoexport
defaults toprimary
read preference.If the read preference is also included in the
--uri connection string
, the command-line--readPreference
overrides the read preference specified in the URI string.
--skip=<number>
Use
--skip
to control wheremongoexport
begins exporting documents. Seeskip()
for information about the underlying operation.
--limit=<number>
Specifies a maximum number of documents to include in the export. See
limit()
for information about the underlying operation.
--sort=<JSON>
Specifies an ordering for exported results. If an index does not exist that can support the sort operation, the results must be less than 32 megabytes.
Use
--sort
conjunction with--skip
and--limit
to limit number of exported documents.mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --out=export.0.json mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=100 --out=export.1.json mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=200 --out=export.2.json See
sort()
for information about the underlying operation.