Definition
db.createUser(user, writeConcern)Creates a new user for the database on which the method is run.
db.createUser()returns a duplicate user error if the user already exists on the database.The
db.createUser()method has the following syntax:FieldTypeDescriptionuserdocument
The document with authentication and access information about the user to create.
writeConcerndocument
Optional. The level of write concern for the creation operation. The
writeConcerndocument takes the same fields as thegetLastErrorcommand.The
userdocument defines the user and has the following form:Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the
mongoshell, you can use thepasswordPrompt()method in conjunction with various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the method/command call. However, you can still specify the password directly as you would with earlier versions of themongoshell.{ user: "<name>", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" customData: { <any information> }, roles: [ { role: "<role>", db: "<database>" } | "<role>", ... ], authenticationRestrictions: [ { clientSource: ["<IP>" | "<CIDR range>", ...], serverAddress: ["<IP>" | "<CIDR range>", ...] }, ... ], mechanisms: [ "<SCRAM-SHA-1|SCRAM-SHA-256>", ... ], passwordDigestor: "<server|client>" } The
userdocument has the following fields:FieldTypeDescriptionuserstring
The name of the new user.
pwdstring
The user's password. The
pwdfield is not required if you rundb.createUser()on the$externaldatabase to create users who have credentials stored externally to MongoDB.The value can be either:
the user's password in cleartext string, or
passwordPrompt()to prompt for the user's password.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the
mongoshell, you can use thepasswordPrompt()method in conjunction with various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the method/command call. However, you can still specify the password directly as you would with earlier versions of themongoshell.customDatadocument
Optional. Any arbitrary information. This field can be used to store any data an admin wishes to associate with this particular user. For example, this could be the user's full name or employee id.
rolesarray
The roles granted to the user. Can specify an empty array
[]to create users without roles.array
Optional. The authentication restrictions the server enforces on the created user. Specifies a list of IP addresses and CIDR ranges from which the user is allowed to connect to the server or from which the server can accept users.
New in version 3.6.
mechanismsarray
Optional. Specify the specific SCRAM mechanism or mechanisms for creating SCRAM user credentials. If
authenticationMechanismsis specified, you can only specify a subset of theauthenticationMechanisms.Valid values are:
"SCRAM-SHA-1"Uses the
SHA-1hashing function.
"SCRAM-SHA-256"Uses the
SHA-256hashing function.Requires passwordDigestor to be
server.
The default is both
SCRAM-SHA-1andSCRAM-SHA-256.passwordDigestorstring
Optional. Indicates whether the server or the client digests the password.
Available values are:
"server"(Default)- The server receives undigested password from the client and digests the password.
"client"(Not compatible withSCRAM-SHA-256)- The client digests the password and passes the digested password to the server.
Roles
In the roles field, you can specify both
built-in roles and user-defined
roles.
To specify a role that exists in the same database where
db.createUser() 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.
Authentication Restrictions
New in version 3.6.
The authenticationRestrictions document can contain only the
following fields. The server throws an error if the
authenticationRestrictions document contains an unrecognized field:
Field Name | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Array of IP addresses and/or CIDR ranges | If present, when authenticating a user, the server verifies that the client's IP address is either in the given list or belongs to a CIDR range in the list. If the client's IP address is not present, the server does not authenticate the user. |
| Array of IP addresses and/or CIDR ranges | A list of IP addresses or CIDR ranges to which the client can connect. If present, the server will verify that the client's connection was accepted via an IP address in the given list. If the connection was accepted via an unrecognized IP address, the server does not authenticate the user. |
Important
If a user inherits multiple roles with incompatible authentication restrictions, that user becomes unusable.
For example, if a user inherits one role in which the
clientSource field is ["198.51.100.0"] and another role in
which the clientSource field is ["203.0.113.0"] the server is
unable to authenticate the user.
For more information on authentication in MongoDB, see Authentication.
The db.createUser() method wraps the createUser
command.
Behavior
User ID
Starting in version 4.0.9, MongoDB automatically assigns a unique
userId to the user upon creation.
Replica set
If run on a replica set, db.createUser() is executed using
"majority" write concern by default.
Encryption
Warning
By default, db.createUser() sends all specified data to the MongoDB
instance in cleartext, even if using passwordPrompt(). Use
TLS transport encryption to protect communications between clients
and the server, including the password sent by db.createUser(). For
instructions on enabling TLS transport encryption, see
Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL.
MongoDB does not store the password in cleartext. The password is only vulnerable in transit between the client and the server, and only if TLS transport encryption is not enabled.
External Credentials
Users created on the $external database should have credentials
stored externally to MongoDB, as, for example, with MongoDB
Enterprise installations that use Kerberos.
Changed in version 3.6.3: To use sessions with $external authentication users (i.e.
Kerberos, LDAP, x.509 users), the usernames cannot be greater
than 10k bytes.
local Database
You cannot create users on the local database.
Required Access
To create a new user in a database, you must have the
createUseraction on that database resource.To grant roles to a user, you must have the
grantRoleaction on the role's database.
The userAdmin and
userAdminAnyDatabase built-in roles
provide createUser and
grantRole actions on their respective resources.
Examples
The following db.createUser() operation creates the
accountAdmin01 user on the products database.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use products db.createUser( { user: "accountAdmin01", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" customData: { employeeId: 12345 }, roles: [ { role: "clusterAdmin", db: "admin" }, { role: "readAnyDatabase", db: "admin" }, "readWrite"] }, { w: "majority" , wtimeout: 5000 } )
The operation gives accountAdmin01 the following roles:
the
clusterAdminandreadAnyDatabaseroles on theadmindatabasethe
readWriterole on theproductsdatabase
Create User with Roles
The following operation creates accountUser in the products database
and gives the user the readWrite and dbAdmin roles.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use products db.createUser( { user: "accountUser", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" roles: [ "readWrite", "dbAdmin" ] } )
Create User without Roles
The following operation creates a user named reportsUser in the admin
database but does not yet assign roles:
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use admin db.createUser( { user: "reportsUser", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" roles: [ ] } )
Create Administrative User with Roles
The following operation creates a user named appAdmin in the
admin database and gives the user readWrite access to the
config database, which lets the user change certain settings for
sharded clusters, such as to the balancer setting.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use admin db.createUser( { user: "appAdmin", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" roles: [ { role: "readWrite", db: "config" }, "clusterAdmin" ] } )
Create User with Authentication Restrictions
The following operation creates a user named restricted in the
admin database. This user may only authenticate if connecting from
IP address 192.0.2.0 to IP address 198.51.100.0.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use admin db.createUser( { user: "restricted", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" roles: [ { role: "readWrite", db: "reporting" } ], authenticationRestrictions: [ { clientSource: ["192.0.2.0"], serverAddress: ["198.51.100.0"] } ] } )
Create User with SCRAM-SHA-256 Credentials Only
Note
To use SCRAM-SHA-256, the
featureCompatibilityVersion must be set to 4.0. For more
information on featureCompatibilityVersion, see View FeatureCompatibilityVersion and
setFeatureCompatibilityVersion.
The following operation creates a user with only SCRAM-SHA-256
credentials.
Tip
Starting in version 4.2 of the mongo shell, you can
use the passwordPrompt() method in conjunction with
various user authentication/management methods/commands to prompt
for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the
method/command call. However, you can still specify the password
directly as you would with earlier versions of the
mongo shell.
use reporting db.createUser( { user: "reportUser256", pwd: passwordPrompt(), // Or "<cleartext password>" roles: [ { role: "readWrite", db: "reporting" } ], mechanisms: [ "SCRAM-SHA-256" ] } )
If the authenticationMechanisms parameter is set, the
mechanisms field can only include values specified in the
authenticationMechanisms parameter.