Install and Configure mongocryptd for Queryable Encryption

Overview

mongocryptd is installed with MongoDB Enterprise Server (version 4.2 and later).

When you create a Queryable Encryption enabled MongoDB client, the mongocryptd process is automatically started by default and handles the following responsibilities:

• Uses the specified automatic encryption rules to mark fields in read and write operations for encryption.

• Prevents unsupported operations from being executed on encrypted fields.

• Parses the encryption schema specified to the database connection. Automatic encryption rules use a strict subset of JSON schema syntax. If the automatic encryption rules contain invalid automatic encryption syntax or any document validation syntax, mongocryptd returns an error.

mongocryptd is only responsible for the above functions, and does not perform any of the following:

• mongocryptd does not perform encryption or decryption itself

• mongocryptd does not access any encryption key material

• mongocryptd does not listen over the network

Drivers compatible with MongoDB 4.2 and later use the Apache-licensed libmongocrypt library for performing client-side field level encryption and automatic decryption.

The official MongoDB 4.2+ compatible drivers, mongosh, and the 4.2 or later legacy mongo shell require access to the mongocryptd process on the client host machine. These clients search for the mongocryptd process in the system PATH by default.

Installation

For supported Linux Operating Systems, install the Server package by following the install on Linux tutorial , follow the documented installation instructions and install the mongodb-enterprise server package. Alternatively, specify mongodb-enterprise-cryptd instead to install only the mongocryptd binary. The package manager installs the binaries to a location in the system PATH (e.g. /usr/bin/)

For OSX, install the Server package by following the install on MacOS tutorial. The package manager installs binaries to a location in the system PATH.

For Windows, install the Server package by following the install on Windows tutorial. You must add the mongocryptd package to your system PATH after installation. Defer to documented best practices for your Windows installation for instructions on adding the mongocryptd binary to the system PATH.

For installations via an official tarball or ZIP archive, follow the documented best practices for your operating system to add the mongocryptd binary to your system PATH.

Configuration

If the 4.2+ compatible driver has access to the mongocryptd process, by default the driver manages the spawning of the mongocryptd process.

You can configure how your driver starts mongocryptd through the following parameters: