Authentication Mechanisms

Overview

In this guide, you can learn how to authenticate to MongoDB by using the authentication mechanisms available in MongoDB Server. Authentication mechanisms are processes by which the driver and server confirm the identity of a client to ensure security before connecting.

Tip

Connecting to MongoDB

To learn how to establish a connection to your MongoDB deployment, see the Get Started with the C++ Driver guide.

MongoDB Edition Compatibility

The following table lists the authentication mechanisms supported by MongoDB and the MongoDB Server editions that each mechanism is compatible with. Click the name of a mechanism to learn more about how to use it with your application.

Authentication Mechanism	Atlas	Enterprise Advanced	Community
SCRAM Authentication	Yes	Yes	Yes
X.509 Authentication	Yes	Yes	Yes
AWS Identity and Access Management	Yes	No	No
PLAIN SASL Authentication	Yes	Yes	No
Kerberos (GSSAPI)	No	Yes	No

Error Handling

You can handle authentication errors by catching mongocxx::exception errors. Inspect the error message string by using the what() method, as shown in the following example:

try {
    auto uri = mongocxx::uri("<connection string>");
    auto client = mongocxx::client(uri);
    client["db"].run_command(<any command requiring authorization>);
} catch (const mongocxx::exception& ex) {
    std::cerr << "Error: " << ex.what() << std::endl;
}

For more information, see Operation Exceptions in the API documentation.

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Change Streams

SCRAM