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mongodump is a utility that creates a binary export of a database's contents. mongodump can export data from:

  • Standalone deployments

  • Replica sets

  • Sharded clusters

  • Serverless instances

You can use mongodump 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.

mongodump can connect to mongod and mongos instances.

Run mongodump from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

Tip

See also:

mongorestore, which allows you to import data that was exported from mongodump.

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.

Starting with MongoDB 4.4, mongodump is now released separately from the MongoDB Server and uses its own versioning, with an initial version of 100.0.0. Previously, mongodump was released alongside the MongoDB Server and used matching versioning.

For documentation on the MongoDB 4.2 or earlier versions of mongodump, reference the MongoDB Server Documentation for that version of the tool:

This documentation is for version 100.9.0 of mongodump.

Tip

See also: Links to older documentation

mongodump version 100.9.0 supports the following versions of the MongoDB Server:

  • MongoDB 7.0

  • MongoDB 6.0

  • MongoDB 5.0

  • MongoDB 4.4

  • MongoDB 4.2

While mongodump may work on earlier versions of MongoDB server, any such compatibility is not guaranteed.

mongodump version 100.9.0 is supported on these platforms:

x86_64
ARM64
PPC64LE
s390x
Amazon Linux 2023

Amazon 2

Amazon 2013.03+

Debian 10

Debian 9

Debian 8

RHEL / CentOS 9

RHEL / CentOS 8

RHEL / CentOS 7

RHEL / CentOS 6

SUSE 15

SUSE 12

Ubuntu 20.04

Ubuntu 18.04

Ubuntu 16.04

Windows 8 and later

Windows Server 2012 and later

macOS 11 and later

macOS 10.12 - 10.15

Ubuntu 18.04 may use a non-standard DNS resolver. When you use a non-standard DNS resolver, mongodump returns an error message like:

error parsing uri: lookup <HOSTNAME> on 127.0.0.53:53: cannot unmarshal DNS message

To resolve the problem, edit /etc/resolv.conf to point to a different DNS resolver.

The mongodump tool is part of the MongoDB Database Tools package:

Follow the Database Tools Installation Guide to install mongodump.

mongodump syntax:

mongodump <options> <connection-string>

Run mongodump from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

To connect to a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017 and use the default settings to export the content, run mongodump without any command-line options:

mongodump

To specify a host and/or port of the MongoDB instance, you can either:

  • Specify the hostname and port in the --uri connection string:

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options]
  • Specify the hostname and port in the --host:

    mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com:27017" [additional options]
  • Specify the hostname and port in the --host and --port:

    mongodump --host="mongodb0.example.com" --port=27017 [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

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:

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName" [additional options]
  • Specify the replica set name and members in the --host:

    mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com" [additional options]

By default, mongodump 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

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary" [additional options]

    If specifying the read preference tags, include the readPreferenceTags option:

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" [additional options]
  • 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:

    mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary [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:

    mongodump --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

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

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017" [additional options]
  • Specify the hostname and port of the mongos instance in the --host

    mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" [additional options]

By default, mongodump 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

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/?readPreference=secondary" [additional options]

    If specifying the read preference tags, include the readPreferenceTags option:

    mongodump --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/?readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" [additional options]
  • 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:

    mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary [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:

    mongodump --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

Tip

See also:

Warning

When dumping to a case-insensitive file system such as Windows or macOS, collections with names that differ only by capitalization will be overwritten. For case-insensitive file systems, always use the --archive option.

When authSource is not specified in the MongoDB URI, the database name specified in --db is used both to authenticate your mongodump session and to indicate the database being dumped. For an example of using a different database for authentication when using mongodump, see Authenticating with a Specific Database.

When using mongorestore to load data files created by mongodump, the MongoDB versions of your source and destination deployments must be either:

  • The same major version.

  • The same feature compatibility version.

For example, if your dump was created from a MongoDB deployment running version 4.4, the MongoDB deployment you restore to must also run version 4.4 or have its FCV set to 4.4.

To change your feature compatibility version, see setFeatureCompatibilityVersion.

Note

You can restore the BSON files generated from mongodump into MongoDB deployments running the same or newer version as the source deployment.

This guarantee does not apply to metadata, archive, or oplog replay files. If you try to restore these files using different source and destination deployment versions, the mongorestore process could result in failure, silent failure, or corrupted metadata.

In addition, ensure that you are using the same version of mongorestore to load the data files as the version of mongodump that you used to create them. For example, if you used mongodump version 100.9.0 to create the dump, use mongorestore version 100.9.0 to restore it.

By default, mongodump uses read preference primary. To override the default, you can specify the read preference in the --readPreference command-line option or in the --uri connection string.

If read preference is specified in both the URI string and the --readPreference option, the --readPreference value overrides the read preference specified in the URI string.

If you specify both the --db and the --collection options, mongodump dumps the specified collection.

If you only specify the --db option, mongodump dumps that database with the following exclusions:

  • If the value of --db is admin:

    • If you aren't connected to an Atlas Proxy, mongodump dumps the database but excludes the system.keys collection.

    • If you're connected to an Atlas Proxy, mongodump attempts to dump the database but errors out.

  • If the value of --db is config, mongodump dumps all collections in that database.

  • If the value of --db is local, mongodump dumps all collections in that database.

  • For all other databases, mongodump excludes all collections that start with system., except for system.js.

If you omit the --db option, the following exclusions apply:

  • mongodump excludes the local database.

  • mongodump only includes the following collections in the output for the config database:

    • chunks

    • collections

    • databases

    • settings

    • shards

    • tags

    • version

  • If you're connected to an Atlas Proxy, mongodump excludes the admin database.

mongodump output:

  • Contains the documents in the database and the index definitions.

  • Does not contain the index data.

mongorestore or mongod must rebuild the indexes after restoring data.

If you're using views:

If mongodump outputs to a directory, the output contains collection metadata which includes the following properties:

  • Collection names

  • Collection types

  • Collection configuration options

  • UUIDs

  • Indexes

If mongodump outputs to standard output (stdout), the output does not include metadata. For more information, see the --out option.

mongodump uses Extended JSON v2.0 (Canonical) format for the metadata files. To parse these files for restore, use mongorestore, which supports Extended JSON v2.0 (Canonical or Relaxed mode) format.

mongodump overwrites output files if they exist in the backup data folder. Before running the mongodump command multiple times, either ensure that you no longer need the files in the output folder (the default is the dump/ folder) or rename the folders or files.

mongodump fails if:

When run against a mongod instance that uses the WiredTiger storage engine, mongodump outputs uncompressed data.

mongodump can adversely affect performance of the mongod. If your data is larger than system memory, the mongodump will push the working set out of memory.

mongodump automatically creates FIPS-compliant connections to a mongod/mongos that is configured to use FIPS mode.

On free (M0) and shared (M2 and M5) tier Atlas clusters, the following limitations apply:

  • You can't run mongodump on the admin database. By default, mongodump skips this database. If you use the --db option to set the destination database to admin, the program returns an error.

  • You can't use the following options with the mongodump program:

To run mongodump against a MongoDB deployment that has access control enabled, you must have privileges that grant find action for each database to back up. The built-in backup role provides the required privileges to perform backup of any and all databases.

For standalone or a replica set, mongodump can be a part of a backup strategy with mongorestore for partial backups based on a query, syncing from production to staging or development environments, or changing the storage engine of a standalone.

For details on using mongodump with mongorestore as part of a backup and recovery strategy, see:

mongodump and mongorestore cannot be part of a backup strategy for 4.2+ sharded clusters that have sharded transactions in progress, as backups created with mongodump do not maintain the atomicity guarantees of transactions across shards.

For 4.2+ sharded clusters with in-progress sharded transactions, use one of the following coordinated backup and restore processes which do maintain the atomicity guarantees of transactions across shards:

--help

Returns information on the options and use of mongodump.

--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 mongodump 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

--version

Returns the mongodump release number.

--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 mongodump:

This is the recommended way to specify a password to mongodump, 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 the uri: 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 to mongodump, 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 of mongodump, the connection string may alternatively be provided as a positional parameter, without using the --uri option:

mongodump 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:// or mongodb+srv://. For example:

mongodump --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 mongodump on Ubuntu 18.04, you may experience a cannot unmarshal DNS error message when using SRV connection strings (in the form mongodb+srv://) with the --uri option. If so, use one of the following options instead:

Warning

On some systems, a password provided in a connection string with the --uri option may be visible to system status programs such as ps 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, mongodump attempts to connect to a MongoDB instance running on the localhost on port number 27017.

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, mongodump 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 or mongos 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 the URI 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 a mongod or mongos that has CAFile enabled without allowConnectionsWithoutCertificates.

Alternatively, you can also specify the .pem file directly in the URI 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, the mongodump 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, the mongodump 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 as ps 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 or mongos 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 mongodump 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:

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:

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 as ps that may be invoked by other users. Consider instead:

  • omitting the --password option to receive an interactive password prompt, or

  • using 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:

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, mongodump assumes that the database specified to export holds the user's credentials.

If you do not specify an authentication database or a database to export, mongodump assumes the admin database 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 mongodump instance uses to authenticate to the mongod or mongos.

Changed in version 100.1.0: Starting in version 100.1.0, mongodump adds support for the MONGODB-AWS authentication mechanism when connecting to a MongoDB Atlas cluster.

Value
Description

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 use PLAIN 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

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.

Alternatively, you can also specify the service name directly in the URI connection string. Providing a connection string while also using --gssapiServiceName and specifying conflicting information will result in an error.

--gssapiHostName

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 a database to backup. If you do not specify a database, mongodump copies all databases in this instance into the dump files.

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.

--collection=<collection>, -c=<collection>

Specifies a collection to backup. If you do not specify a collection, this option copies all collections in the specified database or instance to the dump files.

--query=<json>, -q=<json>

Provides a JSON document as a query that optionally limits the documents included in the output of mongodump. To use the --query option, you must also specify the --collection option.

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:

mongodump -d=test -c=records -q='{ "a": { "$gte": 3 }, "date": { "$lt": { "$date": "2016-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } } }'

To use $regex with mongodump, use the following syntax:

mongodump -d=sample_mflix -c=movies -q='{ "year": { "$regex": "20" } }'

Note

When you use the --query option on a time series collection, you can only query the field specified as the metaField.

--queryFile=<path>

Specifies the path to a file containing a JSON document as a query filter that limits the documents included in the output of mongodump. --queryFile enables you to create query filters that are too large to fit in your terminal's buffer.

Note

When you use the --queryFile option on a time series collection, you can only query the field specified as the metaField.

--readPreference=<string|document>

Default: primary

Specifies the read preference for mongodump. 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.

mongodump defaults to primary 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.

--gzip

Compresses the output. If mongodump outputs to the dump directory, the new feature compresses the individual files. The files have the suffix .gz.

If mongodump outputs to an archive file or the standard out stream, the new feature compresses the archive file or the data output to the stream.

--out=<path>, -o=<path>

Specifies the directory where mongodump will write BSON files for the dumped databases. By default, mongodump saves output files in a directory named dump in the current working directory.

To send the database dump to standard output, specify "-" instead of a path. Write to standard output if you want process the output before saving it, such as to use gzip to compress the dump. When writing standard output, mongodump does not write the metadata that writes in a <dbname>.metadata.json file when writing to files directly.

You cannot use the --archive option with the --out option.

--archive=<file>

Writes the output to a specified archive file or, if the archive file is unspecified, writes to the standard output (stdout). An archive file is a single-file alternative to multiple BSON files.

  • To output the dump to an archive file, run mongodump with the --archive option and the archive filename.

    mongodump --archive=<file>
  • To output the dump to the standard output stream in order to pipe to another process, run mongodump with the --archive option but omit the filename.

    mongodump --archive

You cannot use the --archive option with the --out option.

Note

If mongodump writes to an archive file, mongodump performance can improve. For more information on mongodump performance impacts, see Output Format Considerations.

--oplog

Creates a file named oplog.bson as part of the mongodump output. The oplog.bson file, located in the top level of the output directory, contains oplog entries that occur during the mongodump operation. This file provides an effective point-in-time snapshot of the state of a mongod instance. To restore to a specific point-in-time backup, use the output created with this option in conjunction with mongorestore --oplogReplay.

Without --oplog, if there are write operations during the dump operation, the dump will not reflect a single moment in time. Changes made to the database during the update process can affect the output of the backup.

Important

A mongodump running with --oplog fails if a client issues any of the listed operations during the dump process.

--oplog has no effect when running mongodump against a mongos instance to dump the entire contents of a sharded cluster. However, you can use --oplog to dump individual shards.

--oplog only works against nodes that maintain an oplog. This includes all members of a replica set.

--oplog does not dump the oplog collection.

Note

To use mongodump with --oplog, you must create a full dump of a replica set member. mongodump with --oplog fails if you use any of the following options to limit the data to be dumped:

--dumpDbUsersAndRoles

Includes user and role definitions in the database's dump directory when performing mongodump on a specific database. This option applies only when you specify a database in the --db option. MongoDB always includes user and role definitions when mongodump applies to an entire instance and not just a specific database.

--excludeCollection=<string>

Excludes the specified collection from the mongodump output. To exclude multiple collections, specify the --excludeCollection multiple times.

--excludeCollectionsWithPrefix=<string>

Excludes all collections with a specified prefix from the mongodump outputs. To specify multiple prefixes, specify the --excludeCollectionsWithPrefix multiple times.

--numParallelCollections=<int>, -j=<int>

Default: 4

Number of collections mongodump should export in parallel.

--viewsAsCollections

When specified, mongodump exports views as collections.

Note

Only views are exported. By default, mongodump only exports a view's metadata. To export the documents in a view, use the --viewsAsCollections option.

For each view, mongodump creates a BSON file containing the documents in the view. If you use mongorestore with a BSON file created by mongodump, the view is restored as a collection.

If you do not include --viewsAsCollections, mongodump captures each view's metadata. If you include a view's metadata file in a mongorestore operation, the view is recreated.

Run mongodump from the system command line, not the mongo shell.

The following operation creates a dump file that contains only the collection named records in the database named test. In this case the database is running on the local interface on port 27017:

mongodump --db=test --collection=records

The following operation dumps all collections in the test database except for users and salaries:

mongodump --db=test --excludeCollection=users --excludeCollection=salaries

In the next example, mongodump creates a database dump located at /opt/backup/mongodump-2011-10-24, from a database running on port 37017 on the host mongodb1.example.net and authenticating using the username user as follows:

mongodump --host=mongodb1.example.net --port=37017 --username=user --authenticationDatabase=admin --out=/opt/backup/mongodump-2011-10-24

If you do not include the --password, mongodump prompts the user for the password.

To output the dump to an archive file, run mongodump with the --archive option and the archive filename. For example, the following operation creates a file test.20150715.archive that contains the dump of the test database.

mongodump --archive=test.20150715.archive --db=test

To output the archive to the standard output stream in order to pipe to another process, run mongodump with the archive option but omit the filename:

mongodump --archive --db=test --port=27017 | mongorestore --archive --port=27018

Note

You cannot use the --archive option with the --out option.

To compress the files in the output dump directory, run mongodump with the new --gzip option. For example, the following operation outputs compressed files into the default dump directory.

mongodump --gzip --db=test

To compress the archive file output by mongodump, use the --gzip option in conjunction with the --archive option, specifying the name of the compressed file.

mongodump --archive=test.20150715.gz --gzip --db=test

Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB removes the deprecated copydb command and clone command.

As an alternative, users can use mongodump and mongorestore (with the mongorestore options --nsFrom and --nsTo).

For example, to copy the test database from a local instance running on the default port 27017 to the examples database on the same instance, you can:

  1. Use mongodump to dump the test database to an archive mongodump-test-db:

    mongodump --archive="mongodump-test-db" --db=test
  2. Use mongorestore with --nsFrom and --nsTo to restore (with database name change) from the archive:

    mongorestore --archive="mongodump-test-db" --nsFrom="test.*" --nsTo="examples.*"

Tip

Include additional options as necessary, such as to specify the uri or host, username, password and authentication database.

Alternatively, instead of using an archive file, you can mongodump the test database to the standard output stream and pipe into mongorestore:

mongodump --archive --db=test | mongorestore --archive --nsFrom="test.*" --nsTo="examples.*"

New in version 100.1.0.

To connect to a MongoDB Atlas cluster which has been configured to support authentication via AWS IAM credentials, provide a connection string to mongodump similar to the following:

mongodump 'mongodb+srv://<aws access key id>:<aws secret access key>@cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' <other options>

Connecting to Atlas using AWS IAM credentials in this manner uses the MONGODB-AWS authentication mechanism and the $external authSource, as shown in this example.

If using an AWS session token, as well, provide it with the AWS_SESSION_TOKEN authMechanismProperties value, as follows:

mongodump 'mongodb+srv://<aws access key id>:<aws secret access key>@cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS&authMechanismProperties=AWS_SESSION_TOKEN:<aws session token>' <other options>

Note

If the AWS access key ID, secret access key, or session token include the following characters:

: / ? # [ ] @

those characters must be converted using percent encoding.

Alternatively, the AWS access key ID, secret access key, and optionally session token can each be provided outside of the connection string using the --username, --password, and --awsSessionToken options instead, like so:

mongodump 'mongodb+srv://cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' --username <aws access key id> --password <aws secret access key> --awsSessionToken <aws session token> <other options>

When provided as command line parameters, these three options do not require percent encoding.

You may also set these credentials on your platform using standard AWS IAM environment variables. mongodump checks for the following environment variables when you use the MONGODB-AWS authentication mechanism:

  • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID

  • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

  • AWS_SESSION_TOKEN

If set, these credentials do not need to be specified in the connection string or via their explicit options.

Note

If you chose to use the AWS environment variables to specify these values, you cannot mix and match with the corresponding explicit or connection string options for these credentials. Either use the environment variables for access key ID and secret access key (and session token if used), or specify each of these using the explicit or connection string options instead.

The following example sets environment variables in the bash shell:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID='<aws access key id>'
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY='<aws secret access key>'
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN='<aws session token>'

The syntax for setting environment variables in other shells is different. For more information, see the documentation for your shell.

To verify the environment variables are set, use this command:

env | grep AWS

After you set the environment variables, run the following example to connect to a MongoDB Atlas cluster:

mongodump 'mongodb+srv://cluster0.example.com/testdb?authSource=$external&authMechanism=MONGODB-AWS' <other options>

To authenticate with a different database than the one being dumped, you must specify authSource in the MongoDB URI.

In this example:

  • The username myuser and password mypassword is used. This user has read access to testdb.

  • The admin database is used to authenticate the user.

  • The testdb database is being dumped.

mongodump 'mongodb+srv://myuser:mypassword@cluster0.example.com/?authSource=admin' --db testdb
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