MongoDB

Configure MongoDB databases for backup.

Supported Versions

Versions
4.x, 5.x, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x

DBackup uses mongodump from MongoDB Database Tools.

Configuration

Basic Settings

Field	Description	Default
Connection URI	Full MongoDB URI (overrides other settings)	Optional
Host	Database server hostname	localhost
Port	MongoDB port	27017
User	Database username	Optional
Password	Database password	Optional
Auth Database	Authentication database	admin
Database	Database name(s) to backup	All databases

Advanced Options

Field	Description
Additional Options	Extra mongodump flags

Connection Methods

Using Connection URI (Recommended)

For complex setups (replica sets, Atlas, SRV records):

mongodb+srv://user:password@cluster.mongodb.net/mydb?retryWrites=true

Using Host/Port

For simple setups:

• Host: mongodb.example.com
• Port: 27017
• User: backup_user
• Password: your_password
• Auth Database: admin

Setting Up a Backup User

Create a dedicated user with the backup role:

// Connect to admin database
use admin

// Create backup user
db.createUser({
  user: "dbackup",
  pwd: "secure_password_here",
  roles: [
    { role: "backup", db: "admin" }
  ]
})

// For restore operations, also add:
db.grantRolesToUser("dbackup", [
  { role: "restore", db: "admin" }
])

MongoDB Atlas

For Atlas clusters, create a user with "Backup Admin" role in the Atlas UI.

Backup Process

DBackup uses mongodump which creates a binary BSON dump:

• Consistent point-in-time backup
• Includes indexes and collection options
• Supports oplog for replica set backups

Output Format

The backup creates a directory structure:

dump/
├── admin/
│   └── system.version.bson
├── mydb/
│   ├── users.bson
│   ├── users.metadata.json
│   └── orders.bson

This is archived and optionally compressed.

Multi-Database Backups

When backing up multiple databases, DBackup creates a TAR archive containing individual mongodump --archive files:

backup.tar
├── manifest.json      # Metadata about contained databases
├── database1.archive  # Individual mongodump archive per database
├── database2.archive
└── ...

Features

• Selective Restore: Choose which databases to restore from a multi-DB backup
• Database Renaming: Uses --nsFrom/--nsTo to restore to different database names
• True Multi-DB: Unlike previous versions, you can now backup any combination of databases (not just "all or one")

Breaking Change (v0.9.1)

Multi-DB backups created before v0.9.1 cannot be restored with newer versions.

Additional Options Examples

# Backup specific collection
--collection=users

# Exclude collections
--excludeCollection=logs --excludeCollection=sessions

# Include oplog (for point-in-time recovery)
--oplog

# Query filter (backup subset of data)
--query='{"createdAt":{"$gte":{"$date":"2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"}}}'

# Read preference for replica sets
--readPreference=secondary

# Parallel collections
--numParallelCollections=4

Replica Set Configuration

For replica sets, use the connection URI:

mongodb://user:pass@rs1.example.com:27017,rs2.example.com:27017,rs3.example.com:27017/mydb?replicaSet=myRS

Or set read preference:

# Additional Options
--readPreference=secondaryPreferred

Sharded Cluster Configuration

For sharded clusters, connect to a mongos router:

mongodb://user:pass@mongos1.example.com:27017,mongos2.example.com:27017/admin

Sharded Cluster Backup

For production sharded clusters, consider using MongoDB's native backup solutions (Cloud Backup, Ops Manager) for consistent snapshots.

Authentication

SCRAM Authentication (Default)

Works automatically when you provide user/password.

x.509 Certificate

# Additional Options
--ssl --sslCAFile=/path/to/ca.pem --sslPEMKeyFile=/path/to/client.pem

LDAP Authentication

mongodb://ldapuser:ldappass@host:27017/mydb?authMechanism=PLAIN&authSource=$external

Troubleshooting

Authentication Failed

authentication failed

Solutions:

1. Verify username/password
2. Check authSource is correct (usually admin)
3. Ensure user has required roles

Connection Timeout

no reachable servers

Solutions:

1. Check network connectivity
2. Verify hostname/port
3. Check firewall rules
4. For SRV records, ensure DNS is accessible

Insufficient Permissions

not authorized on admin to execute command

Solution: Grant backup role:

db.grantRolesToUser("dbackup", [{ role: "backup", db: "admin" }])

Restore

To restore a MongoDB backup:

1. Go to Storage Explorer
2. Find your backup file
3. Click Restore
4. Select target database configuration
5. Optionally map database names
6. Confirm and monitor progress

Restore Options

• Drop existing data: Clean restore
• Preserve existing data: Merge/upsert mode
• Specific collections: Restore selected collections only

Best Practices

1. Use backup role instead of root for backup user
2. Enable oplog for point-in-time recovery with replica sets
3. Schedule during low-traffic periods
4. Use secondary read preference for replica sets
5. Test restores regularly to verify backup integrity
6. Monitor backup duration for performance tuning
7. Consider compression (enabled by default in mongodump 100.x)