mongofiles"/>
OPTIONS

mongofiles

mongofiles

Synopsis

The mongofiles utility makes it possible to manipulate files stored in your MongoDB instance in GridFS objects from the command line. It is particularly useful as it provides an interface between objects stored in your file system and GridFS.

All mongofiles commands have the following form:

mongofiles <options> <commands> <filename>

The components of the mongofiles command are:

  1. Options. You may use one or more of these options to control the behavior of mongofiles.
  2. Commands. Use one of these commands to determine the action of mongofiles.
  3. A filename which is either: the name of a file on your local’s file system, or a GridFS object.

mongofiles, like mongodump, mongoexport, mongoimport, and mongorestore, can access data stored in a MongoDB data directory without requiring a running mongod instance, if no other mongod is running.

Important

For replica sets, mongofiles can only read from the set’s primary.

Required Access

In order to connect to a mongod that enforces authorization with the --auth option, you must use the --username and --password options. The connecting user must possess, at a minimum:

  • the read role for the accessed database when using the list, search or get commands,
  • the readWrite role for the accessed database when using the put or delete commands.

Options

Changed in version 3.0.0: mongofiles removed the --dbpath as well as related --directoryperdb and --journal options. You must use mongofiles while connected to a mongod instance.

mongofiles
--help

Returns information on the options and use of mongofiles.

--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 the mongofiles in a quiet mode that attempts to limit the amount of output.

This option suppresses:

  • output from database commands
  • replication activity
  • connection accepted events
  • connection closed events
--version

Returns the mongofiles release number.

--host <hostname><:port>

Specifies a resolvable hostname for the mongod that holds your GridFS system. By default mongofiles attempts to connect to a MongoDB process running on the localhost port number 27017.

Optionally, specify a port number to connect a MongoDB instance running on a port other than 27017.

--port <port>

Default: 27017

Specifies the TCP port on which the MongoDB instance listens for client connections.

--ipv6

Enables IPv6 support and allows the mongofiles to connect to the MongoDB instance using an IPv6 network. All MongoDB programs and processes disable IPv6 support by default.

--ssl

New in version 2.6.

Enables connection to a mongod or mongos that has TLS/SSL support enabled.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslCAFile <filename>

New in version 2.6.

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.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

Warning

For SSL connections (--ssl) to mongod and mongos, if the mongofiles runs without the --sslCAFile, mongofiles will not attempt to validate the server certificates. This creates a vulnerability to expired mongod and mongos certificates as well as to foreign processes posing as valid mongod or mongos instances. Ensure that you always specify the CA file to validate the server certificates in cases where intrusion is a possibility.

--sslPEMKeyFile <filename>

New in version 2.6.

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.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslPEMKeyPassword <value>

New in version 2.6.

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 mongofiles 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 mongofiles will prompt for a passphrase. See SSL Certificate Passphrase.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslCRLFile <filename>

New in version 2.6.

Specifies the .pem file that contains the Certificate Revocation List. Specify the file name of the .pem file using relative or absolute paths.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslAllowInvalidCertificates

New in version 2.6.

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.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslAllowInvalidHostnames

New in version 3.0.

Disables the validation of the hostnames in TLS/SSL certificates. Allows mongofiles to connect to MongoDB instances if the hostname their certificates do not match the specified hostname.

Changed in version 3.0: Most MongoDB distributions now include support for TLS/SSL. See Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL and TLS/SSL Configuration for Clients for more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB.

--sslFIPSMode

New in version 2.6.

Directs the mongofiles to use the FIPS mode of the installed OpenSSL library. Your system must have a FIPS compliant OpenSSL library to use the --sslFIPSMode option.

Note

FIPS-compatible SSL is available only in MongoDB Enterprise. See Configure MongoDB for FIPS for more information.

--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.

--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.

Changed in version 3.0.0: If you do not specify an argument for --password, mongofiles returns an error.

Changed in version 3.0.2: If you wish mongofiles 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 "" .

--authenticationDatabase <dbname>

Specifies the database in which the user is created. See Authentication Database.

--authenticationMechanism <name>

Default: SCRAM-SHA-1

Changed in version 2.6: Added support for the PLAIN and MONGODB-X509 authentication mechanisms.

Changed in version 3.0: Added support for the SCRAM-SHA-1 authentication mechanism. Changed default mechanism to SCRAM-SHA-1.

Specifies the authentication mechanism the mongofiles instance uses to authenticate to the mongod or mongos.

Value Description
SCRAM-SHA-1 RFC 5802 standard Salted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA1 hash function.
MONGODB-CR MongoDB challenge/response authentication.
MONGODB-X509 MongoDB TLS/SSL certificate authentication.
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.
--gssapiServiceName

New in version 2.6.

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.

--gssapiHostName

New in version 2.6.

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 the name of the database on which to run the mongofiles.

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

This option has no use in this context and a future release may remove it. See SERVER-4931 for more information.

--local <filename>, -l <filename>

Specifies the local filesystem name of a file for get and put operations.

In the mongofiles put and mongofiles get commands, the required <filename> modifier refers to the name the object will have in GridFS. mongofiles assumes that this reflects the file’s name on the local file system. This setting overrides this default.

--type <MIME>

Provides the ability to specify a MIME type to describe the file inserted into GridFS storage. mongofiles omits this option in the default operation.

Use only with mongofiles put operations.

--replace, -r

Alters the behavior of mongofiles put to replace existing GridFS objects with the specified local file, rather than adding an additional object with the same name.

In the default operation, files will not be overwritten by a mongofiles put option.

--prefix string

Default: fs

GridFS prefix to use.

--writeConcern <document>

Default: majority

Specifies the write concern for each write operation that mongofiles writes to the target database.

Specify the write concern as a document with w options.

Commands

list <prefix>

Lists the files in the GridFS store. The characters specified after list (e.g. <prefix>) optionally limit the list of returned items to files that begin with that string of characters.

search <string>

Lists the files in the GridFS store with names that match any portion of <string>.

put <filename>

Copy the specified file from the local file system into GridFS storage.

Here, <filename> refers to the name the object will have in GridFS, and mongofiles assumes that this reflects the name the file has on the local file system. If the local filename is different use the mongofiles --local option.

get <filename>

Copy the specified file from GridFS storage to the local file system.

Here, <filename> refers to the name the object will have in GridFS, and mongofiles assumes that this reflects the name the file has on the local file system. If the local filename is different use the mongofiles --local option.

delete <filename>

Delete the specified file from GridFS storage.

Examples

To return a list of all files in a GridFS collection in the records database, use the following invocation at the system shell:

mongofiles -d records list

This mongofiles instance will connect to the mongod instance running on the 27017 localhost interface to specify the same operation on a different port or hostname, and issue a command that resembles one of the following:

mongofiles --port 37017 -d records list
mongofiles --hostname db1.example.net -d records list
mongofiles --hostname db1.example.net --port 37017 -d records list

Modify any of the following commands as needed if you’re connecting the mongod instances on different ports or hosts.

To upload a file named 32-corinth.lp to the GridFS collection in the records database, you can use the following command:

mongofiles -d records put 32-corinth.lp

To delete the 32-corinth.lp file from this GridFS collection in the records database, you can use the following command:

mongofiles -d records delete 32-corinth.lp

To search for files in the GridFS collection in the records database that have the string corinth in their names, you can use following command:

mongofiles -d records search corinth

To list all files in the GridFS collection in the records database that begin with the string 32, you can use the following command:

mongofiles -d records list 32

To fetch the file from the GridFS collection in the records database named 32-corinth.lp, you can use the following command:

mongofiles -d records get 32-corinth.lp

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