mongoexport

macOS Sierra and Go 1.6 Incompatibility

Users running on macOS Sierra require the 3.2.10 or newer versionof mongoexport.

Synopsis

mongoexport is a command-line tool that produces a JSONor CSV export of data stored in a MongoDB instance.

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

See also

mongoimport which provides the corresponding “import”capability.

Availability

The mongoexport tool is part of the MongoDB tools package. Consult theinstallation guide for your platform forinstructions on how to install the tools package as part of yourMongoDB installation.

The tools package is also available from theMongoDB Download Center,either as a separate tools download, or contained within theTGZ or ZIP downloads, depending on platform. On Windows, the MSI installer includes all tools as part of the default installation.

Tip

If downloading the TGZ or ZIP files from the DownloadCenter, you may want to update your PATH environmentvariable to include the directory where you installed these tools.See the installation guidefor your platform for more information.

Syntax

mongoexport must be run directly from the system command line.

  1. mongoexport --collection=<coll> [options]

You must specify the collection toexport. If you do not specify an output file, mongoexport writes to the standard output (e.g.stdout).

Connect to a MongoDB Instance

To connect to a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017, you donot have to specify the host or port.

For example, to export the specified collection to the specified output file from a local MongoDB instance running on port 27017:

  1. mongoexport --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json

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

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017/reporting"  --collection=events  --out=events.json [additional options]

If using the —uri connection string,specify the database as part of the string. You cannot use thecommand-line option —db in conjunctionwith the —uri connection string.

  • Specify the hostname and port in the —host:
  1. mongoexport --host="mongodb0.example.com:27017" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]
  1. mongoexport --host="mongodb0.example.com" --port=27017 --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

Connect to a Replica Set

To connect to a replica set to export its data, you can either:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If using the —uri connection string,specify the database as part of the string. You cannot use thecommand-line option —db in conjunctionwith the —uri connection string.

  • Specify the replica set name and members in the —host:
  1. mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]

By default, mongoexport reads from the primary of thereplica set. To override the default, you can specify the readpreference:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If specifying the read preference tags, include thereadPreferenceTags option:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017/reporting?replicaSet=myReplicaSetName&readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If using the —uri connection string,specify the database as part of the string. You cannot use thecommand-line option —db in conjunctionwith the —uri connection string.

  • You can specify the read preference in using the—readPreference command-lineoption. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:
  1. mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [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 tagsets, and the optionalmaxStalenessSeconds:

  1. mongoexport --host="myReplicaSetName/mongodb0.example.com:27017,mongodb1.example.com:27017,mongodb2.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

Connect to a Sharded Cluster

To connect to a sharded cluster to export its data, you can either:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If using the —uri connection string,specify the database as part of the string. You cannot use thecommand-line option —db in conjunctionwith the —uri connection string.

  • Specify the hostname and port of the mongos instance in the —host
  1. mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json[additional options]

By default, mongoexport reads from the primary of theshard replica set. To override the default, you can specify the readpreference:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting?readPreference=secondary" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If specifying the read preference tags, include thereadPreferenceTags option:

  1. mongoexport --uri="mongodb://mongos0.example.com:27017/reporting?readPreference=secondary&readPreferenceTags=region:east" --collection=events --out=events.json [additional options]

If using the —uri connection string,specify the database as part of the string. You cannot use thecommand-line option —db in conjunctionwith the —uri connection string.

  • You can specify the read preference in using the—readPreference command-lineoption. The command-line option takes a string if specifying only the read preference mode:
  1. mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference=secondary --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [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 tagsets, and the optionalmaxStalenessSeconds:

  1. mongoexport --host="mongos0.example.com:27017" --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ]}' --collection=events --db=reporting --out=events.json [additional options]

For more information on the options available, see Options.

See also

Examples

Required Access

mongoexport requires read access on the target database.

Ensure that the connecting user possesses, at a minimum, the readrole on the target database.

When connecting to a mongod or mongos that enforcesAuthentication, ensure you use the required securityparameters based on the configuredauthentication mechanism.

Behavior

Type Fidelity

Warning

Avoid using mongoimport and mongoexport forfull instance production backups. They do not reliably preserve all richBSON data types, because JSON can only represent a subsetof the types supported by BSON. Use mongodumpand mongorestore as described in MongoDB Backup Methods for thiskind of functionality.

Starting in version 4.2, mongoexport:

Earlier versions used Extended JSON v1.0 (Canonical mode).

For example, the following insert operation in the mongoshell uses the various shell helpers for theBSON types Date and 64-bit integer:

  1. use test
  2. db.traffic.insert( { _id: 1, volume: NumberLong('2980000'), date: new Date() } )

The argument to 64-bit integer must be quoted to avoid potentialloss of accuracy.

Use mongoexport to export the data:

  1. mongoexport --db=test --collection=traffic --out=traffic.json

In version 4.2+, the exported data is in Extended JSON v2.0(Relaxed mode).

  1. {"_id":1.0,"volume":2980000,"date":{"$date":"2019-08-05T16:18:29.559Z"}}

To output in Extended JSON v2.0 (Canonicalmode), include the—jsonFormat=canonical:

  1. mongoexport --db=test --collection=traffic --jsonFormat=canonical --out=traffic.json

The exported data is in Extended JSON v2.0 (Canonicalmode):

  1. {"_id":{"$numberDouble":"1.0"},"volume":{"$numberLong":"2980000"},"date":{"$date":{"$numberLong":"1565363188675"}}}

In version 4.0 and earlier, the exported data is in Extended JSON v1.0 (Strict mode)

  1. {"_id":1.0,"volume":{"$numberLong":"2980000"},"date":{"$date":"2019-08-05T16:18:29.559Z"}}

FIPS

Starting in version 4.2, MongoDB removes the —sslFIPSModeoption for mongoexport. mongoexportwill use FIPS compliant connections tomongod/mongos if themongod/mongos instances areconfigured to use FIPS mode.

Read Preference

By default, mongoexport uses read preferenceprimary. To override the default, you can specify theread preference in the—readPreference command lineoption or in the —uri connection string.

Starting in version 4.2, if you specify read preference in the URIstring and the —readPreference, the —readPreference value overrides the read preference specified in theURI string.

In earlier versions, the two options are incompatible.

Options

Changed in version 3.0.0: mongoexport removed the —dbpath as well as related—directoryperdb and —journal options. To usemongoexport, you must run mongoexport against a runningmongod or mongos instance as appropriate.

Changed in version 3.0.0: mongoexport removed the —csv option. Use the—type=csv option to specify CSV formatfor the output.

  • mongoexport
  • —help
  • Returns information on the options and use of mongoexport.
  • —verbose, -v
  • Increases the amount of internal reporting returned on standard outputor in log files. Increase the verbosity with the -v form byincluding the option multiple times, (e.g. -vvvvv.)
  • —quiet
  • Runs mongoexport in a quiet mode that attempts to limit the amountof output.

This option suppresses:

  • output from database commands
  • replication activity
  • connection accepted events
  • connection closed events
  • —version
  • Returns the mongoexport release number.
  • —uri=<connectionString>

New in version 3.4.6.

Specify a resolvable URIconnection string (enclose in quotes) to connect to the MongoDB deployment.

  1. --uri="mongodb://[username:password@]host1[:port1][,host2[:port2],...[,hostN[:portN]]][/[database][?options]]"

For information on the components of the connection string, seethe Connection String URI Format documentation.

Note

For TLS/SSL options, use the command-line options instead of theURI options for TLS/SSL (Available starting in4.2).

Important

The following command-line options cannot be used in conjunctionwith —uri option:

  • —host=<hostname><:port>, -h=<hostname><:port>
  • Default: localhost:27017

Specifies a resolvable hostname for the mongod to which toconnect. By default, the mongoexport attempts to connect to a MongoDBinstance running on the localhost on port number 27017.

To connect to a replica set, specify thereplSetName and a seed list of set members, as inthe following:

  1. --host=<replSetName>/<hostname1><:port>,<hostname2><:port>,<...>

When specifying the replica set list format, mongoexport always connects tothe primary.

You can also connect to any single member of the replica set by specifyingthe host and port of only that member:

  1. --host=<hostname1><:port>

Changed in version 3.0.0: If you use IPv6 and use the <address>:<port> format, you mustenclose the portion of an address and port combination inbrackets (e.g. [<address>]).

Note

You cannot specify both —host and —uri.

  • —port=<port>
  • Default: 27017

Specifies the TCP port on which the MongoDB instance listens forclient connections.

Note

You cannot specify both —port and —uri.

  • —ipv6
  • Removed in version 3.0.

Enables IPv6 support and allows mongoexport to connect to theMongoDB instance using an IPv6 network. Prior to MongoDB 3.0, youhad to specify —ipv6 to use IPv6. In MongoDB 3.0 and later, IPv6is always enabled.

  • —ssl

New in version 2.6.

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

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —sslCAFile=<filename>

New in version 2.6.

Specifies the .pem file that contains the root certificate chainfrom the Certificate Authority. Specify the file name of the.pem file using relative or absolute paths.

Starting in version 3.4, if —tlsCAFile/net.tls.CAFile (ortheir aliases —sslCAFile/net.ssl.CAFile) is not specifiedand you are not using x.509 authentication, the system-wide CAcertificate store will be used when connecting to an TLS/SSL-enabledserver.

To use x.509 authentication, —tlsCAFile or net.tls.CAFilemust be specified unless using —tlsCertificateSelector or—net.tls.certificateSelector. Or if using the ssl aliases,—sslCAFile or net.ssl.CAFile must be specified unless using—sslCertificateSelector or net.ssl.certificateSelector.

Warning

Version 3.2 and earlier: For TLS/SSL connections (—ssl) tomongod and mongos, if the mongoexport runs without the—sslCAFile, mongoexport will not attemptto validate the server certificates. This creates a vulnerabilityto expired mongod and mongos certificates aswell as to foreign processes posing as valid mongod ormongos instances. Ensure that you always specify theCA file to validate the server certificates in cases whereintrusion is a possibility.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —sslPEMKeyFile=<filename>

New in version 2.6.

Specifies the .pem file that contains both the TLS/SSL certificateand key. Specify the file name of the .pem file using relativeor absolute paths.

This option is required when using the —ssl option to connectto a mongod or mongos that hasCAFile enabled withoutallowConnectionsWithoutCertificates.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —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 thecertificate-key file is encrypted. In all cases, the mongoexport willredact the password from all logging and reporting output.

If the private key in the PEM file is encrypted and you do not specifythe —sslPEMKeyPassword option, the mongoexport will prompt for a passphrase. SeeTLS/SSL Certificate Passphrase.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —sslCRLFile=<filename>

New in version 2.6.

Specifies the .pem file that contains the Certificate RevocationList. Specify the file name of the .pem file using relative orabsolute paths.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —sslAllowInvalidCertificates

New in version 2.6.

Bypasses the validation checks for server certificates and allowsthe use of invalid certificates. When using theallowInvalidCertificates setting, MongoDB logs as awarning the use of the invalid certificate.

Starting in MongoDB 4.0, if you specify—sslAllowInvalidCertificates ornet.ssl.allowInvalidCertificates: true (or in MongoDB 4.2, thealias —tlsAllowInvalidateCertificates ornet.tls.allowInvalidCertificates: true) when using x.509authentication, an invalid certificate is only sufficient toestablish a TLS/SSL connection but is insufficient forauthentication.

Warning

Although available, avoid using the—sslAllowInvalidCertificates option if possible. If the use of—sslAllowInvalidCertificates is necessary, only use the optionon systems where intrusion is not possible.

If the mongo shell (and otherMongoDB Tools) runs with the—sslAllowInvalidCertificates option, themongo shell (and otherMongoDB Tools) will not attempt to validatethe server certificates. This creates a vulnerability to expiredmongod and mongos certificates aswell as to foreign processes posing as validmongod or mongos instances. If youonly need to disable the validation of the hostname in theTLS/SSL certificates, see —sslAllowInvalidHostnames.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —sslAllowInvalidHostnames

New in version 3.0.

Disables the validation of the hostnames in TLS/SSL certificates. Allowsmongoexport to connect to MongoDB instances even if the hostname in theircertificates do not match the specified hostname.

For more information about TLS/SSL and MongoDB, seeConfigure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL andTLS/SSL Configuration for Clients .

  • —username=<username>, -u=<username>
  • Specifies a username with which to authenticate to a MongoDB databasethat uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the —password and—authenticationDatabase options.

Note

You cannot specify both —username and —uri.

  • —password=<password>, -p=<password>
  • Specifies a password with which to authenticate to a MongoDB databasethat uses authentication. Use in conjunction with the —username and—authenticationDatabase options.

Changed in version 3.0.2: To prompt the userfor the password, pass the —username option without—password or specify an empty string as the —password value,as in —password "" .

Note

You cannot specify both —password and —uri.

Note

You cannot specify both —authenticationDatabase and —uri.

If you do not specify an authentication database, mongoexportassumes that the database specified to export holds the user’s credentials.

  • —authenticationMechanism=<name>
  • Default: SCRAM-SHA-1

Specifies the authentication mechanism the mongoexport instance uses toauthenticate to the mongod or mongos.

Changed in version 4.0: MongoDB removes support for the deprecated MongoDBChallenge-Response (MONGODB-CR) authentication mechanism.

MongoDB adds support for SCRAM mechanism using the SHA-256 hashfunction (SCRAM-SHA-256).

ValueDescriptionSCRAM-SHA-1RFC 5802 standardSalted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-1hash function.SCRAM-SHA-256RFC 7677 standardSalted Challenge Response Authentication Mechanism using the SHA-256hash function.

Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to 4.0.

New in version 4.0.

MONGODB-X509MongoDB TLS/SSL certificate authentication.GSSAPI (Kerberos)External authentication using Kerberos. This mechanism isavailable only in MongoDB Enterprise.PLAIN (LDAP SASL)External authentication using LDAP. You can also use PLAINfor authenticating in-database users. PLAIN transmitspasswords in plain text. This mechanism is available only inMongoDB Enterprise.

Note

You cannot specify both —authenticationMechanism and —uri.

  • —gssapiServiceName=<serviceName>

New in version 2.6.

Specify the name of the service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the service does not use thedefault name of mongodb.

This option is available only in MongoDB Enterprise.

  • —gssapiHostName=<hostname>

New in version 2.6.

Specify the hostname of a service using GSSAPI/Kerberos. Only required if the hostname of a machine doesnot 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 mongoexport.

Note

You cannot specify both —db and —uri.

  • —collection=<collection>, -c=<collection>
  • Specifies the collection to export.
  • —fields=<field1[,field2]>, -f=<field1[,field2]>
  • Specifies a field or fields to include in the export. Use a commaseparated list of fields to specify multiple fields.

If any of your field names include white space, usequotation marks to enclose the field list. For example, if you wishedto export two fields, phone and user number, you wouldspecify —fields "phone,user number".

For csv output formats,mongoexport includes only the specified field(s), and thespecified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.

For JSON output formats, mongoexport includesonly the specified field(s) and the _id field, and if thespecified field(s) is a field within a sub-document, themongoexport includes the sub-document with allits fields, not just the specified field within the document.

See: Export Data in CSV Format using —fields option for sample usage.

  • —fieldFile=<filename>
  • An alternative to —fields. The—fieldFile option allows you tospecify in a file the field or fields to include in the export and isonly valid with the —type optionwith value csv. Thefile must have only one field per line, and the line(s) must end withthe LF character (0x0A).

mongoexport includes only the specified field(s). Thespecified field(s) can be a field within a sub-document.

See Use a File to Specify the Fields to Export in CSV Format for sample usage.

  • —query=<JSON>, -q=<JSON>
  • Provides a query as a JSON document (enclosed in quotes) toreturn matching documents in the export.

You must enclose the query document in single quotes ('{ … }') to ensure that it doesnot interact with your shell environment.

Starting in MongoDB 4.2, the query must be inExtended JSON v2 format (either relaxed or canonical/strictmode), including enclosing thefield names and operators in quotes:

For example, given a collection named records in the databasetest with the following documents:

  1. { "_id" : ObjectId("51f0188846a64a1ed98fde7c"), "a" : 1, "date" : ISODate("1960-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
  2. { "_id" : ObjectId("520e61b0c6646578e3661b59"), "a" : 1, "b" : 2, "date" : ISODate("1970-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
  3. { "_id" : ObjectId("520e642bb7fa4ea22d6b1871"), "a" : 2, "b" : 3, "c" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2010-05-01T00:00:00Z") }
  4. { "_id" : ObjectId("520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"), "a" : 3, "b" : 3, "c" : 6, "date" : ISODate("2015-05-02T00:00:00Z") }
  5. { "_id" : ObjectId("520e6445b7fa4ea22d6b1873"), "a" : 5, "b" : 6, "c" : 8, "date" : ISODate("2018-03-01T00:00:00Z") }
  6. { "_id" : ObjectId("5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"), "a" : 15, "b" : 5, "date" : ISODate("2015-03-01T00:00:00Z") }

The following mongoexport uses the -q optionto export only the documents with the field a greater than orequal to ($gte) to 3 and the field date less thanISODate("2016-01-01T00:00:00Z") (using the extended JSON v2format (relaxed mode) for dates { “$date”:“YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.mmm”}):

  1. mongoexport -d=test -c=records -q='{ "a": { "$gte": 3 }, "date": { "$lt": { "$date": "2016-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } } }' --out=exportdir/myRecords.json

The resulting file contains the following documents:

  1. {"_id":{"$oid":"520e6431b7fa4ea22d6b1872"},"a":3.0,"b":3.0,"c":6.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-05-02T00:00:00Z"}}
  2. {"_id":{"$oid":"5cd0de910dbce4346295ae28"},"a":15.0,"b":5.0,"date":{"$date":"2015-03-01T00:00:00Z"}}

You can sort the results with the —sort option tomongoexport.

  • —type=<string>
  • Default: json

New in version 3.0.

Specifies the file type to export. Specify csv for CSVformat or json for JSON format.

If you specify csv, then you must also use eitherthe —fields or the —fieldFile option todeclare the fields to export from the collection.

  • —out=<file>, -o=<file>
  • Specifies a file to write the export to. If you do not specify a filename, the mongoexport writes data to standard output(e.g. stdout).
  • —jsonFormat=<canonical|relaxed>
  • Default: relaxed

Modifies the output to use either canonical or relaxed mode of theMongoDB Extended JSON (v2) format.

For differences between canonical and relaxed modes, seeMongoDB Extended JSON (v2).

  • —jsonArray
  • Modifies the output of mongoexport to write theentire contents of the export as a single JSON array. Bydefault mongoexport writes data using one JSON documentfor every MongoDB document.
  • —pretty

New in version 3.0.0.

Outputs documents in a pretty-printed format JSON.

  • —noHeaderLine

New in version 3.4.

By default, mongoexport includes the exported field names as the firstline in a CSV output. —noHeaderLine directs mongoexport to export thedata without the list of field names.—noHeaderLine is only valid with the—type option with value csv.

See Exclude Field Names from CSV Output for sample usage.

  • —slaveOk, -k

Deprecated since version 3.2.

Sets the Read Preference to nearest,allowing mongoexport to read data from secondaryreplica set members.

—readPreference replaces —slaveOk in MongoDB 3.2. You cannotspecify —slaveOk when —readPreference is specified.

Warning

Using a read preference other thanprimary with a connection to a mongos may produceinconsistencies, duplicates, or result in missed documents.

  • —readPreference=<string|document>
  • Default: primary

Specifies the read preference formongoexport. The —readPreference option can take:

  • A string if specifying only the read preference mode:
  1. --readPreference=secondary
  1. --readPreference='{mode: "secondary", tagSets: [ { "region": "east" } ], maxStalenessSeconds: 120}'

If specifying the maxStalenessSeconds, the value must be greater than or equal to 90.

New in version 4.2.

mongoexport defaults to primaryread preference.

Starting in version 4.2, if the readpreference is also included in the —uri connection string, the command-line —readPreference overrides the read preferencespecified in the URI string.

Warning

Using a read preference other thanprimary with a connection to a mongos may produceinconsistencies, duplicates, or result in missed documents.

  • —forceTableScan

  • Forces mongoexport to scan the data store directly insteadof traversing the _id field index. Use —forceTableScan to skip theindex. Typically there are two cases where this behavior ispreferable to the default:

    • If you have key sizes over 800 bytes that would not be presentin the _id index.
    • Your database uses a custom _id field.When you run with —forceTableScan, mongoexport may return adocument more than once if a write operation interleaves with theoperation to cause the document to move.

Warning

Use —forceTableScan with extreme cautionand consideration.

  • —skip=<number>
  • Use —skip to control where mongoexport beginsexporting documents. See skip() for information aboutthe underlying operation.
  • —limit=<number>
  • Specifies a maximum number of documents to include in theexport. See limit() for information aboutthe underlying operation.
  • —sort=<JSON>
  • Specifies an ordering for exported results. If an index doesnot exist that can support the sort operation, the results mustbe less than 32 megabytes.

Use —sort conjunction with —skip and—limit to limit number of exported documents.

  1. mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --out=export.0.json
  2. mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=100 --out=export.1.json
  3. mongoexport -d=test -c=records --sort='{a: 1}' --limit=100 --skip=200 --out=export.2.json

See sort() for information about the underlyingoperation.

Examples

Export in CSV Format

Changed in version 3.0.0: mongoexport removed the —csv option. Use the—type=csv option to specify CSV formatfor the output.

Export Data in CSV Format using —fields option

In the following example, mongoexport exports data from thecollection contacts collection in the users database in CSVformat to the file /opt/backups/contacts.csv.

The mongod instance that mongoexport connects to isrunning on the localhost port number 27017.

When you export in CSV format, you must specify the fields in the documentsto export. The operation specifies the name and address fieldsto export.

  1. mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fields=name,address --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

The output would then resemble:

  1. name, address
  2. Sophie Monroe, 123 Example Road
  3. Charles Yu, 345 Sample Street

Use a File to Specify the Fields to Export in CSV Format

For CSV exports only, you can also specify the fields in a filecontaining the line-separated list of fields to export. The file musthave only one field per line.

For example, you can specify the name and address fields in afile fields.txt:

  1. name
  2. address

Then, using the —fieldFile option, specify the fields to export withthe file:

  1. mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fieldFile=fields.txt --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

Exclude Field Names from CSV Output

New in version 3.4.

MongoDB 3.4 added the —noHeaderLine option for excluding thefield names in a CSV export. The following example exports the nameand address fields in the contacts collection in the usersdatabase and uses —noHeaderLine to suppress the outputof the field names as the first line:

  1. mongoexport --db=users --collection=contacts --type=csv --fields=name,address --noHeaderLine --out=/opt/backups/contacts.csv

The CSV output would then resemble:

  1. Sophie Monroe, 123 Example Road
  2. Charles Yu, 345 Sample Street

Export in JSON Format

This example creates an export of the contacts collection from theMongoDB instance running on the localhost port number 27017. Thiswrites the export to the contacts.json file in JSON format.

  1. mongoexport --db=sales --collection=contacts --out=contacts.json

Export from Remote Host Running with Authentication

The following example exports the contacts collection in themarketing database from a remote MongoDB instance that requiresauthentication.

Specify the:

Tip

Omit the —password option tohave mongoexport prompt for the password:

  1. mongoexport --host=mongodb1.example.net --port=27017 --username=someUser --authenticationDatabase=admin --collection=contacts --db=marketing --out=mdb1-examplenet.json

Alternatively, you use the —uri option to specify the host, port, username, authentication database, and db.

Tip

Omit the password in the URI string to have mongoexport promptfor the password:

  1. mongoexport --uri='mongodb://someUser@mongodb0.example.com:27017/marketing?authsource=admin' --collection=contacts --out=mdb1-examplenet.json

Export Query Results

You can export only the results of a query by supplying a query filter withthe —query option, and limit the results to a singledatabase using the “—db” option.

For instance, this command returns all documents in the salesdatabase’s contacts collection that contain a field named deptequal to "ABC" and the field date greater than or equal toISODate(“2018-01-01”) (using the canonical format for dates{ “$date”: “YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.mmm<offset>”} )

  1. mongoexport --db=sales --collection=contacts --query='{"dept": "ABC", date: { $gte: { "$date": "2018-01-01T00:00:00.000Z" } }}'

You must enclose the query document in single quotes ('{ … }') to ensure that it doesnot interact with your shell environment.