mongo

legacy MongoDB shell

TLDR

Connect to local database

$ mongo

Connect to remote database

$ mongo [mongodb://host:27017/dbname]

Connect with authentication

$ mongo -u [user] -p [password] [dbname]

Execute JavaScript file

$ mongo [dbname] [script.js]

Evaluate expression

$ mongo --eval "[db.collection.find()]"

Connect with SSL

$ mongo --ssl --host [host]

SYNOPSIS

mongo [options] [dbaddress] [filenames]

mongo is the original interactive shell shipped with the MongoDB server up through release 4.4. It is a JavaScript REPL that connects to a mongod or mongos process via the MongoDB wire protocol and exposes the database as a tree of JavaScript objects: db, db.collection, and helper methods like find(), insertOne(), and aggregate().Connections accept a MongoDB URI (mongodb:// or mongodb+srv://) or individual flags such as --host, --port, -u / -p / --authenticationDatabase for authentication, and --tls / --ssl for encrypted transports. A trailing JavaScript file plus --eval lets the shell be used in scripts, returning the result of the last expression on stdout.Beyond the shell, mongo is widely used for administrative tasks: creating users, configuring replica sets, sharding, and inspecting server status with db.serverStatus().

PARAMETERS

DBADDRESS_

Database connection string.

-u USER

Username for authentication.

-p PASSWORD

Password for authentication.

--eval EXPR

Evaluate JavaScript expression.

--ssl

Use SSL connection.

--host HOST

Server hostname.

--help

Display help information.

CAVEATS

Deprecated and removed from official MongoDB distributions starting with MongoDB 6.0; new installations ship only mongosh, which speaks the same protocol but uses Node.js as its runtime and supports newer features such as advanced text formatting, snippets, and improved auto-completion. Some legacy administrative scripts still target mongo's specific JavaScript environment (SpiderMonkey) and may need minor changes to run under mongosh.

HISTORY

The mongo shell appeared with the very first public MongoDB releases in 2009. It was officially deprecated when mongosh entered general availability in MongoDB 5.0 (July 2021) and was dropped from MongoDB Server 6.0 packages in 2022.