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Use mongodump to create a BSON backup and mongorestore to load it. For a relatively small deployment (MongoDB Atlas defines this as under 300 GB) with an acceptable maintenance window, dump and restore is usually the simplest path. For a supported topology where downtime must be minimal, Atlas live migration is the preferred approach. Before either operation, verify topology, MongoDB and feature compatibility versions, credentials, network access, encryption, and a tested cutover plan.
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What each MongoDB backup and migration method does
MongoDB Database Tools run from your operating system. mongodump reads databases and writes a binary BSON dump. mongorestore loads that dump, an archive, or standard input into a mongod or mongos instance. They are not MongoDB Shell commands: open a terminal, PowerShell session, or other operating-system command line to run them.
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|---|---|---|---|
mongodump and mongorestore |
Relatively small self-managed deployments, including datasets under 300 GB when an extended application outage is acceptable | Stop writes for a consistent dump; a replica set can continue writes while using --oplog, then replay them with --oplogReplay |
Tool runtime and storage requirements grow with the dataset. Do not assume the replica-set oplog procedure applies to standalone deployments or every sharded topology. |
| Atlas live migration | A supported source topology when low downtime is the priority | Designed to keep the source serving applications while Atlas copies data and tracks changes; perform a controlled final cutover | Atlas documentation recommends this route when possible because it automates many tasks with the least downtime. Confirm that your source topology is supported. |
| Filesystem snapshots | Large deployments where storage-level performance and coordinated capture matter | Can provide a fast, coordinated image when taken according to MongoDB’s deployment requirements | Requires appropriate storage access and a design that preserves consistency, especially for sharded clusters. |
| Managed cloud backups | Resilient, scheduled protection for managed deployments and larger or sharded systems | Provider-managed scheduling and retention can reduce operational work | Atlas Free clusters do not include Atlas managed backups; Free-tier operators use tools such as mongodump and mongorestore. |
The “under 300 GB” figure is an Atlas migration recommendation, not a hard capacity limit for the tools. Dataset size, indexes, disk throughput, network bandwidth, write rate, and the outage you can tolerate determine whether dump and restore is practical.
Decide before you run a command
Inventory the source
- Topology: standalone server, replica set, or sharded cluster.
- MongoDB major version and feature compatibility version (FCV).
- Data volume, index volume, expected growth, and available space for the dump and restored copy.
- Encryption configuration, including whether collections use Queryable Encryption or client-side field-level encryption.
- Databases and collections that must be included, plus users, roles, validation rules, indexes, and application dependencies.
- Write rate and the longest outage the application can tolerate.
- Network route, firewall rules, TLS requirements, and destination connection policy.
Match the method to the risk
Choose dump and restore when a maintenance window is realistic and the source is small enough that copying and validating the data is operationally comfortable. Choose Atlas live migration for a supported topology when an extended outage is unacceptable. For a large or sharded deployment, evaluate filesystem snapshots or a managed backup service that can coordinate the entire deployment rather than treating each shard as an independent database.
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Plan the cutover
A migration is not complete when the destination contains documents. Define when the application will stop writing, how you will change connection strings, who can approve the switch, how you will verify representative queries, and how long the original system and backup will be retained for rollback. Even an online copy requires a controlled final cutover so that writes are not split between destinations.
Prepare tools, accounts and access
Install a compatible Database Tools release
Install the latest stable MongoDB Database Tools release appropriate for the operating system and deployment. The current mongorestore documentation page identifies Database Tools version 100.19.1. Keep the tools version-compatible with the MongoDB deployment; if your server is on an older major release, check the release compatibility guidance before choosing a newer tool.
Use least-privilege credentials
- The source account must be able to read every database and collection being dumped.
- A self-managed restore may use an account with the
restorerole, subject to the objects and options you are restoring. - For a restore into Atlas, the account must have the Atlas admin role required by the Atlas mongorestore procedure.
- Store credentials outside shell history where possible, and use the deployment’s required authentication source and TLS settings.
- Permit the source and destination network connections before starting. A valid username cannot compensate for a blocked route, firewall, or destination access policy.
Check encryption constraints
Record the source and destination encryption settings and key-management dependencies. The mongorestore tool cannot be used with collections that use Queryable Encryption or client-side field-level encryption according to the tool reference. Those collections require a migration method that supports their encryption model; do not begin a dump expecting the tool to restore them.
Back up a standalone server or replica set with mongodump
Option A: stop writes for the dump
Stopping application writes gives the simplest consistency boundary. Put the application in maintenance mode or otherwise prevent writes, then run a dump from an account that can read the required data:
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mongodump --uri="mongodb://USER:PASSWORD@HOST/?authSource=admin" --out="./mongo-dump"Replace the connection values with those for your deployment. The output directory contains BSON data and metadata that mongorestore can consume. Keep the dump on storage protected by the same access controls and encryption policy as the database.
Option B: continue replica-set writes with the oplog
If writes cannot stop and the source is a replica set, include the operation log:
mongodump --uri="mongodb://USER:PASSWORD@HOST/?replicaSet=NAME&authSource=admin" --oplog --out="./mongo-dump"The oplog records writes that occur while the dump runs. This option is a replica-set procedure; do not apply it automatically to a standalone server or assume it provides a transaction-consistent backup for every sharded topology. You still need a cutover pause later, because the destination must stop lagging before applications switch to it.
Protect and verify the dump
- Restrict filesystem permissions to the backup operators and the restore process.
- Encrypt the dump at rest and during transfer when required by your policy.
- Record the source host, MongoDB version, FCV, dump start and end times, and the exact command options.
- Check that expected database directories and BSON files exist and that the destination has enough free space.
- Perform a test restore into an isolated environment before relying on the dump for disaster recovery.
Restore a BSON dump with mongorestore
Restore to a self-managed MongoDB deployment
Start the destination at a compatible MongoDB major version and FCV. Then run mongorestore from the operating-system command line, not from MongoDB Shell:
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mongorestore --uri="mongodb://USER:PASSWORD@DESTINATION/?authSource=admin" "./mongo-dump"The tool loads the BSON dump into the destination. If the backup was created with mongodump --oplog, replay the captured operations after the data files are restored:
mongorestore --uri="mongodb://USER:PASSWORD@DESTINATION/?authSource=admin" --oplogReplay "./mongo-dump"Use --oplogReplay only with a dump that contains the appropriate replica-set oplog data. Replaying an unrelated or incomplete oplog does not make a restore consistent.
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Confirm that the destination cluster is running a compatible MongoDB major version and FCV, that your client can reach it, and that the restore account has the Atlas admin role required for mongorestore. Supply the Atlas connection string and the dump path using the same command-line pattern. Atlas Free clusters do not provide Atlas managed backups, so a Free-tier recovery plan relies on externally retained dumps and a tested restore procedure.
What a restore does not automatically solve
- Users and roles are not migrated by the Atlas seeding workflow; create destination identities and grant the required privileges before application cutover.
- Applications still point to the old connection string until you change configuration and deploy it.
- Indexes, validation rules, and representative query behavior must be checked on the destination rather than assumed from a successful command exit.
- Encryption keys and external key-management access must be available to the destination.
Move a database to Atlas with low downtime
Prefer live migration when the topology is supported
Atlas documentation recommends live migration when possible because it automates many tasks with the least amount of downtime. Use it when your source topology meets Atlas’s current support requirements and when the business cannot accept the extended outage associated with a large dump and restore.
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- Inventory the source topology, MongoDB version, FCV, data size, encryption, and write rate.
- Confirm Atlas connectivity and create the destination cluster at a compatible version and size.
- Configure the required network path and credentials so the migration service can read the source and write the destination.
- Start the live migration and monitor the initial copy and change synchronization.
- Prepare destination users, roles, secrets, indexes, validation behavior, and application configuration while synchronization continues.
- Schedule a short cutover window. Stop or quiesce application writes, wait for the destination to catch up, validate critical queries, and switch connection strings.
- Resume writes only on Atlas. Keep the source and the pre-migration backup until the recovery policy allows retirement.
Use dump and restore for an Atlas seed when downtime is acceptable
For a relatively small dataset (under 300 GB in the Atlas recommendation) and an application that can remain offline for an extended period, create a dump, restore it into Atlas, validate it, and then switch the application. Atlas migration documentation warns that writes issued after mongodump completes are not migrated by this seeding approach. Therefore, stop writes before the final dump or use a supported live-migration workflow instead.
Do not confuse mongoexport with a database backup
Atlas migration guidance limits mongoimport and mongoexport to small datasets for testing or development in the described workflow. They exchange collection data rather than preserving a complete database backup in the way mongodump and mongorestore do. They are not the default choice for a production migration that must retain database structure and metadata.
Version compatibility and feature compatibility version
A dump is not a promise that every destination version can accept it. Restore into a compatible MongoDB major version and verify FCV before loading data. A destination that is older than the source, or whose FCV cannot represent source features, can reject data or produce an unusable application environment.
- Record the source and destination major versions and FCV before the operation.
- Use a Database Tools release appropriate to those versions.
- Restore into a staging destination first and exercise indexes, validators, users, roles, transactions, and representative queries.
- Only upgrade or change FCV after confirming application and driver compatibility.
Sharded clusters require coordinated protection
A sharded deployment is more than several independent MongoDB servers. A dump taken from individual shards without a coordinated consistency boundary can produce a state in which related operations do not line up across shards. For sharded clusters, use a coordinated backup method that preserves transaction atomicity across shards, such as an appropriately designed filesystem snapshot or managed backup capability. If the selected migration workflow has explicit sharded-cluster support, follow that workflow rather than adapting the replica-set --oplog recipe.
Validate before and after cutover
Destination validation checklist
- Expected databases, collections, document counts, and sample documents are present.
- Required indexes exist and have the expected definitions.
- Validation rules, collection options, and time-series or capped-collection behavior match the source where applicable.
- Destination users and roles can authenticate and perform only their intended operations.
- Encryption and key-management integrations work from the destination environment.
- Representative reads, writes, aggregations, transactions, and background jobs succeed.
- Application connection strings, DNS, secrets, firewall rules, and TLS settings target the destination.
- Monitoring, alerting, backups, retention, and restore procedures are enabled for the destination.
Cutover sequence
- Announce the maintenance window and pause new application writes.
- For a live migration, wait until the destination reports that it has caught up; for a dump restore, complete the restore and any required oplog replay.
- Run the validation checklist against the destination.
- Change the application connection configuration and deploy or reload it.
- Confirm new writes appear only on the destination and monitor errors, latency, and replication health.
- Retain the source and backup according to the recovery policy before decommissioning anything.
Common failures and how to recover
Authentication or authorization errors
Confirm the authentication database, username, password handling, and required roles. The source needs read access; the destination needs restore privileges. For Atlas, verify the account has the Atlas admin role required by the procedure. Avoid solving a narrowly scoped failure by granting unrestricted access permanently.
Connection and network errors
Test DNS, routing, firewall rules, TLS certificates, and destination access policies from the machine running the tool. A restore cannot begin until that machine can establish the database connection.
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Compare source and destination major versions and FCV, then test with a staging restore. Queryable Encryption and client-side field-level encryption collections cannot be restored with mongorestore; use a compatible migration design for those collections.
Missing recent writes
With a plain dump, writes made after the dump’s consistency point are absent. Repeat the dump with writes stopped, use a replica-set dump with --oplog and restore with --oplogReplay where applicable, or choose Atlas live migration. In the Atlas seeding workflow, writes issued after mongodump completes are specifically not migrated.
Sharded data is inconsistent
Stop treating shard-level dumps as a single backup. Re-evaluate the procedure and use a coordinated backup that preserves cross-shard transaction atomicity.
The tool is unavailable in MongoDB Shell
Exit the shell and run mongodump or mongorestore in the operating system’s terminal. Installing the Database Tools separately is expected.
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Build a backup policy after the migration
A one-time dump protects only one point in time. Decide how often backups run, how long they are retained, where copies are stored, who can restore them, and how often a restore drill is performed. Keep at least one copy isolated from the production credentials and failure domain. For larger or sharded deployments, weigh the operational cost of tool-based dumps against coordinated filesystem snapshots or managed cloud backups. Revisit the plan whenever MongoDB versions, FCV, encryption, topology, or application write patterns change.
Quick Recap
Practical decision summary
- Choose
mongodumpandmongorestorefor a small, self-managed deployment when you can schedule downtime and have tested the restore. - On a replica set that must keep accepting writes during the dump, use
--oplogand restore with--oplogReplay, then perform a controlled cutover. - Choose Atlas live migration for a supported topology when minimizing downtime matters more than the simplicity of a maintenance-window restore.
- Use coordinated snapshots or managed backups for large or sharded systems where tool performance or cross-shard consistency is the primary concern.
- Regardless of method, verify permissions, network access, encryption, credentials, version compatibility, indexes, users, roles, and application behavior before switching production traffic.
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