How to Use MongoDB CLI

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The MongoDB command line interface (CLI) allows you to interact with MongoDB databases from a terminal or command prompt, without using a GUI application. For many tasks, the CLI can be faster and more convenient than a graphical tool. This guide covers the basics of using MongoDB shell.

Installing the MongoDB CLI

To install the CLI shell on your system:

  1. Navigate to the MongoDB downloads page and select the appropriate package for your operating system. Generally this will be mongosh for modern systems.
  2. Extract the archive file to your desired location. For example C:\Program Files on Windows or /usr/local/bin on Linux/macOS.
  3. Add the binary path to your system path to access it globally: 
 # Linux/macOS
 export PATH=~/path/to/mongosh-1.6.1-linux-x64/bin:$PATH 

 # Windows Powershell
 $env:Path += ";C:\Path\To\mongosh-1.6.1-win32-x64\bin"
  1. Verify installation with mongosh --version

Connecting to MongoDB

To connect to the default MongoDB server running on localhost port 27017:

mongosh

To connect to a MongoDB database hosted elsewhere, provide a connection string using the --host option:

mongosh --host "mongodb+srv://user:[email protected]/test"

Basic CLI Commands

  • show dbs – Show database names
  • use mydb – Switch current database to mydb
  • show collections – Show collections in current database
  • db.mycoll.insert({...}) – Insert a document into mycoll collection
  • db.mycoll.find() – Display documents in mycoll collection
  • db.mycoll.update(...) – Update documents in mycoll
  • db.mycoll.remove(...) – Delete matching documents

Querying Data

The .find() method supports rich querying over documents using operators like:

  • Comparison ($eq, $gt, $lt, etc.)
  • Logical ($and, $or, $not)
  • Element ($exists, $type)
  • Evaluation ($expr, $jsonSchema)

For example, getting all documents where age is greater than 18:

db.users.find({age: { $gt: 18}})

Indexes

Indexes can greatly improve query performance. To create an index on the name field:

db.users.createIndex({name: 1})

Analyze a query explains to review index usage:

db.users.find({age: 20}).explain()

Import/Export

The mongodump and mongorestore utilities can import/export data between MongoDB databases and files.

Export a collection to JSON files:

mongodump --db test --collection mycoll

Import data from BSON files:

mongorestore --db newdb --collection imported dump/test/mycoll.bson

Admin Commands

Admin commands provide insight into database operations:

  • db.stats() – Get storage statistics
  • db.serverStatus() – Get server overview
  • show users – Show user accounts
  • show profiles – Show most recent operations

Best Practices

  • Format outputs using .pretty() for enhanced readability
  • Test queries on small result sets before running on full collections
  • Explore JS capabilities of the shell like variables and control flow

Hopefully this overview gives you a taste of how powerful the MongoDB CLI can be! Let me know if you have any other questions.

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