mongobak

Simple, reliable MongoDB backup tool written in Go.

mongobak allows you to export MongoDB databases and collections into JSON (Extended JSON) files, suitable for archiving, inspection, or re-import.

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Features

• MongoDB connection testing
• List databases and collections
• JSON backups using MongoDB Extended JSON
• One file per collection or single merged output
• Collection exclusion support
• Cross-platform single binary (Linux, macOS, Windows)

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Installation

Download a prebuilt binary from the GitHub releases page: https://github.com/automation3000/mongobak/releases

Example (Linux):

curl -L https://github.com/automation3000/mongobak/releases/latest/download/mongobak-linux-amd64 \
  -o mongobak
chmod +x mongobak

Usage

Connect to MongoDB Test the connection and store configuration locally:

mongobak connect \
  --uri "mongodb://localhost:27017" \
  --db mydatabase

Configuration is stored in:

Linux/macOS: ~/.config/mongobak/config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\mongobak\config.json

List databases and collections

mongobak list

List collections from a specific database:

mongobak list --db otherdb

Backup database

Backup all collections into a directory (one file per collection):

mongobak backup --output ./backups

Exclude specific collections:

mongobak backup \
  --exclude logs,tmp \
  --output ./backups

Create a single merged output file (JSON Lines):

mongobak backup --output ./backup.jsonl

Output format

Files are written in MongoDB Extended JSON

One document per line (JSONL)

Compatible with mongoimport

Preserves ObjectId, Date, and other BSON types

Example:

{"_id":{"$oid":"64f1c2..."},"name":"example","createdAt":{"$date":"2025-01-01T12:00:00Z"}}

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Build from source

Requirements:

Go 1.22+

git clone https://github.com/automation3000/mongobak.git
cd mongobak
go mod tidy
go build -o mongobak

Versioning

mongobak follows semantic versioning.

Releases are automatically built and published on GitHub when a version tag is pushed:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

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Checksums

Each release includes a checksums.txt file containing SHA-256 hashes for all published binaries.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.