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MongoDB Backup Shell Script for Linux (mongodump Automation)

· dinesh
mongodb backup shell script

Automate MongoDB backups on Linux with mongodump — gzip archives, dated folders, and retention cleanup for production NoSQL servers.

What this script does

  • Dumps one database or all with mongodump
  • Creates tar.gz archive with timestamp
  • Deletes backups older than retention days
  • Supports auth via MONGO_URI environment variable
  • Logs every run for monitoring integration

Prerequisites

  • MongoDB tools installed (mongodump)
  • Read access to target database
  • Backup directory writable

Step 1: Save the script

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/mongodb-backup.sh
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/mongodb-backup.sh

Step 2: Full script (scroll to read)

mongodb-backup.sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

MONGO_URI="${MONGO_URI:-mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017}"
DB_NAME="myapp"
BACKUP_DIR="/var/backups/mongodb"
RETENTION_DAYS=7
DATE=$(date +%F_%H-%M-%S)
LOG="/var/log/mongodb-backup.log"

log(){ echo "[$(date '+%F %T')] $*" | tee -a "$LOG"; }
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

if [[ "$DB_NAME" == "ALL" ]]; then
  OUT="${BACKUP_DIR}/all_${DATE}"
  log "Dumping all databases"
  mongodump --uri="$MONGO_URI" --out="$OUT"
else
  OUT="${BACKUP_DIR}/${DB_NAME}_${DATE}"
  log "Dumping database: $DB_NAME"
  mongodump --uri="$MONGO_URI" --db="$DB_NAME" --out="$OUT"
fi

ARCHIVE="${OUT}.tar.gz"
tar -czf "$ARCHIVE" -C "$(dirname "$OUT")" "$(basename "$OUT")"
rm -rf "$OUT"
log "Saved: $ARCHIVE ($(du -h "$ARCHIVE" | awk '{print $1}'))"

find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name '*.tar.gz' -mtime +"$RETENTION_DAYS" -delete
log "Backup completed"

Scroll inside the box to read the full script.

Step 3: Configure settings

  • MONGO_URI — e.g. mongodb://user:[email protected]:27017
  • DB_NAME — database name or ALL for every DB
  • BACKUP_DIR — destination path
  • RETENTION_DAYS — auto-delete old archives
MongoDB mongodump backup shell script Linux
MongoDB mongodump backup shell script Linux

Step 4: Test manually

mongodump --version
sudo /usr/local/bin/mongodb-backup.sh
ls -lah /var/backups/mongodb/

Schedule with cron

sudo crontab -e

Add:

0 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/mongodb-backup.sh >> /var/log/mongodb-backup.log 2>&1

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Terminal screenshot is an original illustration created for Gnome IT Solutions (blog.gnomeitsolutions.com).