Deploy Self-Managed Replica Set With Keyfile Authentication

Create a keyfile.

With keyfile authentication, each mongod instances in the replica set uses the contents of the keyfile as the shared password for authenticating other members in the deployment. Only mongod instances with the correct keyfile can join the replica set.

A key's length must be between 6 and 1024 characters and may only contain characters in the base64 set. All members of the replica set must share at least one common key.

You can generate a keyfile using any method you choose. For example, the following operation uses openssl to generate a complex pseudo-random 1024 character string to use as a shared password. It then uses chmod to change file permissions to provide read permissions for the file owner only:

openssl rand -base64 756 > <path-to-keyfile>
chmod 400 <path-to-keyfile>

See Keyfiles for additional details and requirements for using keyfiles.

Copy the keyfile to each replica set member.

Copy the keyfile to each server hosting the replica set members. Ensure that the user running the mongod instances is the owner of the file and can access the keyfile.

Avoid storing the keyfile on storage mediums that can be easily disconnected from the hardware hosting the mongod instances, such as a USB drive or a network attached storage device.

Start each member of the replica set with access control enabled.

For each member in the replica set, start the mongod with either the security.keyFile configuration file setting or the --keyFile command-line option. Running mongod with the --keyFile command-line option or the security.keyFile configuration file setting enforces both Self-Managed Internal/Membership Authentication and Role-Based Access Control in Self-Managed Deployments.

security:
  keyFile: <path-to-keyfile>
replication:
  replSetName: <replicaSetName>
net:
   bindIp: localhost,<hostname(s)|ip address(es)>

Start the mongod using the configuration file:

mongod --config <path-to-config-file>

For more information on the configuration file, see configuration options.

mongod --keyFile <path-to-keyfile> --replSet <replicaSetName> --bind_ip localhost,<hostname(s)|ip address(es)>

Connect to a member of the replica set over the localhost interface.

Connect mongosh to one of the mongod instances over the localhost interface. You must run mongosh on the same physical machine as the mongod instance.

The localhost interface is only available since no users have been created for the deployment. The localhost interface closes after the creation of the first user.

Initiate the replica set.

From mongosh, run the rs.initiate() method.

rs.initiate() can take an optional replica set configuration document. In the replica set configuration document, include:

• The _id field set to the replica set name specified in either the replication.replSetName or the --replSet option.

• The members array with a document per each member of the replica set.

The following example initates a three member replica set.

rs.initiate(
  {
    _id : "myReplSet",
    members: [
      { _id : 0, host : "mongo1.example.net:27017" },
      { _id : 1, host : "mongo2.example.net:27017" },
      { _id : 2, host : "mongo3.example.net:27017" }
    ]
  }
)

rs.initiate() triggers an election and elects one of the members to be the primary.

Connect to the primary before continuing. Use rs.status() to locate the primary member.

Create the user administrator.

Add a user using the db.createUser() method. The user should have at minimum the userAdminAnyDatabase role on the admin database.

You must be connected to the primary to create users.

The following example creates the user fred with the userAdminAnyDatabase role on the admin database.

admin = db.getSiblingDB("admin")
admin.createUser(
  {
    user: "fred",
    pwd: passwordPrompt(), // or cleartext password
    roles: [ { role: "userAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" } ]
  }
)

Enter the password when prompted. See Database User Roles for a full list of built-in roles related to database administration operations.

Authenticate as the user administrator.

Authenticate to the admin database.

In mongosh, use db.auth() to authenticate. For example, the following authenticate as the user administrator fred:

db.getSiblingDB("admin").auth("fred", passwordPrompt()) // or cleartext password

Alternatively, connect a new mongosh instance to the primary replica set member using the -u <username>, -p <password>, and the --authenticationDatabase parameters.

mongosh -u "fred" -p  --authenticationDatabase "admin"

If you do not specify the password to the -p command-line option, mongosh prompts for the password.

Create the cluster administrator.

The clusterAdmin role grants access to replication operations, such as configuring the replica set.

Create a cluster administrator user and assign the clusterAdmin role in the admin database:

db.getSiblingDB("admin").createUser(
  {
    "user" : "ravi",
    "pwd" : passwordPrompt(),     // or cleartext password
    roles: [ { "role" : "clusterAdmin", "db" : "admin" } ]
  }
)

Enter the password when prompted.

See Cluster Administration Roles for a full list of built-in roles related to replica set and sharded cluster operations.

Create additional users (Optional).

Create users to allow clients to connect and interact with the replica set. See Database User Roles for basic built-in roles to use in creating read-only and read-write users.

You may also want additional administrative users. For more information on users, see Users in Self-Managed Deployments.