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GridFS for Self-Managed Deployments

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  • When to Use GridFS
  • Use GridFS
  • GridFS Collections
  • GridFS Indexes
  • Sharding GridFS

GridFS is a specification for storing and retrieving files that exceed the BSON-document size limit of 16 MB.

Note

GridFS does not support multi-document transactions.

Instead of storing a file in a single document, GridFS divides the file into parts, or chunks [1], and stores each chunk as a separate document. By default, GridFS uses a default chunk size of 255 kB; that is, GridFS divides a file into chunks of 255 kB with the exception of the last chunk. The last chunk is only as large as necessary. Similarly, files that are no larger than the chunk size only have a final chunk, using only as much space as needed plus some additional metadata.

GridFS uses two collections to store files. One collection stores the file chunks, and the other stores file metadata. The section GridFS Collections describes each collection in detail.

When you query GridFS for a file, the driver will reassemble the chunks as needed. You can perform range queries on files stored through GridFS. You can also access information from arbitrary sections of files, such as to "skip" to the middle of a video or audio file.

GridFS is useful not only for storing files that exceed 16 MB but also for storing any files for which you want access without having to load the entire file into memory. See also When to Use GridFS.

When to Use GridFS

In MongoDB, use GridFS for storing files larger than 16 MB.

In some situations, storing large files may be more efficient in a MongoDB database than on a system-level filesystem.

Do not use GridFS if you need to update the content of the entire file atomically. As an alternative you can store multiple versions of each file and specify the current version of the file in the metadata. You can update the metadata field that indicates "latest" status in an atomic update after uploading the new version of the file, and later remove previous versions if needed.

Furthermore, if your files are all smaller than the 16 MB BSON Document Size limit, consider storing each file in a single document instead of using GridFS. You may use the BinData data type to store the binary data. See your drivers documentation for details on using BinData.

Use GridFS

To store and retrieve files using GridFS, use either of the following:

  • A MongoDB driver. See the drivers documentation for information on using GridFS with your driver.

  • The mongofiles command-line tool. See the mongofiles reference for documentation.

GridFS Collections

GridFS stores files in two collections:

GridFS places the collections in a common bucket by prefixing each with the bucket name. By default, GridFS uses two collections with a bucket named fs:

  • fs.files

  • fs.chunks

You can choose a different bucket name, as well as create multiple buckets in a single database. The full collection name, which includes the bucket name, is subject to the namespace length limit.

The chunks Collection

Each document in the chunks [1] collection represents a distinct chunk of a file as represented in GridFS. Documents in this collection have the following form:

{
  "_id" : <ObjectId>,
  "files_id" : <ObjectId>,
  "n" : <num>,
  "data" : <binary>
}

A document from the chunks collection contains the following fields:

chunks._id

The unique ObjectId of the chunk.

chunks.files_id

The _id of the "parent" document, as specified in the files collection.

chunks.n

The sequence number of the chunk. GridFS numbers all chunks, starting with 0.

chunks.data

The chunk's payload as a BSON Binary type.

The files Collection

Each document in the files collection represents a file in GridFS.

{
  "_id" : <ObjectId>,
  "length" : <num>,
  "chunkSize" : <num>,
  "uploadDate" : <timestamp>,
  "md5" : <hash>,
  "filename" : <string>,
  "contentType" : <string>,
  "aliases" : <string array>,
  "metadata" : <any>,
}

Documents in the files collection contain some or all of the following fields:

files._id

The unique identifier for this document. The _id is of the data type you chose for the original document. The default type for MongoDB documents is BSON ObjectId.

files.length

The size of the document in bytes.

files.chunkSize

The size of each chunk in bytes. GridFS divides the document into chunks of size chunkSize, except for the last, which is only as large as needed. The default size is 255 kilobytes (kB).

files.uploadDate

The date the document was first stored by GridFS. This value has the Date type.

files.md5

Deprecated

The MD5 algorithm is prohibited by FIPS 140-2. MongoDB drivers deprecate MD5 support and will remove MD5 generation in future releases. Applications that require a file digest should implement it outside of GridFS and store in files.metadata.

An MD5 hash of the complete file returned by the filemd5 command. This value has the String type.

files.filename

Optional. A human-readable name for the GridFS file.

files.contentType

Deprecated

Optional. A valid MIME type for the GridFS file. For application use only.

Use files.metadata for storing information related to the MIME type of the GridFS file.

files.aliases

Deprecated

Optional. An array of alias strings. For application use only.

Use files.metadata for storing information related to the MIME type of the GridFS file.

files.metadata

Optional. The metadata field may be of any data type and can hold any additional information you want to store. If you wish to add additional arbitrary fields to documents in the files collection, add them to an object in the metadata field.

GridFS Indexes

GridFS uses indexes on each of the chunks and files collections for efficiency. Drivers that conform to the GridFS specification automatically create these indexes for convenience. You can also create any additional indexes as desired to suit your application's needs.

The chunks Index

GridFS uses a unique, compound index on the chunks collection using the files_id and n fields. This allows for efficient retrieval of chunks, as demonstrated in the following example:

db.fs.chunks.find( { files_id: myFileID } ).sort( { n: 1 } )

Drivers that conform to the GridFS specification will automatically ensure that this index exists before read and write operations. See the relevant driver documentation for the specific behavior of your GridFS application.

If this index does not exist, you can issue the following operation to create it using mongosh:

db.fs.chunks.createIndex( { files_id: 1, n: 1 }, { unique: true } );

The files Index

GridFS uses an index on the files collection using the filename and uploadDate fields. This index allows for efficient retrieval of files, as shown in this example:

db.fs.files.find( { filename: myFileName } ).sort( { uploadDate: 1 } )

Drivers that conform to the GridFS specification will automatically ensure that this index exists before read and write operations. See the relevant driver documentation for the specific behavior of your GridFS application.

If this index does not exist, you can issue the following operation to create it using mongosh:

db.fs.files.createIndex( { filename: 1, uploadDate: 1 } );
[1](1, 2) The use of the term chunks in the context of GridFS is not related to the use of the term chunks in the context of sharding.

Sharding GridFS

There are two collections to consider with GridFS - files and chunks.

chunks Collection

To shard the chunks collection, use either { files_id : 1, n : 1 } or { files_id : 1 } as the shard key index. files_id is an ObjectId and changes monotonically.

For MongoDB drivers that do not run filemd5 to verify successful upload, you can use Hashed Sharding for the chunks collection.

If the MongoDB driver runs filemd5, you cannot use Hashed Sharding. For details, see SERVER-9888.

files Collection

The files collection is small and only contains metadata. None of the required keys for GridFS lend themselves to an even distribution in a sharded environment. Leaving files unsharded allows all the file metadata documents to live on one shard.

If you must shard the files collection, use the _id field, possibly in combination with an application field.

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