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Configure External MongoDB

Appsmith relies on MongoDB, PostgreSQL and Redis. It uses MongoDB for most data storage. By default in a single server deployment, it runs an embeded instance of each within the container. You can also switch to an external MongoDB instance to enable better performance, scalability, and reliability. This page provides steps on how to set up an external MongoDB instance and how to connect it to your Appsmith instance.

Prerequisites​

Before configuring an external MongoDB instance for your Appsmith application, ensure the following:

  • This guide applies only to self-hosted Appsmith instances. If not already installed, refer to the installation guides.
  • Ensure at least 2 GB of free storage space is available on your server to manage backups and configurations.

Create MongoDB instance (optional)​

Follow these steps to set up an external MongoDB instance for Appsmith. If you already have a MongoDB instance, skip this step and move to Verify external MongoDB permissions.

  1. From Appsmith v1.9.0 onwards, MongoDB version 5.0 or later is required. Create a MongoDB instance using one of the following options:


    Attention

    If you're using an existing MongoDB instance with a version earlier than 5.0, refer to the MongoDB 5.0 upgrade guide to upgrade.

  2. Log in to your MongoDB instance as an admin user.

  3. Run the following command to set up the replica set:

    rs.initiate()

  4. Retrieve the connection string for your MongoDB instance. For example:

    mongodb+srv://{username}:{password}@{mongo.host.name}/{db_name}

    Store this connection string securely. You need this to configure the MongoDB instance on Appsmith.

Verify external MongoDB permissions​

Ensure the user Appsmith uses to connect to the database has the necessary permissions:

  • For a new user: Create a new user and assign the following roles:

    • readWrite
    • clusterMonitor

  • For an existing user: Check if the user already has the required roles. If not, update the user to assign the following roles:

    • readWrite
    • clusterMonitor

Restore MongoDB data​

Follow these steps to migrate the data from the old MongoDB instance to the new instance:

  1. Take a backup of your existing MongoDB instance. For detailed steps, see the Backup database guide.
  2. Restore the backup to your new MongoDB instance. For detailed steps, see the Restore database backup guide.

Connect Appsmith to external MongoDB​

Follow these steps to connect the Appsmith instance to the external MongoDB instance:

  1. Go to the directory containing the Appsmith configuration file, such as docker.env for Docker or values.yaml for Kubernetes.

  2. Set the APPSMITH_DB_URL environment variable with the following format. If your {username} or {password} contains special characters, encode them before adding it to the environment variable. For more information, see Encode special characters to URL-encoded format.

    APPSMITH_DB_URL=mongodb+srv://{username}:{password}@{mongo.host.name}/{db_name}

    Replace the placeholders with the actual values:

    • {username}: The username for your MongoDB database.
    • {password}: The corresponding password for the specified username.
    • {mongo.host.name}: The hostname or IP address of your MongoDB server.
    • {db_name}: The name of your database within MongoDB. This is the database you want to connect to.

  3. Update the Appsmith server configuration to establish a connection with the external MongoDB database. This ensures that Appsmith starts using the configured MongoDB instance for all database operations.

    • Docker:

      docker-compose down && docker-compose up -d

    • Kubernetes:

      helm upgrade -i appsmith-ee appsmith-ee/appsmith -n appsmith-ee -f values.yaml

  4. Log in to your Appsmith application and check if the instance is functioning as expected.

  5. Verify that the data is stored in the external MongoDB instance.

Troubleshooting​

If you face connection issues:

  • Ensure your MongoDB instance is accessible from the Appsmith server.
  • Verify the user credentials used for setting up the connection.
  • Ensure the roles are accurately configured.

If you continue facing issues, contact support using the chat widget available in the bottom-right corner of this page.

See also​