MongoDB (Sharded Cluster)

Learn how to add MongoDB (Sharded Cluster) as a resource in StrongDM.

Overview

This guide describes how to add a MongoDB (Replica Set) database as a datasource in StrongDM.

When the resource is added, StrongDM proxies client connections through a node (gateway, relay, or proxy cluster). This enables centralized access control, credential management, and audit logging. StrongDM supports MongoDB version 8 and under.

StrongDM supports two authentication modes for this resource type:

• Username/password authentication, using credentials stored in StrongDM or a Secret Store

• AWS IAM authentication, which uses the AWS identity of the StrongDM node (proxy worker, gateway, relay) instead of static credentials

StrongDM selects the authentication mode based on the resource configuration. If the AWS Region property is set, StrongDM authenticates with AWS IAM using the node's AWS identity, even if credentials are also configured. If AWS Region is blank, StrongDM authenticates with the configured username and password. If none of these properties are set, StrongDM will attempt to connect un-authenticated. To use IAM authentication, see Set up IAM Authentication.

Use this guide to complete all necessary preparations to add this resource to your StrongDM environment; input the correct properties in the Admin UI, CLI, SDKs, or Terraform provider; and test for a successful connection.

For general information about how to add a database as a resource in StrongDM, see our main guide, Add a Datasource.

Supported Versions and Clients

StrongDM supports MongoDB versions 4.4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Clients supported include:

• Standard MongoDB drivers and libraries (for example, the official MongoDB client for Node.js, Python, Java, and so forth)

• Tools like mongo shell or GUI clients that support MongoDB replica set connection strings

Prerequisites

To add your resource in StrongDM, you need to meet several technical and configuration prerequisites. Please ensure that the following requirements are met.

In StrongDM, you must have the following:

• Administrator permission level

• At least one operational StrongDM node (gateway, relay, or proxy cluster) hat can reach the MongoDB sharded cluster mongos endpoint and port

• If using secrets management tools for storing your database credentials, a Secret Store configured in StrongDM

To verify that the resource is accessible by the node, log in to the gateway or relay and use Netcat: nc -zv <HOSTNAME> <PORT> (in this example, nc -zv testdb-01.fancy.org 3306). If your gateway server can connect to this hostname, proceed.

Netcat is a tool for checking various hostnames and ports by either sending data (a ping) or checking for listeners on the ports. The command in the aforementioned example use "-z" to check for listeners without sending data and "-v" to show verbose output. If you don't have Netcat, you can install the Netcat package with whatever package manager you are using, such as "apt-get install netcat".

On the MongoDB side, you must have the following:

• Sharded cluster properly configured with mongos routers acting as query routers

• Authentication database and a user account with the necessary privileges in that database (username/password)

• TLS/SSL enabled if your deployment requires encrypted connections and StrongDM is configured to require TLS

• Network accessibility: firewalls, VPC, or other security settings must allow StrongDM nodes to connect to the mongos host/port

If using AWS IAM authentication, you must also have the following:

• MongoDB deployment that supports the MONGODB-AWS authentication mechanism, such as MongoDB Atlas (MongoDB 4.4 or later)

• StrongDM node running on AWS compute (for example, an EC2 instance) with an IAM role attached, or otherwise running with an AWS workload identity.

• MongoDB database user defined in the $external database whose username is the ARN of that IAM role

Set up IAM Authentication

With AWS IAM authentication, the StrongDM node authenticates to MongoDB using its own AWS identity, so neither your users nor StrongDM stores static database credentials. Some setup is required in AWS and in MongoDB before adding the resource.

Attach an IAM role to the node

Take this example where the StrongDM node is running in an AWS EC2 instance. Define the IAM role you wish to use, with a trust policy that allows EC2 to assume the role, as in the following example:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Service": "ec2.amazonaws.com"
      },
      "Action": "sts:AssumeRole"
    }
  ]
}

Attach this role to the EC2 instance(s) running your StrongDM node. Every node that can proxy connections to this resource needs the role attached.

The IAM role does not need any permission policies for MongoDB authentication itself. MongoDB verifies the node's identity with AWS STS; access is controlled by the database user you map to the role in the next step. Follow the principle of least privilege and attach only the policies your node otherwise requires.

Map the IAM role to a MongoDB user

Create a database user in the $external database whose username is the ARN of the IAM role, and grant it the database roles your users need. For example, in mongosh:

use $external
db.createUser({
  user: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/StrongDMGatewayRole",
  roles: [{ role: "readWrite", db: "myDatabase" }]
})

If you use MongoDB Atlas, instead add a database user with the AWS IAM authentication method and the IAM role ARN as the identity. See the MongoDB AWS IAM authentication documentation for details.

Configure the resource for IAM

When you add the resource in StrongDM, set the AWS Region property to the region of the resource (for example, us-west-2) and leave Username and Password blank. Setting AWS Region is what enables IAM authentication for the resource.

If AWS Region is set, StrongDM uses IAM authentication even if a username and password are also configured. If neither AWS Region nor credentials are configured, StrongDM connects to the database without authenticating. There is no save-time validation of these combinations; a misconfigured resource (for example, a region set with no matching $external user) appears as an unhealthy datasource, and details are available on its Diagnostics tab.

Resource Management in StrongDM

After all prerequisites and prep work is done, you are ready to add the resource to StrongDM. This section provides instructions for adding the resource in either the StrongDM Admin UI, CLI, Terraform provider, or SDKs.

Admin UI

Set up and Manage With the Admin UI

If using the Admin UI to add MongoDB (sharded cluster) as a resource to StrongDM, use the following steps.

1. Log in to the StrongDM Admin UI.

2. Go to Resources > Managed Resources.

3. Click Add Resource.

4. For Resource Type, select MongoDB (sharded cluster).

5. Complete all required configuration properties for your selected datasource type.

6. Click Create to save the resource.

7. Click the resource name to view status, diagnostic information, and setting details.

CLI

Set up and Manage With the CLI

This section provides an example of how to add the resource using the StrongDM CLI. For more information and examples, please see the CLI Reference documentation.

# Add MongoDB (Sharded Cluster) datasource with username/password authentication
sdm admin datasources add mongodb-sharded mongo-shard-prod
  --hostname="mongo-shard-router.example.org"
  --authentication-database="admin"
  --username="mongo_user"
  --password="secret"
  --tls-required
  --bind-interface="127.0.0.1"
  --egress-filter="tag:env=prod"
  --port-override="10002"
  --proxy-cluster-id="n-1a2b345c67890123"
  --secret-store-id="se-e1b2"
  --subdomain="mongo-shard-prod"
  --tags="env=production,team=backend"

# Add MongoDB (Sharded Cluster) datasource with IAM authentication
sdm admin datasources add mongodb-sharded mongo-shard-prod
  --hostname="mongo-shard-router.example.org"
  --authentication-database="admin"
  --region="us-west-2"
  --tls-required
  --bind-interface="127.0.0.1"
  --egress-filter="tag:env=prod"
  --port-override="10002"
  --proxy-cluster-id="n-1a2b345c67890123"
  --secret-store-id="se-e1b2"
  --subdomain="mongo-shard-prod"
  --tags="env=production,team=backend"

Terraform

Set up and Manage With Terraform

This section provides an example of how to configure and manage the resource using the Terraform provider. For more information and examples, please see the Terraform provider documentation.

# Install StrongDM provider
terraform {
  required_providers {
    sdm = {
      source  = "strongdm/sdm"
      version = "16.5.0"
    }
  }
}

# Configure StrongDM provider
provider "sdm" {
  # Add API access key and secret key from Admin UI
  api_access_key = "njjSn...5hM"
  api_secret_key = "ziG...="
}

# Create MongoDB (Replica Set) resource with username/password authentication
resource "sdm_mongodb_sharded_cluster" "mongo_shard_prod" {
  name                    = "mongo-shard-prod"
  hostname                = "mongo-shard-router.example.org"
  authentication_database = "admin"
  username                = "mongo_user"
  password                = "secret"
  tls_required            = true

  bind_interface          = "127.0.0.1"
  egress_filter           = "tag:env=prod"
  port_override           = 10002
  proxy_cluster_id        = "n-1a2b345c67890123"

  secret_store_id         = "se-e1b2"
  subdomain               = "mongo-shard-prod"
  tags = {
    env   = "production"
    team  = "backend"
  }
}

# Create MongoDB (Replica Set) resource with IAM authentication
# Set region and omit username and password
resource "sdm_mongodb_sharded_cluster" "mongo_shard_prod" {
  name                    = "mongo-shard-prod"
  hostname                = "mongo-shard-router.example.org"
  authentication_database = "admin"
  region                  = "us-west-2"
  tls_required            = true

  bind_interface          = "127.0.0.1"
  egress_filter           = "tag:env=prod"
  port_override           = 10002
  proxy_cluster_id        = "n-1a2b345c67890123"

  secret_store_id         = "se-e1b2"
  subdomain               = "mongo-shard-prod"
  tags = {
    env   = "production"
    team  = "backend"
  }
}

SDKs

Set up and manage with SDKs

In addition to the Admin UI, CLI, and Terraform, you may configure and manage your resource with any of the following SDK options: Go, Java, Python, and Ruby. Please see the following references for more information and examples.

Language	Reference	GitHub	Examples
Go	pkg.go.dev	strongdm-sdk-go	Go SDK Examples
Java	javadoc	strongdm-sdk-java	Java SDK Examples
Python	pdocs	strongdm-sdk-python	Python SDK Examples
Ruby	RubyDoc	strongdm-sdk-ruby	Ruby SDK Examples

Configuration Properties

The following configuration properties are required to define a MongoDB (sharded cluster) datasource in StrongDM. These settings control how StrongDM connects to the database, authenticates the connection, and optionally uses encryption or secret management. Each property must be correctly configured to ensure connectivity and access enforcement through StrongDM.

Property	Requirement	Description
Display Name	Required	Meaningful name to display the resource throughout StrongDM; exclude special characters like quotes (") or angle brackets (< or >)
Resource Type	Required	MongoDB (sharded cluster)
Proxy Cluster	Required	Defaults to "None (use gateways)"; if using proxy clusters, select the appropriate cluster to proxy traffic to this resource
Hostname	Required	Hostname for your MongoDB database resource; must be accessible to a gateway or relay
Connectivity Mode	Required	Select either Virtual Networking Mode, which lets users connect to the resource with a software-defined, IP-based network; or Loopback Mode, which allows users to connect to the resource using the local loopback adapter in their operating system; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode enabled for your organization
IP Address	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Virtual Networking Mode subnet in the organization network settings; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, an IP address value in the configured Loopback IP range in the organization network settings (by default, 127.0.0.1); if not specified, an available IP address in the configured IP address space for the selected connectivity mode will be automatically assigned; this field is shown if Virtual Networking Mode and/or multi-loopback mode is enabled for your organization
Port Override	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1 and 65535 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; if Loopback Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a port value between 1024 to 64999 that is not already in use by another resource with the same IP address; when left empty with Virtual Networking Mode, the system assigns the default port to this resource; when left empty for Loopback Mode, an available port that is not already in use by another resource is assigned; preferred port also can be modified later from the Port Overrides settings
DNS	Optional	If Virtual Networking Mode is the selected connectivity mode, a unique hostname alias for this resource; when set, causes the desktop app to display this resource's human-readable DNS name (for example, k8s.my-organization-name) instead of the bind address that includes IP address and port (for example, 100.64.100.100:5432)
AWS Region	Optional	Set if using IAM authentication; AWS region of the resource (for example, us-west-2); set to authenticate with AWS IAM using the node's identity, and leave Username and Password blank; when AWS Region is set, StrongDM uses IAM authentication even if credentials are also configured; see Set up IAM Authentication
Authentication Database	Required	Enter the name of the authentication database (that is, the database that MongoDB users authenticate against, not the database to which you are granting access); in this example, the authentication database is sdmdb, while the MongoDB default database is admin
Secret Store	Optional	Credential store location; defaults to none (credentials are stored in StrongDM resource configuration); learn more about Secret Store options
Username	Optional	Username to utilize when connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the secret store; Required for username/password authentication
Password	Optional	Password for the user connecting to this datasource; displays when Secret Store integration is not configured for your organization or when StrongDM serves as the secret store; Required for username/password authentication
Username (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type for username/password authentication
Password (path)	Required	Path to the secret in your Secret Store location (for example, path/to/credential?key=optionalKeyName where key argument is optional); required when using a non-StrongDM Secret Store type for username/password authentication
TLS Required	Optional	Indicator to require StrongDM to use TLS to connect to the database
Resource Tags	Optional	Datasource Tags consisting of key-value pairs <KEY>=<VALUE> (for example, env=dev)

Secret Store options

By default, datasource credentials are stored in StrongDM. However, these credentials can also be saved in a secrets management tool.

Non-StrongDM options appear in the Secret Store dropdown if they are created under Network > Secret Stores. When you select another Secret Store type, its unique properties display. For more details, see Configure Secret Store Integrations.

Resource status

After a resource is created, the Admin UI displays that resource as unhealthy until the healthchecks run successfully. When the resource is ready, the Health icon indicates a positive, green status.

When the resource does not display a positive status, click the resource name to go to the Diagnostics tab and check for errors.

Client Connections

Due to the way MongoDB manages sharded clusters, to access a sharded instance, you will need to let MongoDB know that the connection is through a load balancer by setting the loadBalanced=true parameter in the connection string when connecting to the proxied instance in the shell.

mongosh "mongodb://127.0.0.1:10002/admin?loadBalanced=true"

Test the Connection

After you have added your resource in StrongDM, follow these steps to verify that it’s working correctly.

1. Assign yourself access by ensuring that your user or role has access to the resource. In the StrongDM Admin UI, go to Access > Roles, and verify that the resource is attached to a role you’re in.

2. In the CLI, run sdm status to list the available datasources. Ensure that the resource appears in your list of accessible datasources.

3. Start a session to the resource, as in the following example:

   sdm connect mongo-shard-prod

4. Connect using a MongoDB client (for example, mongosh); include loadBalanced=true. For example:

   mongosh "mongodb://localhost:<PORT>/admin?loadBalanced=true" --username $USERNAME --password $PASSWORD --authenticationDatabase admin

   If the resource uses AWS IAM authentication, no username or password is needed; the StrongDM node authenticates on your behalf.

5. Then run a simple command. For example:

   db.adminCommand({ ping: 1 })

6. In the StrongDM Admin UI, check Logs > Queries (and Logs > Connections) to verify that session and command activity were logged.

When these steps succeed, you’re ready to connect to your resource through StrongDM.

Help

If you still encounter issues, please consult the StrongDM Help Center.

Be prepared to provide the following information to StrongDM Support, so that they can inspect logs and confirm node and resource health:

• Resource name or ID

• CLI error output or logs

• Node name and region