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Authentication

On this page

  • MongoCredential
  • Default Authentication Mechanism
  • SCRAM-Based Mechanisms
  • SCRAM-SHA-256
  • SCRAM-SHA-1
  • MONGODB-CR
  • X.509

In this guide, you can learn how to authenticate with MongoDB using the authentication mechanisms available in the MongoDB Community Edition. Authentication mechanisms are processes by which the driver and server confirm the identity of a client to ensure security before connecting.

Include the following import statements:

import com.mongodb.MongoCredential;
import com.mongodb.ConnectionString;
import com.mongodb.reactivestreams.client.MongoClients;
import com.mongodb.reactivestreams.client.MongoClient;

An authentication credential is represented as an instance of the MongoCredential class. The MongoCredential class includes static factory methods for each of the supported authentication mechanisms.

In MongoDB 3.0, MongoDB changed the default authentication mechanism from MONGODB-CR to SCRAM-SHA-1. In MongoDB 4.0, support for the deprecated MONGODB-CR mechanism was removed and SCRAM- SHA-256 support was added.

To create a credential that authenticates by using the default authentication mechanism, regardless of server version, create a credential by using the createCredential() static factory method:

String user; // the user name
String source; // the source where the user is defined
char[] password; // the password as a character array
// ...
MongoCredential credential = MongoCredential.createCredential(user, source, password);
MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(
MongoClientSettings.builder()
.applyToClusterSettings(builder ->
builder.hosts(Arrays.asList(new ServerAddress("host1", 27017))))
.credential(credential)
.build());

Or, you can use a connection string without explicitly specifying the authentication mechanism:

MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create("mongodb://user1:pwd1@host1/?authSource=db1");

For challenge and response mechanisms, using the default authentication mechanism is the recommended approach, as it makes upgrading from MongoDB 2.6 to MongoDB 3.0 more simple, even after upgrading the authentication schema. For MongoDB 4.0 users, using the default authentication mechanism is also recommended as the mechanisms are checked and the correct hashing algorithm is used.

Salted Challenge-Response Authentication Mechanism (SCRAM) has been the default authentication mechanism for MongoDB since 3.0. SCRAM is based on the IETF RFC 5802 standard that defines best practices for implementation of challenge-response mechanisms for authenticating users with passwords.

MongoDB 3.0 introduced support for SCRAM-SHA-1, which uses the SHA-1 hashing function. MongoDB 4.0 introduced support for SCRAM- SHA-256 which uses the SHA-256 hashing function.

Using this mechanism requires MongoDB 4.0 and featureCompatibilityVersion to be set to 4.0.

To explicitly create a credential of type SCRAM-SHA-256, use the createScramSha256Credential() method:

String user; // the user name
String source; // the source where the user is defined
char[] password; // the password as a character array
// ...
MongoCredential credential = MongoCredential.createScramSha256Credential(user, source, password);
MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(
MongoClientSettings.builder()
.applyToClusterSettings(builder ->
builder.hosts(Arrays.asList(new ServerAddress("host1", 27017))))
.credential(credential)
.build());

Or, you can use a connection string that explicitly specifies authMechanism=SCRAM-SHA-256:

MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create("mongodb://user1:pwd1@host1/?authSource=db1&authMechanism=SCRAM-SHA-256");

To explicitly create a credential of type SCRAM-SHA-1, use the createScramSha1Credential() method:

String user; // the user name
String source; // the source where the user is defined
char[] password; // the password as a character array
// ...
MongoCredential credential = MongoCredential.createScramSha1Credential(user, source, password);
MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(
MongoClientSettings.builder()
.applyToClusterSettings(builder ->
builder.hosts(Arrays.asList(new ServerAddress("host1", 27017))))
.credential(credential)
.build());

Or, you can use a connection string that explicitly specifies authMechanism=SCRAM-SHA-1:

MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create("mongodb://user1:pwd1@host1/?authSource=db1&authMechanism=SCRAM-SHA-1");

Important

Starting in version 4.0, MongoDB removes support for the deprecated MongoDB Challenge-Response (MONGODB-CR) authentication mechanism.

If your deployment has user credentials stored in a MONGODB-CR schema, you must upgrade to use a SCRAM-based mechanism before you upgrade to version 4.0.

To explicitly create a credential of type MONGODB-CR use the createMongCRCredential() static factory method:

String user; // the user name
String database; // the name of the database in which the user is defined
char[] password; // the password as a character array
// ...
MongoCredential credential = MongoCredential.createMongoCRCredential(user, database, password);
MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(
MongoClientSettings.builder()
.applyToClusterSettings(builder ->
builder.hosts(Arrays.asList(new ServerAddress("host1", 27017))))
.credential(credential)
.build());

Or, you can use a connection string that explicitly specifies authMechanism=MONGODB-CR:

MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create("mongodb://user1:pwd1@host1/?authSource=db1&authMechanism=MONGODB-CR");

Note

After you upgrade the authentication schema from MONGODB-CR to SCRAM, MONGODB-CR credentials will fail to authenticate.

With the X.509 mechanism, MongoDB uses the X.509 certificate presented during SSL negotiation to authenticate a user whose name is derived from the distinguished name of the X.509 certificate.

X.509 authentication requires the use of SSL connections with certificate validation. To create a credential of this type use the createMongoX509Credential() static factory method:

String user; // The X.509 certificate derived user name, e.g. "CN=user,OU=OrgUnit,O=myOrg,..."
// ...
MongoCredential credential = MongoCredential.createMongoX509Credential(user);
MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create(
MongoClientSettings.builder()
.applyToClusterSettings(builder ->
builder.hosts(Arrays.asList(new ServerAddress("host1", 27017))))
.credential(credential)
.build());

Or, you can use a connection string that explicitly specifies authMechanism=MONGODB-X509:

MongoClient mongoClient = MongoClients.create("mongodb://subjectName@host1/?authMechanism=MONGODB-X509&ssl=true");

See the Use x.509 Certificates to Authenticate Clients tutorial in the Server manual to learn more about determining the subject name from the certificate.

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