updateUser

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Definition

Compatibility
Syntax
Command Fields
Behavior
Required Access
Example

Definition

updateUser

Updates the user's profile on the database on which you run the command. An update to a field completely replaces the previous field's values, including updates to the user's roles and authenticationRestrictions arrays.

Tip

In mongosh, this command can also be run through the db.changeUserPassword() helper method.

Helper methods are convenient for mongosh users, but they may not return the same level of information as database commands. In cases where the convenience is not needed or the additional return fields are required, use the database command.

Warning

When you update the roles array, you completely replace the previous array's values. To add or remove roles without replacing all the user's existing roles, use the grantRolesToUser or revokeRolesFromUser commands.

To update a user, you must specify the updateUser field and at least one other field, other than writeConcern.

Compatibility

This command is available in deployments hosted in the following environments:

MongoDB Atlas: The fully managed service for MongoDB deployments in the cloud

Important

This command is not supported in M0, M2, M5, and M10+ clusters. For more information, see Unsupported Commands.

MongoDB Enterprise: The subscription-based, self-managed version of MongoDB
MongoDB Community: The source-available, free-to-use, and self-managed version of MongoDB

Syntax

The command uses the following syntax:

 db.runCommand(
    {
      updateUser: "<username>",
      pwd: passwordPrompt(),      // Or  "<cleartext password>"
      customData: { <any information> },
      roles: [
        { role: "<role>", db: "<database>" } | "<role>",
        ...
      ],
      authenticationRestrictions: [
         {
           clientSource: ["<IP>" | "<CIDR range>", ...],
           serverAddress: ["<IP>", | "<CIDR range>", ...]
         },
         ...
      ],
      mechanisms: [ "<scram-mechanism>", ... ],
      digestPassword: <boolean>,
      writeConcern: { <write concern> },
      comment: <any>
    }
)

Command Fields

The command takes the following fields:

Field	Type	Description
`updateUser`	string	The name of the user to update.
`pwd`	string	Optional. The user's password. The value can be either: the user's password in cleartext string, or `passwordPrompt()` to prompt for the user's password. You can use the `passwordPrompt()` method in conjunction with various user authentication management methods and commands to prompt for the password instead of specifying the password directly in the method or command call. However, you can still specify the password directly as you would with earlier versions of the `mongo` shell.
`customData`	document	Optional. Any arbitrary information.
`roles`	array	Optional. The roles granted to the user. An update to the `roles` array overrides the previous array's values.
`writeConcern`	document	Optional. The level of write concern for the operation. See Write Concern Specification.
`authenticationRestrictions`	array	Optional. The authentication restrictions the server enforces upon the user. Specifies a list of IP addresses and CIDR ranges from which the user is allowed to connect to the server or from which the server can accept users.
`mechanisms`	array	Optional. The specific SCRAM mechanism or mechanisms for the user credentials. If `authenticationMechanisms` is specified, you can only specify a subset of the `authenticationMechanisms`. If updating the mechanisms field without the password, you can only specify a subset of the user's current mechanisms, and only the existing user credentials for the specified mechanism or mechanisms are retained. If updating the password along with the mechanisms, new set of credentials are stored for the user. Valid values are: `"SCRAM-SHA-1"` Uses the `SHA-1` hashing function. `"SCRAM-SHA-256"` Uses the `SHA-256` hashing function. Requires featureCompatibilityVersion set to `4.0`. Requires digestPassword to be `true`.
`digestPassword`	boolean	Optional. Indicates whether the server or the client digests the password. If `true` (default), the server receives undigested password from the client and digests the password. If `false`, the client digests the password and passes the digested password to the server. Not compatible with `SCRAM-SHA-256`
`comment`	any	Optional. A user-provided comment to attach to this command. Once set, this comment appears alongside records of this command in the following locations: mongod log messages, in the `attr.command.cursor.comment` field. Database profiler output, in the `command.comment` field. `currentOp` output, in the `command.comment` field. A comment can be any valid BSON type (string, integer, object, array, etc).

Roles

In the roles field, you can specify both built-in roles and user-defined roles.

To specify a role that exists in the same database where updateUser runs, you can either specify the role with the name of the role:

"readWrite"

Or you can specify the role with a document, as in:

{ role: "<role>", db: "<database>" }

To specify a role that exists in a different database, specify the role with a document.

Authentication Restrictions

The authenticationRestrictions document can contain only the following fields. The server throws an error if the authenticationRestrictions document contains an unrecognized field:

Field Name	Value	Description
`clientSource`	Array of IP addresses and/or CIDR ranges	If present, when authenticating a user, the server verifies that the client's IP address is either in the given list or belongs to a CIDR range in the list. If the client's IP address is not present, the server does not authenticate the user.
`serverAddress`	Array of IP addresses and/or CIDR ranges	A list of IP addresses or CIDR ranges to which the client can connect. If present, the server will verify that the client's connection was accepted via an IP address in the given list. If the connection was accepted via an unrecognized IP address, the server does not authenticate the user.

Important

If a user inherits multiple roles with incompatible authentication restrictions, that user becomes unusable.

For example, if a user inherits one role in which the clientSource field is ["198.51.100.0"] and another role in which the clientSource field is ["203.0.113.0"] the server is unable to authenticate the user.

For more information on authentication in MongoDB, see Authentication on Self-Managed Deployments.

Behavior

Warning

By default, updateUser sends all specified data to the MongoDB instance in cleartext, even if using passwordPrompt(). Use TLS transport encryption to protect communications between clients and the server, including the password sent by updateUser. For instructions on enabling TLS transport encryption, see Configure mongod and mongos for TLS/SSL.

MongoDB does not store the password in cleartext. The password is only vulnerable in transit between the client and the server, and only if TLS transport encryption is not enabled.

Required Access

You must have access that includes the revokeRole action on all databases in order to update a user's roles array.

You must have the grantRole action on a role's database to add a role to a user.

To change another user's pwd or customData field, you must have the changePassword and changeCustomData actions respectively on that user's database.

To modify your own password and custom data, you must have privileges that grant changeOwnPassword and changeOwnCustomData actions respectively on the user's database.

Example

Given a user appClient01 in the products database with the following user info:

{
   "_id" : "products.appClient01",
   "userId" : UUID("c5d88855-3f1e-46cb-9c8b-269bef957986"),
   "user" : "appClient01",
   "db" : "products",
   "customData" : { "empID" : "12345", "badge" : "9156" },
   "roles" : [
       { "role" : "readWrite",
         "db" : "products"
       },
       { "role" : "read",
         "db" : "inventory"
       }
   ],
   "mechanisms" : [
      "SCRAM-SHA-1",
      "SCRAM-SHA-256"
   ]
}

The following updateUser command completely replaces the user's customData and roles data:

use products
db.runCommand( {
   updateUser : "appClient01",
   customData : { employeeId : "0x3039" },
   roles : [ { role : "read", db : "assets" } ]
} )

The user appClient01 in the products database now has the following user information:

{
   "_id" : "products.appClient01",
   "userId" : UUID("c5d88855-3f1e-46cb-9c8b-269bef957986"),
   "user" : "appClient01",
   "db" : "products",
   "customData" : { "employeeId" : "0x3039" },
   "roles" : [
       { "role" : "read",
         "db" : "assets"
       }
   ],
   "mechanisms" : [
      "SCRAM-SHA-1",
      "SCRAM-SHA-256"
   ]
}

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usersInfo