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Connection Methods

Connect via Compass

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  • Prerequisites
  • Connect to Your Cluster
  • Troubleshooting

The Connect dialog box for a cluster provides the details to connect to a cluster using Compass.

Prerequisites

TLS

Use MongoDB Compass 1.5 or later to connect to Atlas clusters. These versions support the required SNI TLS extension.

MongoDB Compass

To complete this procedure, do one of the following:

  • Install MongoDB Compass. See Compass Installation.

  • Upgrade to the latest version of MongoDB Compass by downloading MongoDB Compass from links in the Atlas Connect dialog box. To access these links, click Connect for the cluster you wish to connect to, then click Compass.

IP Access List

To access a cluster, you must connect from an IP address on the Atlas project's IP access list. If you need to add an IP address to the IP access list, you can do so in the Connect dialog box. You can also add the IP address from the Network Access tab.

Database User

To access a cluster, you must create a database user with access to the desired databases on your Atlas cluster. Database users are separate from Atlas users. Database users have access to MongoDB databases, while Atlas users have access to the Atlas application itself.

You can create a database user to access your Atlas cluster in the Connect dialog box. You can also add the database user from the Cluster view.

Connect to Your Cluster

Use the following procedure to connect MongoDB Compass 1.8 or later versions to your Atlas cluster.

1

In Atlas, go to the Clusters page for your project.

  1. If it is not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

  2. If it is not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

  3. If the Clusters page is not already displayed, click Database in the sidebar.

2

Click Connect

Click Connect for the cluster to which you want to connect.

3

Choose your Connection Security.

Choose Connection Type from the set of available buttons.

Note

Options Display if Feature Enabled

Atlas displays the connection type options after you enable Private IP for Peering, Private Endpoint, or both. If you haven't enabled either feature, no buttons display and Connection Type defaults to Standard.

Use this connection type for allowed public IP addresses.

Use this connection type if you enabled peering:

  • For Google Cloud or Azure and are connecting with Compass from a peered network, or

  • For AWS and are connecting with Compass from a peered network which uses a custom DNS service.

If neither of these apply, add your IP address to your IP access list and use the Standard Connection string. If you are connecting directly to Atlas from an office or home network, this might be the preferred option.

Note

Peer must be available

You can't select this option unless one of your peers is marked as AVAILABLE. To check the status of your peers:

In Atlas, go to the Network Access page for your project.

  1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

  2. If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

  3. In the sidebar, click Network Access under the Security heading.

Note

Multi-Cloud Clusters

If your application isn't hosted on the same cloud service provider as your cluster's primary, the application can only perform secondary reads.

With multi-cloud clusters, consider adding the readPreference connection option to your connection string. Use one of the following values:

Use the connection string for the appropriate interface endpoint if you are connecting with Compass over a Private Endpoint connection either because Compass:

  • Runs inside your cloud provider network, or

  • Has transitive network access to your cloud provider network.

  • You want to use an optimized connection string.

If none of these apply, add your IP address to your IP access list and use the Standard Connection string. If you are connecting directly to Atlas from an office or home network, this might be the preferred option.

Note

You can't select this option unless your configured PrivateLink connection is ready to use. To check the status of your AWS PrivateLink:

In Atlas, go to the Network Access page for your project.

  1. If it's not already displayed, select the organization that contains your project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

  2. If it's not already displayed, select your project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

  3. In the sidebar, click Network Access under the Security heading.

4

Choose how you want to limit connections to your cluster.

Add a Connection IP Address

Important

Skip this step if Atlas indicates in the Setup connection security step that you have already configured an IP access list entry in your cluster. To manage the IP access list, see Add Entries to the Access List.

Atlas allows standard client connections to the cluster from entries in the project's IP access list. The project IP access list differs from the API access list, which restricts API access to specific IP or CIDR addresses.

If the IP access list is empty, Atlas prompts you to add an IP address to the project's IP access list. You can either:

  • Click Add Your Current IP Address to allow access from your current IP address.

  • Click Add an IP Address to add a single IP address or a CIDR-notated range of addresses.

Provide an optional description for the newly added IP address or CIDR range. Click Add IP Address to add the address to the IP access list.

Add a Connection IP Address

Important

Skip this step if Atlas indicates in the Setup connection security step that you have already configured an IP access list entry in your cluster. To manage the IP access list, see Add Entries to the IP access list.

Atlas allows standard client connections to the cluster from entries in the project's IP access list. The project IP access list differs from the API access list, which restricts API access to specific IP or CIDR addresses.

If the IP access list is empty, Atlas prompts you to add an IP address to the project's IP access list. Click Add a Different IP Address to add a single IP address or a CIDR-notated range of addresses.

Provide an optional description for the newly added IP address or CIDR range. Click Add IP Address to add the address to the IP access list.

  1. Under Choose Connection Type, select Private Endpoint.

  2. If you see the Private Link Type options, select one of the following options:

    • Optimized SRV Connection for load-balanced connections.

    • Legacy SRV Connection for non-load-balanced connections.

    To learn more, see Improve Connection Performance for Sharded Clusters Behind a Private Endpoint.

  3. Under Choose Private Endpoint, select the endpoint you want to use.

5

Create a Database User.

Important

Skip this step if Atlas indicates in the Setup connection security step that you have at least one database user configured in your project. To manage existing database users, see Configure Database Users.

To access the cluster, you need a MongoDB user with access to the desired database or databases on the cluster in your project. If your project has no MongoDB users, Atlas prompts you to create a new user with the Atlas Admin role.

  1. Enter the new user's Username.

  2. Enter a Password for this new user or click Autogenerate Secure Password.

  3. Click Create Database User to save the user.

Use this user to connect to your cluster in the following step.

Once you have added an IP address to your IP access list and added a database user, click Choose Your Connection Method.

6

Get the Connection String for MongoDB Compass from Atlas.

  1. Click I have MongoDB Compass.

  2. Choose your version of MongoDB Compass in the dropdown. To check the version of MongoDB Compass that you have installed on your system, click About MongoDB Compass in the application.

  3. Copy the connection string presented in the Atlas Connect dialog box.

7

Open MongoDB Compass and Connect to Atlas.

Use the copied connection string for connecting to MongoDB Compass if your deployment uses a single cloud provider or doesn't use any of the following: SSL, authentication certificates, or an SSH tunnel.

  1. Click New Connection and paste the connection string into the Paste your connection string field.

  2. (Optional) To save this connection for future use, click Create Favorite and add a name for this connection. You can find saved favorite connections under Favorites in the left pane of the MongoDB Compass Connect window.

  3. Click Connect.

Fill in connection fields individually if your deployment spans more than one cloud provider or if it uses one of the following: SSL, authentication certificates, or an SSH tunnel.

  1. Click Fill in Connection Fields Individually.

  2. Under the hostname tab, enter the hostname and port, and choose your authentication mechanism from the dropdown.

  3. Under the More options tab, configure the following:

    To learn more, see Connect to MongoDB in the MongoDB Compass documentation.

  4. (Optional) To save this connection for future use, click Create Favorite and add a name for this connection. You can find saved favorite connections under Favorites in the left pane of the MongoDB Compass Connect window.

  5. Click Connect.

For MongoDB Compass 1.7 or earlier versions, you can manually create a new connection in Compass.

To set up a New Connection from MongoDB Compass to your Atlas cluster, enter the following information in MongoDB Compass and click Connect:

Field Name
Description
Hostname

Hostname of primary for a replica set or the hostname for the mongos for a sharded cluster.

To locate the hostname of the replica set primary in the Atlas UI:

  1. In Atlas, go to the Clusters page for your project.

    1. If it is not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

    2. If it is not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

    3. If the Clusters page is not already displayed, click Database in the sidebar.

  2. Click the cluster to which you want to connect.

  3. Click the replica set member marked as PRIMARY.

  4. Copy the hostname of the replica set.

To locate the hostname for a sharded cluster in the Atlas user interface:

  1. Click Connect for the cluster.

  2. Click Drivers.

  3. Extract the mongos hostname from the URI connection string.

Make note of the port number of the primary or mongos. Use that port to fill in the Port field in MongoDB Compass.

Port
Port of the primary for a replica set or the port of the mongos for a sharded cluster.
Authentication
Select Username / Password.
Username
MongoDB user. The Atlas connection string displays the MongoDB administration user set up for the cluster. You can connect with a different MongoDB user.
Password
Password associated with the specified MongoDB user.
Authentication Database
Specify "admin".
Replica Set Name

Name of the Atlas cluster's replica set.

To retrieve the replica set name:

  1. Click the Connect button for the cluster.

  2. Select Connect Your Application.

  3. Extract the replica set name from the URI connection string's replicaSet value.

Read Preference
Specify how MongoDB Compass directs read operations. Options are Primary, Primary Preferred, Secondary, Secondary Preferred, and Nearest. See /core/read-preference.
SSL
Select "Use System CA / Atlas Deployment"
SSH Tunnel
Select "Off"
Favorite Name
Enter a name for the connection if you want to save it as a favorite.

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing issues connecting to your cluster, see Troubleshoot Connection Issues.

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