mongo-express

A web-based MongoDB admin interface written with Node.js, Express, and Bootstrap 5

Features

• Connect to multiple databases
• View/add/delete databases
• View/add/rename/delete collections
• View/add/update/delete documents
• Preview audio/video/image assets inline in the collection view
• Nested and/or large objects are collapsible for easy overview
• Async on-demand loading of big document properties (>100KB default) to keep collection view fast
• GridFS support - add/get/delete incredibly large files
• Use BSON data types in documents
• Mobile / Responsive - Bootstrap 5 works passably on small screens when you're in a bind
• Connect and authenticate to individual databases
• Authenticate as admin to view all databases
• Database blacklist/whitelist
• Custom CA/TLS/SSL and CA validation disabling
• Supports replica sets
• OpenIdConnect Authentication

Screenshots

Home Page	Database View	Collection View	Editing A Document

These screenshots are from version 0.30.40 View the album for more screenshots: (server status, database views, etc..) https://imgur.com/a/9vHsF

Development

To test or develop with the latest version (master branch) you can install using this git repository:

npm i mongo-express@github:mongo-express/mongo-express
OR
yarn add mongo-express@github:mongo-express/mongo-express
OR
pnpm add mongo-express@github:mongo-express/mongo-express

Copy config.default.js to config.js and edit the default property to fit your local environment

Run the development build using:

npm run start-dev
OR
yarn start-dev
OR
pnpm run start-dev

Usage (npm / yarn / pnpm / CLI)

mongo-express requires Node.js v4 or higher.

To install:

npm i -g mongo-express
OR
yarn add -g mongo-express
OR
pnpm add -g mongo-express

Or if you want to install a non-global copy:

npm i mongo-express
OR
yarn add mongo-express
OR
pnpm add mongo-express

By default config.default.js is used where the basic access authentication is admin:pass. This is obviously not safe, and there are warnings in the console.

To configure:

Copy YOUR_PATH/node_modules/mongo-express/config.default.js into a new file called YOUR_PATH/node_modules/mongo-express/config.js.

Note: YOUR_PATH will depend on your current OS user and system configuration. You can see it in the output text shown after executing npm install.

Fill in your MongoDB connection details and any other options you want to change in config.js.

You will also need to create a .env file with the variables for your cookie and session secrets, these are just default values

ME_CONFIG_SITE_COOKIESECRET: 'cookiesecret',
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SESSIONSECRET: 'sessionsecret',

To run:

cd YOUR_PATH/node_modules/mongo-express/ && node app.js

or if you installed it globally, you can immediately start mongo-express like this:

mongo-express

You can add some configuration options. Example:

node app.js --url mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017

or:

mongo-express --URL mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017

Configuration options:

Option	Short	Description
--version	-V	output the version number
--url <url>	-U <url>	connection string url (<url> example: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017)
--admin	-a	enable authentication as admin
--port <port>	-p <port>	listen on specified port (default <port> is 8081)
--help	-h	display help for command options

Usage (Express 4 middleware)

To mount as Express 4 middleware (see node_modules/mongo-express/app.js):

var mongo_express = require('mongo-express/lib/middleware')
var mongo_express_config = require('./mongo_express_config')

app.use('/mongo_express', mongo_express(mongo_express_config))

Usage (Docker)

Make sure you have a running MongoDB container on a Docker network (--network some-network below) with --name or --network-alias set to mongo. Alternatively, set the connection string ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL to the proper connection for your MongoDB container on your Docker network.

Use the Docker Hub image:

$ docker run -it --rm -p 8081:8081 --network some-network mongo-express

Build from source:

Build an image from the project directory, then run the image.

$ docker build -t mongo-express .
$ docker run -it --rm -p 8081:8081 --network some-network mongo-express

You can use the following environment variables to modify the container's configuration:

Name	Default	Description
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL	mongodb://admin:pass@localhost:27017/db?ssl=false
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ENABLE_ADMIN	false	Enable administrator access. Send strings: "true" or "false".
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AUTH_USERNAME	admin	Database username (only needed if ENABLE_ADMIN is "false").
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AUTH_PASSWORD	pass	Database password (only needed if ENABLE_ADMIN is "false").
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ALLOW_DISK_USE	false	Remove the limit of 100 MB of RAM on each aggregation pipeline stage.
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS	false	Use TLS client certificate
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS_ALLOW_CERTS	true	Validate mongod server certificate against CA
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS_CA_FILE	``	CA certificate File
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS_CERT_FILE	``	TLS client certificate file
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS_CERT_KEY_FILE	``	TLS client certificate key file
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_TLS_CERT_KEY_FILE_PASSWORD	``	TLS client certificate key file password
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AWS_DOCUMENTDB	false	This allow AWS DocumentDB compatibility (experimental)
ME_CONFIG_SITE_BASEURL	/	Set the express baseUrl to ease mounting at a subdirectory. Remember to include leading and trailing slash.
ME_CONFIG_HEALTH_CHECK_PATH	/status	Set the mongo express healthcheck path. Remember to add the forward slash at the start.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_COOKIESECRET	cookiesecret	String used by cookie-parser middleware to sign cookies.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SESSIONSECRET	sessionsecret	String used to sign the session ID cookie by express-session middleware.
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH	false	Deprecated, use ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_ENABLED instead.
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_ENABLED	false	Enable Basic Authentication. Send strings: "true" or "false".
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_USERNAME	``	mongo-express web login name. If not defined, admin is the username.
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_USERNAME_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_USERNAME
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_PASSWORD	``	mongo-express web login password. If not defined, pass is the password.
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_PASSWORD_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_PASSWORD
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ENABLED	false	Enable OpenIdConnect Authentication. Send strings: "true" or "false".
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ISSUER	``	OAuth2 Issuer. Root URL to the openidconnect metadata eg. "<issuer>/.well-known/openid-configuration"
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ISSUER_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ISSUER
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTID	``	OAuth2 ClientId. The client must be private and allowed to perform the Authorization Code Flow grant.
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTID_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTID
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTSECRET	``	OAuth2 Client Secret.
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTSECRET_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTSECRET
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_SECRET	``	A random secret used by the library to init the Authorization Code Flow (required)
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_SECRET_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_SECRET_FILE
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_BASEURL	``	OAuth2 base url. It's used to build the redirect URL eg. "<base-url>/callback". If not specified ME_CONFIG_SITE_BASEURL will be used.
ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_BASEURL_FILE	``	File version of ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_BASEURL
ME_CONFIG_REQUEST_SIZE	100kb	Used to configure maximum Mongo update payload size. CRUD operations above this size will fail due to restrictions in body-parser.
ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_READONLY	false	if readOnly is true, components of writing are not visible.
ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_FULLWIDTH_LAYOUT	false	If set to true an alternative page layout is used utilizing full window width.
ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_PERSIST_EDIT_MODE	false	If set to true, remain on the same page after clicking on the Save button
ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_NO_DELETE	false	If noDelete is true, components of deleting are not visible.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SSL_ENABLED	false	Enable SSL.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SSL_CRT_PATH		SSL certificate file.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SSL_KEY_PATH		SSL key file.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_GRIDFS_ENABLED	false	Enable gridFS to manage uploaded files.
ME_CONFIG_DOCUMENTS_PER_PAGE	10	How many documents you want to see at once in collection view
PORT	8081	port that mongo-express will run on.
VCAP_APP_HOST	localhost	address that mongo-express will listen on for incoming connections.

Example:

docker run -it --rm \
    --name mongo-express \
    --network web_default \
    -p 8081:8081 \
    -e ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_ENABLED="false" \
    -e ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL="mongodb://mongo:27017" \
    mongo-express

This example links to a container name typical of docker-compose, changes the editor's color theme, and disables basic authentication.

To use:

The default port exposed from the container is 8081, so visit http://localhost:8081 or whatever URL/port you entered into your config (if running standalone) or whatever config.site.baseUrl (if mounting as a middleware).

Using Docker Extensions:

Pre-requisite:

• Docker Desktop 4.15

Usage:

By using Mongo Express Docker Extension, it's easy to setup Mongo Express on Docker Desktop with just one click.

Usage (IBM Cloud)

Deploy to IBM Cloud

Doing manually:

• Git clone this repository
• Create a new or use already created MongoDB service
• Change the file examples/ibm-cloud/manifest.yml to fit your IBM Cloud app and service environment

Doing automatically:

• Click the button below to fork into IBM DevOps Services and deploy your own copy of this application on IBM Cloud

Then, take the following action to customize to your environment:

• Create your config.js file based on config.default.js
  • Check if it is necessary to change the dbLabel according to the MongoDB service created
  • Change the basicAuth properties, do not to keep the default values

Usage (OpenIdConnect Authentication)

Usage with the mongo-express package

If you install mongo-express as a package, install the express-openid-connect dependency:

yarn add express-openid-connect

Setup the OAuth2 application

The current implementation supports OAuth2 Authorization Code Flow Grant, to make it work you need to setup a client on your Identity Provider, and pass the parameters to the application:

export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ENABLED=true
export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_BASEURL=https://<domain>/<base-url>
export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_ISSUER=<authority>
export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTID=<client-id>
export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_CLIENTSECRET=<client-secret> # Optional
export ME_CONFIG_OIDCAUTH_SECRET=<random-generated-string>
export ME_CONFIG_SITE_COOKIESECRET=<client-secret>
export ME_CONFIG_SITE_BASEURL=/<base-url>

To register your client, you will need the application's redirect URI, which can be obtained by appending /callback to the application base URL: Eg. https://example.com/mongo-express/callback

Search

• Simple search takes the user provided fields (key & value) and prepares a MongoDB find() object, with projection set to {} so returns all columns.
• Advanced search passes the find and projection fields/objects straight into MongoDB db.collection.find(query, projection). The find object is where your query happens, while the projection object determines which columns are returned.

See MongoDB db.collection.find() documentation for examples and exact usage.

Planned features

Pull Requests are always welcome! <3

Limitations

• Documents must have the document._id property to be edited
• Binary BSON data type not tested

E2E Testing

We are currently trying to use Cypress, to open cypress use the command `cypress open`
To instrument the code to allow the E2E coverage to run, please run this command: `yarn nyc instrument --compact=false lib instrumented`

Not Tested

• Binary/BinData

JSON documents are parsed through a javascript virtual machine, so the web interface can be used for executing malicious javascript on a server.

mongo-express should only be used privately for development purposes.

BSON Data Types

The following BSON data types are supported in the mongo-express document editor/viewer.

Native Javascript Types

Strings, numbers, lists, booleans, null, etc.

All numbers in Javascript are 64-bit floating points.

ObjectID/ObjectId

ObjectId()

Creates a new Object ID type.

ObjectId(id)

Use Object ID with the given 24-digit hexadecimal string.

ISODate

ISODate()

Creates a new ISODate object with the current time.

new Date() can also be used (note the new keyword there).

ISODate(timestamp)

Uses ISODate object with the given timestamp.

UUID

UUID()

Creates a new UUID v4.

Can also be used new UUID() (note the new keyword there).

UUID(uuid)

Uses UUID v4 with the given 24-digit hexadecimal string.

Example: UUID("dee11d4e-63c6-4d90-983c-5c9f1e79e96c") or UUID("dee11d4e63c64d90983c5c9f1e79e96c")

DBRef/Dbref

DBRef(collection, objectID)

DBRef(collection, objectID, database)

Object ID is the ID string, not the ObjectId type.

The database value is optional.

Timestamp

Timestamp()

Creates a new Timestamp object with a value of 0.

Timestamp(time, ordinal)

Example: Timestamp(ISODate(), 0).

See http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/Timestamp+data+type for more info about the Timestamp data type.

Code

Code(code)

Code can be a native Javascript function, or it can be a string.

Specifying a scope/context is not supported.

MinKey

MinKey()

MaxKey

MaxKey()

Symbol

Symbol(string)

Example Document

Here is an example of a document which can be read/edited in mongo-express (media truncated for legibility):

{
  "_id": ObjectId(),
  "dates": {
    "date": ISODate("2012-05-14T16:20:09.314Z"),
    "new_date": ISODate(),
    "alternative": new Date()
  },
  "photo": "data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4...",
  "video": "data:video/webm;base64,GkXfo...",
  "audio": "data:audio/ogg;base64,T2dnUw...",
  "bool": true,
  "string": "hello world!",
  "list of numbers": [
    123,
    111e+87,
    4.4,
    -12345.765
  ],
  "reference": DBRef("collection", "4fb1299686a989240b000001"),
  "ts": Timestamp(ISODate(), 1),
  "minkey": MinKey(),
  "maxkey": MaxKey(),
  "func": Code(function() { alert('Hello World!') }),
  "symbol": Symbol("test")
}