What is mongo-express?

mongo-express is a web-based MongoDB admin interface written in Node.js, Express.js, and Bootstrap3.

github.com/mongo-express/mongo-express

How to use this image

$ docker run --link some_mongo_container:mongo -p 8081:8081 -e ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL="mongodb://mongo:27017" mongo-express

Then you can hit http://localhost:8081 or http://host-ip:8081 in your browser.

Some alternatives for the ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL environment variable:

• mongodb://host.docker.internal:27017
• mongodb://host.containers.internal:27017

Security Notice

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

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

Build

Build the mongo-express image using Dockerfile and docker-entrypoint.sh files.

In below commands go to the folder (e.g. cd 1.0/20-alpine3.18) or replace final . with folder path (e.g. 1.0/20-alpine3.18).

Build the mongo-express image:

docker build --tag mongo-express .

Build with a specific version of mongo-express:

docker build --build-arg MONGO_EXPRESS_VERSION=release/v1.0.2 --tag mongo-express .

Build with a specific (forked) repository of mongo-express:

docker build --build-arg MONGO_EXPRESS_REPOSITORY=OtherUser/mongo_express --tag mongo-express .

Configuration

Environment variables are passed to the run command for configuring a mongo-express container.

Name	Default	Description
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL	mongodb://mongo:27017	MongoDB connection string
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_USERNAME		mongo-express web username
ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_PASSWORD		mongo-express web password
ME_CONFIG_CONNECT_RETRIES	10	Number of startup connection retry attempts to be made
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ENABLE_ADMIN	true	Enable admin access to all databases. Send strings: "true" or "false"
ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_EDITORTHEME	default	mongo-express editor color theme, more here
ME_CONFIG_REQUEST_SIZE	100kb	Maximum payload size. CRUD operations above this size will fail in body-parser.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_BASEURL	/	Set the baseUrl to ease mounting at a subdirectory. Remember to include a leading and trailing slash.
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_SITE_SSL_ENABLED	false	Enable SSL.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SSL_CRT_PATH		SSL certificate file.
ME_CONFIG_SITE_SSL_KEY_PATH		SSL key file.

The following are only needed if ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_ENABLE_ADMIN is "false"

Name	Default	Description
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AUTH_DATABASE	db	Database name
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AUTH_USERNAME	admin	Database username
ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_AUTH_PASSWORD	pass	Database password

Example

docker run -it --rm \
	--name mongo-express \
	--link web_db_1:mongo \
	-p 8081:8081 \
	-e ME_CONFIG_MONGODB_URL="mongodb://mongo:27017" \
	-e ME_CONFIG_OPTIONS_EDITORTHEME="ambiance" \
	-e ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_USERNAME="user" \
	-e ME_CONFIG_BASICAUTH_PASSWORD="fairly long password" \
	mongo-express

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