Fileset Examples

Bacula Enterprise Only

This solution is only available for Bacula Enterprise. For subscription inquiries, please reach out to sales@baculasystems.com.

This section provides practical Fileset examples for common and advanced MongoDB deployments.

Getting Started with Filesets

Use this table to choose the best example as a starting point.

Which example should I start from?
If your environment is…	Start from this section	Why
Single MongoDB node, simple setup	`Standalone with URI`	Fastest baseline configuration.
Single MongoDB node, password/TLS handled outside URI	`Standalone with Structured Parameters`	Cleaner credential and TLS file handling.
Replica set with normal primary discovery	`Replica Set with URI Seed List` or `Replica Set with Structured Parameters and TLS`	Driver can route to writable primary automatically.
Replica set in controlled lab with one fixed node	`Replica Set Direct Connection (Lab / Controlled Cases)`	Explicit single-node targeting.
Sharded cluster through mongos	`Sharded Cluster through mongos (URI)` or `Sharded Cluster through mongos (Structured Hosts)`	Uses mongos entrypoint instead of direct shard members.
Lower-privilege data-only backup	`Data-Only Lower-Privilege Backup`	Disables users/roles capture with `skip_security=yes`.
Isolated disaster-recovery artifact	`Isolated Disaster-Recovery Artifact`	Includes `admin` metadata intentionally.
Scope tuning (db/collection include-exclude)	`Backup Selection Examples`	Shows realistic include/exclude combinations.
Operational diagnostics and performance investigations	`Operational Debug and Telemetry`	Uses `debug`, `log`, and `stream_telemetry`.
Centralized reusable configuration	`Configuration File as Primary Source`	Keeps long parameter sets in `config_file`.

Connection Examples

Standalone with URI

Standalone backup with URI mode

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Standalone-URI"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Standalone with Structured Parameters

Standalone backup with password_env

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Standalone-Structured"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongo1.example.com:27017 username=backup password_env=MONGODB_BACKUP_PASSWORD authentication_database=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Replica Set with URI Seed List

Replica-set backup (driver elects writable primary)

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-RS-URI"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://mongo1.example.com:27017,mongo2.example.com:27017,mongo3.example.com:27017/admin?replicaSet=rs0&authSource=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Replica Set with Structured Parameters and TLS

Replica-set backup with TLS and password file

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-RS-TLS"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongo1.example.com:27017 host=mongo2.example.com:27017 host=mongo3.example.com:27017 replica_set=rs0 username=backup password_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.pass authentication_database=admin authentication_mechanism=SCRAM-SHA-256 tls=yes tls_ca_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb-ca.pem database=appdb"
   }
}

Replica Set Direct Connection (Lab / Controlled Cases)

Direct connection to one replica-set node

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-RS-Direct"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongo-primary.example.com:27017 replica_set=rs0 direct_connection=yes username=backup password_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.pass authentication_database=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Use direct_connection=yes only when you intentionally want a single target node. Normal production jobs should prefer seed-list discovery.

Sharded Cluster through mongos (URI)

Sharded backup through mongos URI

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Sharded-URI"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongos1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Sharded Cluster through mongos (Structured Hosts)

Sharded backup through mongos with structured options

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Sharded-Structured"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongos1.example.com:27017 host=mongos2.example.com:27017 username=backup password_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.pass authentication_database=admin database=appdb"
   }
}

Before running sharded jobs, stop the balancer and confirm it is not active.

TLS with MONGODB-X509

X.509 backup

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-X509"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongo1.example.com:27017 username=\"O=Bacula,OU=Backup,CN=bacula-mongodb-client\" authentication_database=$external authentication_mechanism=MONGODB-X509 tls=yes tls_ca_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb-ca.pem tls_certificate_key_file=/opt/bacula/etc/bacula-mongodb-client.pem database=appdb"
   }
}

The escaped quotes around username keep the X.509 subject together as a single plugin option value inside the Bacula FileSet string.

Backup Selection Examples

Multiple Included Databases

Include two application databases

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Select-MultiDB"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb database=analytics"
   }
}

Include then Exclude Databases

Include appdb and analytics, then exclude analytics_tmp

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Select-DBExclude"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb database=analytics database_exclude=analytics_tmp"
   }
}

Collection Subset across Selected Databases

Capture only selected collections

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Select-Collections"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb collection=widgets collection=orders"
   }
}

Include then Exclude Collections

Keep app data, exclude temporary collections

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Select-CollectionExclude"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb collection=widgets collection=audits collection_exclude=audits_tmp collection_exclude=widgets_staging"
   }
}

Data-Only Lower-Privilege Backup

Skip user/role capture

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-DataOnly"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: host=mongo1.example.com:27017 username=appbackup password_file=/opt/bacula/etc/appbackup.pass authentication_database=appdb database=appdb skip_security=yes"
   }
}

Isolated Disaster-Recovery Artifact

Include admin only for isolated DR artifacts

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Isolated-DR"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin include_admin=yes"
   }
}

Use this Fileset only for dedicated disaster-recovery planning. Restoring admin content into a live production target can overwrite administrative state.

Dry-Run Planning in JSON

Preflight-only planning output

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-DryRun"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb dry_run=yes report_format=json"
   }
}

Common and Tuning Examples

Operational Debug and Telemetry

Enable extra diagnostics during investigations

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-Tuning-Debug"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: uri=mongodb://backup:secret@mongo1.example.com:27017/admin?authSource=admin database=appdb path=/opt/bacula/working log=/var/log/bacula/mongodb-plugin.log debug=2 stream_telemetry=yes abort_on_error=yes"
   }
}

Configuration File as Primary Source

Fileset line using config_file

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-ConfigFile"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: config_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.settings"
   }
}

/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.settings

host=mongo1.example.com:27017
host=mongo2.example.com:27017
host=mongo3.example.com:27017
replica_set=rs0
username=backup
password_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.pass
authentication_database=admin
authentication_mechanism=SCRAM-SHA-256
tls=yes
tls_ca_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb-ca.pem
database=appdb
database=analytics
collection_exclude=analytics_tmp
skip_security=no
debug=0
stream_telemetry=no

Configuration File plus Inline Overrides

Keep base connection in file, override job behavior inline

FileSet {
   Name = "FS-MongoDB-ConfigFile-Override"
   Include {
      Options { signature = MD5 }
      Plugin = "mongodb: config_file=/opt/bacula/etc/mongodb.settings database=appdb collection=widgets dry_run=yes report_format=json"
   }
}

The config_file content can include any MongoDB plugin parameter, including connection, backup selection, restore, common, and tuning options.