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Required tools

Capsule uses mongodump (from MongoDB Database Tools) and mongosh to connect and restore.
Install MongoDB Database Tools directly from MongoDB’s package repo — not via apt (the apt package is outdated and may be missing mongodump):
# Import MongoDB public key
curl -fsSL https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-7.0.asc | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-7.0.gpg

# Add the repo (Ubuntu 22.04 example)
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-7.0.gpg ] \
  https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/7.0 multiverse" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-7.0.list

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y mongodb-database-tools mongosh
Do not use brew tap mongodb/brew on Linux — it installs macOS binaries that cannot run on Linux and will produce an exec format error.
Verify: 
capsule doctor

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Connection details

FieldExample
Hostlocalhost
Port27017
Database namemyapp
Usernamemyapp_user (leave blank if no auth)
Passwordyour password (leave blank if no auth)

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Authentication

If your MongoDB instance uses authentication, provide the username and password. Capsule passes them to mongodump as --username and --password flags — they are not exposed in process listings.

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Replica sets and Atlas

For a replica set, enter any member’s host in the Host field. Direct member connections (directConnection=true) are used so Capsule doesn’t attempt to discover the full replica set topology. For MongoDB Atlas, use the connection hostname from your Atlas dashboard (e.g., cluster0.abcde.mongodb.net).

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Docker

If MongoDB runs in a container, enter the container name when adding the connection. Capsule will exec mongodump inside the container via docker exec.

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Troubleshooting

mongodump: command not found The mongodb-database-tools package is separate from the MongoDB server. Install it explicitly and run capsule doctor to confirm. mongosh: command not found mongosh is a separate package from mongodb-database-tools. Install it alongside the tools (see installation steps above). Auth failed Ensure the user has the backup built-in role or equivalent read access on the target database.