Introduction

This GitHub Action starts a MongoDB server or MongoDB replica set. By default, the MongoDB server is available on the default port 27017. You can configure a custom port using the mongodb-port input. The examples show how to use a custom port.

The MongoDB version must be specified using the mongodb-version input. The used version must exist in the published mongo Docker hub tags. Default value is latest, other popular choices are 6.0, 7.0 or even release candidates 8.0.0-rc4.

This is useful when running tests against a MongoDB database.

Usage

A code example says more than a 1000 words. Here’s an exemplary GitHub Action using a MongoDB server in different versions to test a Node.js app:

name: Run tests

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x, 22.x]
        mongodb-version: ['6.0', '7.0', '8.0']

    steps:
    - name: Git checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

    - name: Start MongoDB
      uses: step-security/[email protected]
      with:
        mongodb-version: ${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}

    - run: npm install

    - run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

Using a Custom MongoDB Port

You can start the MongoDB instance on a custom port. Use the mongodb-port: 12345 input to configure port 12345 for MongoDB. Replace 12345 with the port you want to use in your test runs.

The following example starts a MongoDB server on port 42069:

name: Run tests

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x, 22.x]
        mongodb-version: ['6.0', '7.0', '8.0']

    steps:
    - name: Git checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

    - name: Start MongoDB
      uses: step-security/[email protected]
      with:
        mongodb-version: ${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}
        mongodb-replica-set: test-rs
        mongodb-port: 42069

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: npm install

    - name: Run tests
      run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

With a Replica Set (MongoDB --replSet Flag)

You can run your tests against a MongoDB replica set by adding the mongodb-replica-set: your-replicate-set-name input in your action’s workflow. The value for mongodb-replica-set defines the name of your replica set. Replace your-replicate-set-name with the replica set name you want to use in your tests.

The following example uses the replica set name test-rs:

name: Run tests

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x, 22.x]
        mongodb-version: ['6.0', '7.0', '8.0']

    steps:
    - name: Git checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

    - name: Start MongoDB
      uses: step-security/[email protected]
      with:
        mongodb-version: ${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}
        mongodb-replica-set: test-rs
        mongodb-port: 42069

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: npm install

    - name: Run tests
      run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

With Authentication (MongoDB --auth Flag)

Setting the mongodb-username and mongodb-password inputs. As per the Dockerhub documentation, this automatically creates an admin user and enables --auth mode.

The following example uses the username supercharge, password secret and also sets an initial supercharge database:

name: Run tests with authentication

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x, 22.x]
        mongodb-version: ['6.0', '7.0', '8.0']

    steps:
    - name: Git checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

    - name: Start MongoDB
      uses: step-security/[email protected]
      with:
        mongodb-version: ${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}
        mongodb-username: supercharge
        mongodb-password: secret
        mongodb-db: supercharge

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: npm install

    - name: Run tests
      run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

With Custom Container Name

The container name of the created MongoDB instance can be configured using the mongodb-container-name input

The following example will parameterize the MongoDB container name based on the node-version and mongodb-version being used from the matrix:

name: Run with Custom Container Names

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x, 22.x]
        mongodb-version: ['6.0', '7.0', '8.0']

    steps:
    - name: Git checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

    - name: Start MongoDB
      uses: step-security/[email protected]
      with:
        mongodb-version: ${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}
        mongodb-container-name: mongodb-${{ matrix.node-version }}-${{ matrix.mongodb-version }}

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: npm install

    - name: Run tests
      run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

Caveat: due to this issue, you cannot enable user creation AND replica sets initially. Therefore, if you use this action to setup a replica set, please create your users through a separate script.