apecloud/kubeblocks-addon-mongodb

Deploy MongoDB on KubeBlocks

Overview

Deploy MongoDB clusters on Kubernetes using KubeBlocks. Supports ReplicaSet for HA and Sharding for horizontal scaling with mongos routers and config servers.

Official docs: https://kubeblocks.io/docs/preview/user_docs/kubeblocks-for-mongodb/cluster-management/create-and-connect-a-mongodb-cluster Full doc index: https://kubeblocks.io/llms-full.txt

Prerequisites

• A running Kubernetes cluster with KubeBlocks installed (see install-kubeblocks)
• The MongoDB addon must be enabled:

# Check if mongodb addon is installed
helm list -n kb-system | grep mongodb

# Install if missing
helm install kb-addon-mongodb kubeblocks/mongodb --namespace kb-system --version 1.0.0

Available Topologies

| Topology | topology value | Components | Use Case | |---|---|---|---| | ReplicaSet | replicaset | mongodb (3 replicas) | Standard HA, most common | | Sharding | sharding | shard (N) + config-server + mongos | Horizontal scaling, large datasets |

Supported Versions

MongoDB 4.0 through 7.0 are supported. Common serviceVersion values:

| Version | serviceVersion | |---|---| | MongoDB 4.0 | 4.0 | | MongoDB 4.2 | 4.2 | | MongoDB 4.4 | 4.4 | | MongoDB 5.0 | 5.0 | | MongoDB 6.0 | 6.0 | | MongoDB 7.0 | 7.0.12 |

Workflow

- [ ] Step 1: Ensure addon is installed
- [ ] Step 2: Create namespace
- [ ] Step 3: Create cluster (choose topology)
- [ ] Step 4: Wait for cluster to be ready
- [ ] Step 5: Connect to MongoDB

Step 1: Ensure Addon Is Installed

helm list -n kb-system | grep mongodb

If not found:

helm install kb-addon-mongodb kubeblocks/mongodb --namespace kb-system --version 1.0.0

Step 2: Create Namespace

kubectl create namespace demo --dry-run=client -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -

Step 3: Create Cluster

ReplicaSet (Recommended)

Standard HA setup with automatic primary election:

apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: mongo-cluster
  namespace: demo
spec:
  clusterDef: mongodb
  topology: replicaset
  terminationPolicy: Delete
  componentSpecs:
    - name: mongodb
      serviceVersion: "7.0.12"
      replicas: 3
      resources:
        limits: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
        requests: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
      volumeClaimTemplates:
        - name: data
          spec:
            accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
            resources: {requests: {storage: 20Gi}}

Apply:

kubectl apply -f mongo-cluster.yaml

Key points:

• 3 replicas is the minimum for a proper ReplicaSet (allows majority voting)
• MongoDB automatically elects a primary among the replicas

Sharding

For horizontal scaling across multiple shards. Uses both spec.shardings (for shard data) and spec.componentSpecs (for config-server and mongos):

apiVersion: apps.kubeblocks.io/v1
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: mongo-sharded
  namespace: demo
spec:
  clusterDef: mongodb
  topology: sharding
  terminationPolicy: Delete
  shardings:
    - name: shard
      shards: 2
      template:
        name: mongodb
        serviceVersion: "7.0.12"
        replicas: 3
        resources:
          limits: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
          requests: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
        volumeClaimTemplates:
          - name: data
            spec:
              accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
              resources: {requests: {storage: 20Gi}}
  componentSpecs:
    - name: config-server
      serviceVersion: "7.0.12"
      replicas: 3
      resources:
        limits: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
        requests: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
      volumeClaimTemplates:
        - name: data
          spec:
            accessModes: [ReadWriteOnce]
            resources: {requests: {storage: 20Gi}}
    - name: mongos
      serviceVersion: "7.0.12"
      replicas: 2
      resources:
        limits: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}
        requests: {cpu: "0.5", memory: "0.5Gi"}

Key points:

• Shards use spec.shardings (each shard is a ReplicaSet)
• Config-server and mongos use spec.componentSpecs
• shards: 2 creates 2 shards (each with 3 replicas)
• Connect to mongos for data operations (port 27017)
• Config-server stores sharding metadata

Step 4: Wait for Cluster Ready

kubectl -n demo get cluster <cluster-name> -w

Wait until STATUS shows Running. Sharded clusters take longer (3-5 minutes).

Check pods:

kubectl -n demo get pods -l app.kubernetes.io/instance=<cluster-name>

Step 5: Connect to MongoDB

Get Credentials

# Secret name format: <cluster>-mongodb-account-root
kubectl -n demo get secret mongo-cluster-mongodb-account-root -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 -d

Connect via kubectl exec

# ReplicaSet
kubectl -n demo exec -it mongo-cluster-mongodb-0 -- mongosh --username root --authenticationDatabase admin

# Sharded cluster (connect via mongos)
kubectl -n demo exec -it mongo-sharded-mongos-0 -- mongosh --username root --authenticationDatabase admin

Connect via Port-Forward

# ReplicaSet
kubectl -n demo port-forward svc/mongo-cluster-mongodb 27017:27017

# Sharded (via mongos)
kubectl -n demo port-forward svc/mongo-sharded-mongos 27017:27017

# Then from another terminal:
mongosh mongodb://root:<password>@127.0.0.1:27017/admin

Troubleshooting

Cluster stuck in Creating:

kubectl -n demo describe cluster <cluster-name>
kubectl -n demo get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'

ReplicaSet not forming:

kubectl -n demo exec -it mongo-cluster-mongodb-0 -- mongosh --eval "rs.status()"

Sharding status:

kubectl -n demo exec -it mongo-sharded-mongos-0 -- mongosh --eval "sh.status()"

Day-2 Operations

| Operation | Skill | External Docs | |---|---|---| | Stop / Start / Restart | cluster-lifecycle | Docs | | Scale CPU / Memory | vertical-scaling | Docs | | Add / Remove replicas | horizontal-scaling | Docs | | Expand storage | volume-expansion | Docs | | Change parameters | reconfigure-parameters | Docs | | Backup | backup | Docs | | Restore | restore | Docs |

Safety Patterns

Follow safety-patterns.md for dry-run before apply, status confirmation after watch, and pre-deletion checklist.

Next Steps

• For detailed sharding YAML examples, see reference.md