How to Set Up Automated MongoDB Backup to AWS S3 on Ubuntu (Production Ready)

Goal

• ✅ Automated MongoDB backup

• ✅ Upload to AWS S3

• ✅ Run daily at 2 AM IST

• ✅ Retain only last 7 days locally

• ✅ Production-safe cron execution

Architecture

MongoDB
↓
mongodump (gzip archive)
↓
AWS S3 upload
↓
Local retention cleanup

1️⃣ Install AWS CLI on Ubuntu

We install AWS CLI using Snap:

sudo snap install aws-cli --classic

Verify

aws --version

2️⃣ Create IAM User (S3 Access Only)

In Amazon Web Services console:

1. Go to IAM → Users → Create User

2. Enable programmatic access

3. Attach policy:

For quick setup:

AmazonS3FullAccess

For production (recommended), use restricted policy:

{

"Version": "2012-10-17",

"Statement": [

{

"Action": [

"s3:PutObject",

"s3:ListBucket"

],

"Effect": "Allow",

"Resource": [

"arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name",

"arn:aws:s3:::your-bucket-name/*"

]

}

]

}

Save:

• Access Key

• Secret Key

3️⃣ Configure AWS on Server

aws configure

Enter:

Access Key

Secret Key

Region (e.g. ap-south-1)

Output format: json

4️⃣ Create Backup Script

Create file:

nano /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh

Paste:

#!/bin/bash

# === MongoDB Daily Backup Script ===

set -e

MONGO_URI="mongodb://localhost:27017/mydatabase"

BACKUP_DIR="/home/ubuntu/bkp"

DATE=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S")

S3_BUCKET="s3://your-bucket-name"

BACKUP_NAME="backup-$DATE.gz"

RETENTION_DAYS=7

LOG_FILE="/home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.log"

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"

echo "Starting backup: $DATE" >> "$LOG_FILE"

# Dump database

/usr/bin/mongodump --uri="$MONGO_URI" --archive="$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME" --gzip >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1

# Upload to S3

/snap/bin/aws s3 cp "$BACKUP_DIR/$BACKUP_NAME" "$S3_BUCKET/" >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1

# Cleanup old local backups

find "$BACKUP_DIR" -type f -mtime +$RETENTION_DAYS -delete

echo "Backup completed successfully: $BACKUP_NAME" >> "$LOG_FILE"

Make executable:

chmod +x /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh

Test manually:

/home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh

5️⃣ Setup Cron Job (2 AM IST)

If your server is in UTC:

2 AM IST = 20:30 UTC (previous day)

Edit cron:

crontab -e

Add:

30 20 * * * /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.sh >> /home/ubuntu/mongo-backup.log 2>&1

6️⃣ Add S3 Lifecycle Rule (Highly Recommended)

Go to S3 → Bucket → Management → Lifecycle Rule:

Create rule:

• Delete objects after 30 days

This prevents infinite storage growth.

Production Recommendations

• Use IAM role instead of access keys (if running on EC2)

• Restrict S3 permissions to specific bucket

• Enable S3 versioning

• Enable server-side encryption (SSE-S3 or SSE-KMS)

• Periodically test restore process