Getting started with IBM Cloud Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB

IBM Cloud Hyper Protect DBaaS provides tamper-proof, enterprise cloud database environments with high availability for workloads with sensitive data. It offers a flexible platform that allows you to easily provision and manage your database of choice, without data security concerns.

For more information about the industry-leading data security level of Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB, see Securing your data in Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB.

Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB provides MongoDB database clusters in the IBM Cloud. Each Hyper Protect DBaaS database cluster has one primary node and two secondary nodes (replicas that back up the primary). For more information about high data availability, see High availability and disaster recovery.

With IBM Cloud Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB, we can create database clusters, scale your resources, view information about your nodes, databases, and users, monitor databases, and view service logs.

Watch the following video to find out how to get started with IBM Cloud Hyper Protect DBaaS:

Supported version

Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB currently supports MongoDB EE 3.6. It provides a secure, up-to-date version of the MongoDB Enterprise database. We upgrade database maintenance versions major.minor.maintenance when appropriate.

Prerequisites

1. To use the UI, make sure you're using the required browser software for IBM Cloud.

   For Safari, ensure that the Prevent cross-site tracking and Block all cookies options under Safari > Preferences > Privacy are not selected.

   If you encounter problems when you use one of the required browsers, disable your browser plug-ins.

2. We can create a 30-day free plan service instance with a Lite IBM Cloud account. To create a paid service instance, make sure you've a Pay-As-You-Go or Subscription IBM Cloud account.

   To check your account type, go to IBM Cloud and click Management > Account > Account settings.

   If you've a Lite account and want to create a paid service instance, upgrade your account to a Pay-As-You-Go or Subscription account.

Step 1. Create a service instance

When you create a service instance, you create a cloud database cluster (replica set) with one primary and two secondary nodes as replicas, as shown in the following diagram.

We can create a service instance through the UI, the CLI, and the API. For more information and detailed instructions, see Creating a service instance.

Free plans are available. They are designed for evaluation purposes and are not suitable for production usage. If you create free-plan instances, note that they will be automatically deleted 30 days after creation.

Step 2. Connect to databases

We can use the mongo shell, your favorite MongoDB driver, or tools like MongoDB Compass to connect to your databases. Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB allows only

SSL-secured client connections.

Before you begin

The tool that you use needs to be compatible with MongoDB EE 3.6 that is supported by Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB.

To enable verification of the server certificate during database connection, download the

certificate authority (CA) file from the Manage page of the service dashboard, and copy it to the appropriate directory.

Using mongo shell

Download the mongo shell as part of the MongoDB Server or as a standalone package. To check whether the version is compatible with MongoDB EE 3.6 supported by Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB, see MongoDB Release Notes.

To use the mongo shell to connect to your databases, run the following command. We can copy the command from the service dashboard. For more information about the mongo shell, see mongo.

        
      # mongo 'mongodb://<host_name_1>:<port_1>,\
<host_name_2>:<port_2>,\
<host_name_3>:<port_3>/admin?replicaSet=<cluster_name>' \
--ssl --username <user_name> --password <password> --sslCAFile <CAFile>

Command options

• host_name_i

  The name of the host server that hosts the node.

• port_i

  The port to connect to the corresponding host.

• cluster_name

  The MongoDB cluster name that you set when you create the service instance.

• user_name

  The user name for the database admin as specified in the service creation page.

• password

  The password for the database admin as specified in the service creation page.

• CAFile

  The path of the cert.pem file you downloaded from the service dashboard.

Using MongoDB Compass or other tools

For other tools, such as MongoDB Compass, Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB supports SSL server certificate validation to connect to the host.

For example, to use MongoDB Compass to connect to your databases, complete the following steps:

1. Copy the cluster URL from the Manage page in the Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB service dashboard.
2. Open MongoDB Compass. On the New Connection page, paste the cluster URL.
3. Click Fill in connection fields individually.
4. For Authentication, select Username / Password. Enter your user name and password.
5. Click the More Options tab. In the SSL field, select Server Validation . Upload the certificate authority file you downloaded from the service dashboard, and click CONNECT.

Step 3. Manage the database cluster

Each Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB cluster contains a DBaaS Manager, which manages and intelligently schedules your requests based on the available resources.

In a database cluster, you can:

• Scale your resources
• View information about databases, users, and nodes
• View service logs
• Monitor databases
• ...

We can send the requests to the DBaaS Manager through the UI, the CLI, and the API. For detailed instructions, see Managing your service instance.

To create or delete your databases and database users, use your database client.

Step 4 (Optional). Migrate from MongoDB databases

To migrate from MongoDB databases to Hyper Protect DBaaS for MongoDB, follow the migration instructions.