MongoDB Plugin: Troubleshooting

Bacula Enterprise Only

This solution is only available for Bacula Enterprise. For subscription inquiries, please reach out to sales@baculasystems.com.

This section lists common problems and corrective actions for the MongoDB Plugin.

Common Issues

Plugin not visible in status client: verify package installation, Plugin Directory in the File Daemon configuration, and File Daemon restart.
mongodump or mongorestore not found: install MongoDB Database Tools as described in MongoDBToolsInstallation, or make the commands available in the File Daemon service PATH. The Bacula job log reports Required MongoDB Database Tool not available: mongodump or Required MongoDB Database Tool not available: mongorestore when this preflight check fails.
Authentication failed: verify username, password source, authentication_database, and authentication_mechanism.
X.509 authentication failed: verify tls=yes, authentication_database=$external, client certificate/key file readability, and the exact subject string used as username.
TLS certificate error: verify tls_ca_file and server certificate hostnames. Use tls_allow_invalid_hostnames=yes only as a temporary diagnostic or lab setting.
Backup rejects secondary: connect to the replica-set primary or to a seed list that resolves to the primary.
Oplog rollover detected: increase oplog size, run backups more frequently, or take a new Full backup.
Incremental restore chain is incomplete: select the required Full and all needed Incremental or Differential artifacts.
Sharded backup reports balancer problem: stop the balancer, wait until balancing is inactive, and rerun the job.
Restore conflict on existing collection: use an empty target, or set conflict_strategy=drop or conflict_strategy=skip according to the recovery objective.
Admin restore rejected: use isolated_dr=yes and, only for standalone or replica-set isolated DR, recover_admin=yes.

Diagnostic Checklist

Confirm the Bacula job log shows the expected plugin line and job level.
Confirm the File Daemon host can run mongodump --version and mongorestore --version.
Test MongoDB connectivity from the File Daemon host using equivalent connection parameters.
Run a backup or restore with dry_run=yes.
Review the plugin debug log configured by log or the default plugin working path.
For replica-set chains, verify that all required JobIds are available in Bacula.
For sharded clusters, confirm the target is mongos and the balancer is stopped.

Useful Bacula Checks

Bacula status and restore checks

*status client=mongodb-fd
*list jobs name=MongoDB-Backup
*restore jobid=123 client=mongodb-fd where="/"

When escalating a support case, include the Bacula job log, plugin debug log, MongoDB server version, MongoDB Database Tools version, topology type, and the Fileset plugin line with secrets redacted.