Clear all entries in Docker mongodb?

Question

Is there an easy way to clear a mongodb database running in docker?

Or possibly delete it all and create it again?

Can't you just remove the container and recreate another one? — techtabu, Jun 24 '16 at 17:48
For reference, `docker container ls --all` then `docker container rm `, then build again — krubo, Jun 23 '19 at 19:07

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 11:58

There are a number of ways:

The same way you would normally clear a mongodb database. You're running it in Docker, but it is a real mongodb after all. See this, and this.
If you've mounted your database's data as a volume on the host system using -v on the docker run command, you can just clear this folder out.
If you haven't, the data lives in the container. You can remove the container and recreate it (docker rm container_name). Or run a shell in the container and remove the data from the container's filesystem (docker exec -it container_name bash).

Regarding the last option, you shouldn't be in this scenario because your data should live on the host system and your container should be disposable.

You can also delete volumes using _docker volume rm _ – obesechicken13 May 16 '18 at 20:22 — obesechicken13, May 16 '18 at 20:22

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 09 '21 at 13:31

2

docker exec -it mongodb_container bash -c "mongo db-name --eval 'db.dropDatabase()'"

answered Jun 09 '21 at 13:31

Matko

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tgogos · Answer 3 · 2022-02-23T16:37:18.953

I had a case with slightly different requirements:

docker-compose
authentication needed
bash variable expansion (the container was running with environemt variables MONGO_USER & MONGO_PASSWORD already set)

So, for anyone who might need a handy one-liner to authenticate and drop a mongo db with docker, here it is :

docker-compose exec mongo_container_name /bin/bash -c 'mongo database_name -u $MONGO_USER -p $MONGO_PASSWORD --authenticationDatabase admin --eval "db.dropDatabase();"'

And if you add a Makefile to the "mix", it's exactly the same but it needs $$ to the variables:

db-reset:
    docker-compose exec mongo_container_name /bin/bash -c 'mongo database_name -u $$MONGO_USER -p $$MONGO_PASSWORD --authenticationDatabase admin --eval "db.dropDatabase();"'

Clear all entries in Docker mongodb?

3 Answers3