Enable the MongoDB API on Always-Free Autonomous Database

Oracle Database API for MongoDB translates the MongoDB wire protocol into SQL statements that are executed by Oracle Database. It lets developers who have MongoDB skill sets write JSON document-store applications for Oracle Database that use drivers and tools that understand the MongoDB protocol – which is way cool!

If you would like to get started with the MongoDB API without having to set it up and configure it yourself, an Always-Free Autonomous Database – Serverless (ADB-S) might just be what you need. Although, to be fair, setting the MongoDB API up yourself isn’t too hard either as shown in this post on medium.

For most Autonomous Databases the MongoDB API is already available with the URL published in the database’s Tool Configuration tab. If you cannot see the URL, please read on.

Troubleshooting

If you cannot see the MongoDB API URL displayed in the database’s Tool Configuration tab, chances are you have created an Autonomous Database-Serverless (ADB-S) instance using the following properties:

  • Workload type: any of the available ones
  • Deployment type: serverless
  • Secure Access from everywhere
  • Requires mutual TLS authentication: checked

NOTE: this is a potentially insecure setup as it allows bad actors to access the user interface (like Database Actions for example) from everywhere. This will be fixed though, please read on.

To access the MongoDB URL you need to switch to said Tool Configuration tab, the second tab of the Database’s properties page. Look at the Mongo DB API row: you will notice that it is blank. Notice that the button to Edit tool configuration is greyed out.

screenshot showing the missing MongoDB API URL

 

Enable the MongoDB API

If you want to enable the MongoDB API (and since you’re reading this article, chances are you do), a simple step is all you have to perform.

Switch back to Autonomous Database information and check the Access Control List details. If your database has been created using the properties laid out earlier, it will read disabled. Next, click on edit to create an ACL – which is something you might want to do with every Autonomous Database instance that isn’t located in a private subnet, thus inaccessible to the outside world. Better to be safe than sorry.

Once the ACL is saved, the ADB-S instance updates its configuration. Switching back to the Tool Configuration tab you should see the MongoDB API URL published.

Job done!