---
title: Deploy with an External MongoDB Cluster
slug: turbine-installer/4z-b-deploy-with-an-external-mongodb-cluster
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-06-16T13:57:28.960Z
---

:::hint{type="danger"}
Due to ongoing incompatibilities, Turbine does not support using Amazon DocumentDB as an option for external MongoDB Cluster deployment.
:::

There are two primary deployment models for using an external MongoDB cluster with Turbine:

- [Self-Hosted MongoDB Cluster](#)
- [MongoDB Atlas](#)

:::hint{type="danger"}
The physical location of the external Mongo deployment, as it pertains to latency between the Turbine cluster and the standalone Mongo instance, performs best with a latency delay of less than 5 milliseconds. Be aware that with every added millisecond of latency, Turbine's performance drops linearly.
:::

## General Requirements

The MongoDB version is v7.0.x. For information about the MongoDB version used in previous releases for any external deployment, see [TP Installer Release Notes.](https://support.swimlane.com/support/solutions/articles/8000111976-turbine-platform-installer-23-x-release-notes)

## Self-Hosted MongoDB Cluster

Customer-maintained MongoDB clusters are supported as long as the external MongoDB cluster meets the requirements listed in the [System Requirements](docId:9lxriCxLm1t14YDlkt4zr) for embedded clusters.

Swimlane requires that you name your databases `Swimlane`, `SwimlaneHistory` and `Turbine` in your deployment. In each database, also create a `Swimlane` user and ensure that it is assigned the `dbOwner` role.

## MongoDB Atlas

You can use MongoDB Atlas as an external MongoDB cluster as long as the cluster has been configured to use a compute tier that aligns with the System Requirements for [Existing](docId\:SnkPYfTnCien7nwfs7tFp) or [Embedded](docId:9lxriCxLm1t14YDlkt4zr) installations. Dedicated M40 clusters are the minimum compute tier required for an external MongoDB cluster.

After creating your Atlas cluster, you must create t hree databases. Swimlane requires that you name your databases `Swimlane`, `SwimlaneHistory` and `Turbine` in your deployment. In each database, also create a `Swimlane` user.

Users, databases, and roles are all managed through the Atlas UI. Atlas does not have a "dbOwner" role that would be used in self-hosted clusters. Instead, your created users should be assigned the specific advanced privileges `dbAdmin` and `readWrite`. Additionally, you can scope the permissions of each user to their respective databases, although it is not required.

:::hint{type="info"}
The built-in role "Read and write to any database" is not sufficient, as Turbine requires the ability to create indexes in MongoDB, which is a dbAdmin privilege.
:::

## Configuring External Mongo in the Turbine Platform Installer

When you select the **Use an external MongoDB deployment** option, the TPI UI hides all of the embedded mongo options and displays these sections **MongoDB Swimlane Database Settings**, **MongoDB Swimlane History Database Settings** and **MongoDB Turbine Database Settings**.

::Image[]{src="https://api.archbee.com/api/optimize/511c8QBH-VHiwWnyzIwUb/fQZ2uJNw6Zmg4XQDLOCB-_externalmongosettings.png" size="42" width="692" height="955" position="center" showCaption="false"}

Both of these sections set their respective database's configuration and contain the same options as described here:

**MongoDB prefix:** Describes the prefix of the MongoDB connection string. The default value is `mongodb://`, however `mongodb+srv://` is also a valid prefix. This prefix is common when using MongoDB Atlas.

**MongoDB username:** The username for the user associated with the relevant database that is being configured, either *Swimlane* or *SwimlaneHistory* or *Turbine*.

**MongoDB Password:** The password for the user associated with the relevant database that's being configured, either *Swimlane* or *SwimlaneHistory* or *Turbine*.

**MongoDB hostname list:** The hostname or set of hostnames for the MongoDB cluster. For multi-node clusters, this is usually in the form of a comma-separated list of hostnames and ports. In Atlas deployments, this can be the SRV record for the cluster provided by the Atlas UI.

**MongoDB database:** The database name relevant to the database that's being configured, either *Swimlane* or *SwimlaneHistory* or *Turbine*.

**Upload TLS certificates to use in the MongoDB connection URI options:** Enables the uploading of a CA certificate if the MongoDB cluster uses an internal CA.

**MongoDB connection options:** Provides additional options to the connection string. Currently, the **only** supported options for the Swimlane and Swimlane History database are `ssl` and `sslVerifyCertificates`. The Turbine database supported optins are `tls` and `tlsAllowInvalidCertificates`.