Launch plain dockerfile docker run -d -p 27017:27017 -v ~/dataMongo:/data/db mongo Create a user (root) and any other databases (with users) Close and re-run docker file with auth enabled (DBs Should persist) docker run -d -p 27017:27017 -v ~/dataMongo:/data/db mongo --auth https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42201233/mongodb-with-docker-authentication