def _get_conn(ret):
    '''
    Return a mongodb connection object
    '''
    _options = _get_options(ret)

    host = _options.get('host')
    port = _options.get('port')
    db_ = _options.get('db')
    user = _options.get('user')
    password = _options.get('password')
    indexes = _options.get('indexes', False)

    # at some point we should remove support for
    # pymongo versions < 2.3 until then there are
    # a bunch of these sections that need to be supported

    if PYMONGO_VERSION > _LooseVersion('2.3'):
        conn = pymongo.MongoClient(host, port)
    else:
        conn = pymongo.Connection(host, port)
    mdb = conn[db_]

    if user and password:
        mdb.authenticate(user, password)

    if indexes:
        if PYMONGO_VERSION > _LooseVersion('2.3'):
            mdb.saltReturns.create_index('minion')
            mdb.saltReturns.create_index('jid')

            mdb.jobs.create_index('jid')
        else:
            mdb.saltReturns.ensure_index('minion')
            mdb.saltReturns.ensure_index('jid')

            mdb.jobs.ensure_index('jid')

    return conn, mdb