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Install MongoDB on Windows

Platform Support

Starting in version 2.2, MongoDB does not support Windows XP. Please use a more recent version of Windows to use more recent releases of MongoDB.

Important

If you are running any edition of Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7, please install a hotfix to resolve an issue with memory mapped files on Windows.

Download MongoDB for Windows

There are three builds of MongoDB for Windows:

  • MongoDB for Windows Server 2008 R2 edition (i.e. 2008R2) only runs on Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 64-bit, and newer versions of Windows. This build takes advantage of recent enhancements to the Windows Platform and cannot operate on older versions of Windows.
  • MongoDB for Windows 64-bit runs on any 64-bit version of Windows newer than Windows XP, including Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 64-bit.
  • MongoDB for Windows 32-bit runs on any 32-bit version of Windows newer than Windows XP. 32-bit versions of MongoDB are only intended for older systems and for use in testing and development systems. 32-bit versions of MongoDB only support databases smaller than 2GB.

Tip

To find which version of Windows you are running, enter the following command in the Command Prompt:

wmic os get osarchitecture
  1. Download the latest production release of MongoDB from the MongoDB downloads page. Ensure you download the correct version of MongoDB for your Windows system. The 64-bit versions of MongoDB will not work with 32-bit Windows.

  2. Extract the downloaded archive.

    1. In Windows Explorer, find the MongoDB download file, typically in the default Downloads directory.
    2. Extract the archive to C:\ by right clicking on the archive and selecting Extract All and browsing to C:\.
  3. Optional. Move the MongoDB directory to another location. For example, to move the directory to C:\mongodb directory:

    1. Go Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories.

    2. Right click Command Prompt, and select Run as Administrator from the popup menu.

    3. In the Command Prompt, issue the following commands:

      cd \
      move C:\mongodb-win32-* C:\mongodb
      

Note

MongoDB is self-contained and does not have any other system dependencies. You can run MongoDB from any folder you choose. You may install MongoDB in any directory (e.g. D:\test\mongodb)

Run MongoDB

Set Up the Data Directory

MongoDB requires a data folder to store its files. The default location for the MongoDB data directory is C:\data\db. Create this folder using the Command Prompt. Go to the C:\ directory and issue the following command sequence:

md data
md data\db

You can specify an alternate path for data files using the --dbpath option to mongod.exe.

Start MongoDB

To start MongoDB, execute from the Command Prompt:

C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe

This will start the main MongoDB database process. The waiting for connections message in the console output indicates that the mongod.exe process is running successfully.

Note

Depending on the security level of your system, Windows will issue a Security Alert dialog box about blocking “some features” of C:\\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe from communicating on networks. All users should select Private Networks, such as my home or work network and click Allow access. For additional information on security and MongoDB, please read the Security Concepts page.

Warning

Do not allow mongod.exe to be accessible to public networks without running in “Secure Mode” (i.e. auth.) MongoDB is designed to be run in “trusted environments” and the database does not enable authentication or “Secure Mode” by default.

You may specify an alternate path for \data\db with the dbpath setting for mongod.exe, as in the following example:

C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe --dbpath d:\test\mongodb\data

If your path includes spaces, enclose the entire path in double quotations, for example:

C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe --dbpath "d:\test\mongo db data"

Connect to MongoDB

Connect to MongoDB using the ~bin.mongo.exe shell. Open another Command Prompt and issue the following command:

C:\mongodb\bin\mongo.exe

Note

Executing the command start C:\mongodb\bin\mongo.exe will automatically start the mongo.exe shell in a separate Command Prompt window.

The ~bin.mongo.exe shell will connect to mongod.exe running on the localhost interface and port 27017 by default. At the ~bin.mongo.exe prompt, issue the following two commands to insert a record in the test collection of the default test database and then retrieve that record:

db.test.save( { a: 1 } )
db.test.find()

See also

mongo and mongo Shell Methods. If you want to develop applications using .NET, see the documentation of C# and MongoDB for more information.

MongoDB as a Windows Service

New in version 2.0.

You can set up MongoDB as a Windows Service so that the database will start automatically following each reboot cycle.

Note

mongod.exe added support for running as a Windows service in version 2.0, and mongos.exe added support for running as a Windows Service in version 2.1.1.

Configure the System

The following steps, although optional, are good practice.

You should specify two options when running MongoDB as a Windows Service: a path for the log output (i.e. logpath) and a configuration file.

  1. Optional. Create a specific directory for MongoDB log files:

    md C:\mongodb\log
    
  2. Optional. Create a configuration file for the logpath option for MongoDB in the Command Prompt by issuing this command:

    echo logpath=C:\mongodb\log\mongo.log > C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg
    

Note

Consider setting the logappend option. If you do not, mongod.exe will delete the contents of the existing log file when starting.

Changed in version 2.2: The default logpath and logappend behavior changed in the 2.2 release.

Install and Run the MongoDB Service

Run all of the following commands in Command Prompt with “Administrative Privileges:”

  1. To install the MongoDB service:

    C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe --config C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg --install
    

    Modify the path to the mongod.cfg file as needed. For the --install option to succeed, you must specify a logpath setting or the --logpath run-time option.

  2. To run the MongoDB service:

    net start MongoDB
    

If you wish to use an alternate path for your dbpath specify it in the config file (e.g. C:\mongodb\mongod.cfg) on that you specified in the --install operation. You may also specify --dbpath on the command line; however, always prefer the configuration file.

If you have not set up the data directory, set up the data directory where MongoDB will store its data files. If the dbpath directory does not exist, mongod.exe will not be able to start. The default value for dbpath is \data\db.

Stop or Remove the MongoDB Service

To stop the MongoDB service:

net stop MongoDB

To remove the MongoDB service:

C:\mongodb\bin\mongod.exe --remove