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Community Edition

Install MongoDB Community Edition on Windows

On this page

  • Overview
  • Considerations
  • Install MongoDB Community Edition
  • Run MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service
  • Run MongoDB Community Edition from the Command Interpreter
  • Additional Considerations

Note

MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB Atlas is a hosted MongoDB service option in the cloud which requires no installation overhead and offers a free tier to get started.

Overview

Use this tutorial to install MongoDB 5.0 Community Edition on Windows using the default installation wizard.

MongoDB Version

This tutorial installs MongoDB 5.0 Community Edition. To install a different version of MongoDB Community, use the version drop-down menu in the upper-left corner of this page to select the documentation for that version.

Installation Method

This tutorial installs MongoDB on Windows using the default MSI installation wizard. To install MongoDB using the msiexec.exe command-line tool instead, see Install MongoDB using msiexec.exe. The msiexec.exe tool is useful for system administrators who wish to deploy MongoDB in an unattended fashion using automation.

Considerations

MongoDB Shell, mongosh

The MongoDB Shell (mongosh) is not installed with MongoDB Server. You need to follow the mongosh installation instructions to download and install mongosh separately.

Platform Support

MongoDB 5.0 Community Edition supports the following 64-bit versions of Windows on x86_64 architecture:

  • Windows Server 2019

  • Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016

MongoDB only supports the 64-bit versions of these platforms.

See Platform Support for more information.

Note

MongoDB is not supported on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). To run MongoDB on Linux, use a supported Linux system.

Virtualization

Oracle offers experimental support for VirtualBox on Windows hosts where Hyper-V is running. However, Microsoft does not support VirtualBox on Hyper-V.

Disable Hyper-V if you want to install MongoDB on Windows using VirtualBox.

Production Notes

Before deploying MongoDB in a production environment, consider the Production Notes for Self-Managed Deployments document which offers performance considerations and configuration recommendations for production MongoDB deployments.

Install MongoDB Community Edition

Procedure

Follow these steps to install MongoDB Community Edition using the MongoDB Installer wizard. The installation process installs both the MongoDB binaries as well as the default configuration file <install directory>\bin\mongod.cfg.

1

Download the installer.

Download the MongoDB Community .msi installer from the following link:

➤ MongoDB Download Center

  1. In the Version dropdown, select the version of MongoDB to download.

  2. In the Platform dropdown, select Windows.

  3. In the Package dropdown, select msi.

  4. Click Download.

2

Run the MongoDB installer.

For example, from the Windows Explorer/File Explorer:

  1. Go to the directory where you downloaded the MongoDB installer (.msi file). By default, this is your Downloads directory.

  2. Double-click the .msi file.

3

Follow the MongoDB Community Edition installation wizard.

The wizard steps you through the installation of MongoDB and MongoDB Compass.

  1. Choose Setup Type
    You can choose either the Complete (recommended for most users) or Custom setup type. The Complete setup option installs MongoDB and the MongoDB tools to the default location. The Custom setup option allows you to specify which executables are installed and where.
  2. Service Configuration

    You can set up MongoDB as a Windows service during the install or just install the binaries.

    You can configure and start MongoDB as a Windows service during the install, and the MongoDB service is started upon successful installation.

    • Select Install MongoD as a Service.

    • Select one of these options:

      • Run the service as Network Service user (Default)

        This is a Windows user account that is built-in to Windows.

      • Run the service as a local or domain user

        • For an existing local user account, specify a period (.) for the Account Domain and specify the Account Name and the Account Password for the user.

        • For an existing domain user, specify the Account Domain, Account Name and Account Password for that user.

    • Service Name. Specify the service name. Default name is MongoDB. If you already have a service with the specified name, you must choose another name.

    • Data Directory. Specify the data directory, which corresponds to the --dbpath. If the directory does not exist, the installer will create the directory and sets the directory access to the service user.

    • Log Directory. Specify the Log directory, which corresponds to the --logpath. If the directory does not exist, the installer will create the directory and sets the directory access to the service user.

    If you choose not to configure MongoDB as a Windows service, uncheck the Install MongoD as a Service.

  3. Install MongoDB Compass
    Optional. To have the wizard install MongoDB Compass, select Install MongoDB Compass (Default).

  4. When ready, click Install.

Install mongosh

The .msi installer does not include mongosh. Follow the mongosh installation instructions to download and install the shell separately.

If You Installed MongoDB as a Windows Service

The MongoDB service starts upon successful installation. Configure the MongoDB instance with the configuration file <install directory>\bin\mongod.cfg.

If You Did Not Install MongoDB as a Windows Service

If you only installed the executables and did not install MongoDB as a Windows service, you must manually start the MongoDB instance.

See Run MongoDB Community Edition from the Command Interpreter for instructions to start a MongoDB instance.

Run MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

You can install and configure MongoDB as a Windows Service during installation. The MongoDB service starts upon successful installation. Configure the MongoDB instance with the configuration file <install directory>\bin\mongod.cfg.

If you have not already done so, follow the mongosh installation instructions to download and install the MongoDB Shell (mongosh).

Be sure to add the path to your mongosh.exe binary to your PATH environment variable during installation.

Open a new Command Interpreter and enter mongosh.exe to connect to MongoDB.

For more information on connecting to a mongod using mongosh.exe, such as connecting to a MongoDB instance running on a different host and/or port, see Connect to a Deployment.

For information on CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, see:

Start MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

To start/restart the MongoDB service, use the Services console:

  1. From the Services console, locate the MongoDB service.

  2. Right-click on the MongoDB service and click Start.

Stop MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

To stop/pause the MongoDB service, use the Services console:

  1. From the Services console, locate the MongoDB service.

  2. Right-click on the MongoDB service and click Stop (or Pause).

Remove MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

To remove the MongoDB service, first use the Services console to stop the service. Then open a Windows command prompt/interpreter (cmd.exe) as an Administrator, and run the following command:

sc.exe delete MongoDB

Run MongoDB Community Edition from the Command Interpreter

You can run MongoDB Community Edition from the Windows command prompt/interpreter (cmd.exe) instead of as a service.

Open a Windows command prompt/interpreter (cmd.exe) as an Administrator.

Important

You must open the command interpreter as an Administrator.

1

Create database directory.

Create the data directory where MongoDB stores data. MongoDB's default data directory path is the absolute path \data\db on the drive from which you start MongoDB.

From the Command Interpreter, create the data directories:

cd C:\
md "\data\db"
2

Start your MongoDB database.

To start MongoDB, run mongod.exe.

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\5.0\bin\mongod.exe" --dbpath="c:\data\db"

The --dbpath option points to your database directory.

If the MongoDB database server is running correctly, the Command Interpreter displays:

[initandlisten] waiting for connections

Important

Depending on the Windows Defender Firewall settings on your Windows host, Windows may display a Security Alert dialog box about blocking "some features" of C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\5.0\bin\mongod.exe from communicating on networks. To remedy this issue:

  1. Click Private Networks, such as my home or work network.

  2. Click Allow access.

To learn more about security and MongoDB, see the Security Documentation.

3

Connect to MongoDB.

If you have not already done so, follow the mongosh installation instructions to download and install the MongoDB Shell (mongosh).

Be sure to add the path to your mongosh.exe binary to your PATH environment variable during installation.

Open a new Command Interpreter and enter mongosh.exe to connect to MongoDB.

For more information on connecting to mongod using mongosh.exe, such as connecting to a MongoDB instance running on a different host and/or port, see Connect to a Deployment.

For information on CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations, see:

Additional Considerations

Localhost Binding by Default

By default, MongoDB launches with bindIp set to 127.0.0.1, which binds to the localhost network interface. This means that the mongod.exe can only accept connections from clients that are running on the same machine. Remote clients will not be able to connect to the mongod.exe, and the mongod.exe will not be able to initialize a replica set unless this value is set to a valid network interface which is accessible from the remote clients.

This value can be configured either:

  • in the MongoDB configuration file with bindIp, or

  • via the command-line argument --bind_ip

Warning

Before binding to a non-localhost (e.g. publicly accessible) IP address, ensure you have secured your cluster from unauthorized access. For a complete list of security recommendations, see Security Checklist for Self-Managed Deployments. At minimum, consider enabling authentication and hardening network infrastructure.

For more information on configuring bindIp, see IP Binding in Self-Managed Deployments.

Point Releases and .msi

If you installed MongoDB with the Windows installer (.msi), the .msi automatically upgrades within its release series (e.g. 7.2.1 to 7.2.2).

Upgrading a full release series (e.g. 6.0 to 7.0) requires a new installation.

Add MongoDB binaries to the System PATH

If you add C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\5.0\bin to your System PATH you can omit the full path to the MongoDB Server binaries. You should also add the path to mongosh if you have not already done so.

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