Quickstart Unix

Download

If you are running an old version of Linux and the database doesn't start, or gives a floating point exception, try the "legacy static" version on the Downloads page instead of the versions listed below.

Via package manager

Ubuntu and Debian users can now install nightly snapshots via apt. See Ubuntu and Debian packages for details.

CentOS and Fedora users should head to the CentOS and Fedora Packages page.

32-bit Linux binaries

Note: 64 bit is recommended.

$ # replace "1.6.4" in the url below with the version you want
$ curl http://downloads.mongodb.org/linux/mongodb-linux-i686-1.6.4.tgz > mongo.tgz
$ tar xzf mongo.tgz

64-bit Linux binaries

$ # replace "1.6.4" in the url below with the version you want
$ curl http://downloads.mongodb.org/linux/mongodb-linux-x86_64-1.6.4.tgz > mongo.tgz
$ tar xzf mongo.tgz

Other Unixes

See the Downloads page for some binaries, and also the Building page for information on building from source.

Create a data directory

By default MongoDB will store data in /data/db, but it won't automatically create that directory. To create it, do:

$ sudo mkdir -p /data/db/
$ sudo chown `id -u` /data/db

You can also tell MongoDB to use a different data directory, with the --dbpath option.

Run and connect to the server

First, start the MongoDB server in one terminal:

$ ./mongodb-xxxxxxx/bin/mongod

In a separate terminal, start the shell, which will connect to localhost by default:

$ ./mongodb-xxxxxxx/bin/mongo
> db.foo.save( { a : 1 } )
> db.foo.find()

Congratulations, you've just saved and retrieved your first document with MongoDB!

Learn more

Once you have MongoDB installed and running, head over to the Tutorial.