Once you have downloaded the right version, run the .msi file. MongoDB should be installed in the C:\Program Files\MongoDB\ folder. While running, MongoDB uses a default folder to store its data files. On Windows, the default folder location is C:\data\db. So, in the command prompt, go to C:\ and issue the following command:

> md c:\data\db

Once you've finished creating the data folders, you'll get two options while running the main MongoDB service.

Running MongoDB manually

To run MongoDB manually, you will need to run the mongod binary. So, open the command prompt and navigate to the C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.2\bin folder. Then, issue the following command:

C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.2\bin> mongod

The preceding command will run the main MongoDB service that starts listening to the default 27017 port. If everything goes well, you should see a console output similar to the following screenshot:

Running the MongoDB server on Windows

Depending on the Windows security level, a security alert dialog, which notifies you about the blocking of some service features, will be issued. If this occurs, select a private network and click on Allow Access.

Note

You should be aware that the MongoDB service is self-contained, so you can alternatively run it from any folder of your choice.

> md C:\data\log

systemLog:
    destination: file
    path: c:\data\log\mongod.log
storage:
    dbPath: c:\data\db

> sc stop MongoDB
> sc delete MongoDB

> "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.2\bin\mongod.exe" --config "C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.2\mongod.cfg" --install

> net start MongoDB

In this section, you'll learn the different ways of installing MongoDB on Unix-based operating systems. Let's begin with the simplest way to install MongoDB, which involves downloading MongoDB's precompiled binaries.

You can download the right version of MongoDB using the download page at http://www.mongodb.org/downloads. Alternatively, you can do this via CURL by executing the following command:

$ curl -O http://downloads.mongodb.org/osx/mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.10.tgz

Notice that we have downloaded the Mac OS X 64-bit version, so make sure you alter the command to fit the version suitable for your machine. After the downloading process is over, unpack the file by issuing the following command in your command-line tool:

$ tar -zxvf mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.10.tgz

Now, change the name of the extracted folder to a simpler folder name by running the following command:

$ mv mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.10 mongodb

MongoDB uses a default folder to store its files. On Linux and Mac OS X, the default location is /data/db, so in your command-line tool, run the following command:

$ mkdir -p /data/db

The preceding command will create the data and db folders, because the –p flag creates parent folders as well. Notice that the default folder is located outside your home folder, so make sure you set the folder permission by running the following command:

$ chown -R $USER /data/db

Now that you have everything prepared, use your command-line tool and go to the bin folder to run the mongod service as follows:

$ cd mongodb/bin
$ mongod

This will run the main MongoDB service, which will start listening to the default 27017 port. If everything goes well, you should see a console output similar to the following screenshot:

Running the MongoDB server on Mac OS X

The MongoDB archive file includes the MongoDB shell, which allows to you to interact with your server instance using the command line. To start the shell, navigate to the MongoDB bin folder and run the mongo service as follows:

$ cd mongodb/bin
$ mongo

If you successfully installed MongoDB, the shell will automatically connect to your local instance, using the test database. You should see a console output similar to the following screenshot:

Running the MongoDB shell on Mac OS X

To test your database, run the following command:

> db.articles.insert({title: "Hello World"})

The preceding command will create a new article collection and insert a JSON object containing a title property. To retrieve the article object, execute the following command:

> db.articles.find()

The console will output a text similar to the following message:

{ _id: ObjectId("52d02240e4b01d67d71ad577"), title: "Hello World" }

Congratulations! This means your MongoDB instance is working properly, and you have successfully managed to interact with it using the MongoDB shell. In the upcoming chapters, you'll learn more about MongoDB and how to use the MongoDB shell.