Install MongoDB Community on Red Hat or CentOS using .tgz Tarball

Overview

Use this tutorial to manually install MongoDB 3.6 Community Edition on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS Linux, or Oracle Linux [1] using a downloaded .tgz tarball.

MongoDB Version

This tutorial installs MongoDB 3.6 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

While MongoDB can be installed manually via a downloaded .tgz tarball as described in this document, it is recommended to use the yum package manager on your system to install MongoDB if possible. Using a package manager automatically installs all needed dependencies, provides an example mongod.conf file to get you started, and simplifies future upgrade and maintenance tasks.

➤ See Install MongoDB using the yum Package Manager for instructions.

Considerations

Platform Support

MongoDB 3.6 Community Edition supports the following 64-bit versions of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS Linux, and Oracle Linux [1] on x86_64 architecture:

  • RHEL / CentOS / Oracle 8 (Starting in MongoDB Enterprise 3.6.17)
  • RHEL / CentOS / Oracle 7
  • RHEL / CentOS / Oracle 6

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

See Supported Platforms for more information.

[1] (1, 2) MongoDB only supports Oracle Linux running the Red Hat Compatible Kernel (RHCK). MongoDB does not support the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK).

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) - Unsupported

MongoDB does not support the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Production Notes

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

Install MongoDB Community Edition

Prerequisites

Use the following command to install the dependencies required for the MongoDB Community .tgz tarball:

sudo yum install libcurl openssl

Procedure

Follow these steps to manually install MongoDB Community Edition from the .tgz.

1

Download the MongoDB .tgz tarball.

Download the tarball for your system from the MongoDB Download Center .

2

Extract the files from the downloaded archive.

For example, from a system shell, you can extract using the tar command:

tar -zxvf mongodb-linux-*-3.6.19.tgz
3

Ensure the binaries are in a directory listed in your PATH environment variable.

The MongoDB binaries are in the bin/ directory of the tarball. You can either:

  • Copy the binaries into a directory listed in your PATH variable, such as /usr/local/bin (Update /path/to/the/mongodb-directory/ with your installation directory as appropriate)

    sudo cp /path/to/the/mongodb-directory/bin/* /usr/local/bin/
    
  • Create symbolic links to the binaries from a directory listed in your PATH variable, such as /usr/local/bin (Update /path/to/the/mongodb-directory/ with your installation directory as appropriate):

    sudo ln -s  /path/to/the/mongodb-directory/bin/* /usr/local/bin/
    

Run MongoDB Community Edition

Prerequisites

ulimit

Most Unix-like operating systems limit the system resources that a session may use. These limits may negatively impact MongoDB operation. See UNIX ulimit Settings for more information.

Directory Paths

To Use Default Directories

By default, MongoDB runs using the mongod user account and uses the following default directories:

  • /var/lib/mongo (the data directory)
  • /var/log/mongodb (the log directory)
➤ If you installed via the package manager,
The default directories are created, and the owner and group for these directories are set to mongod.
➤ If you installed by downloading the tarballs,

The default MongoDB directories are not created. To create the MongoDB data and log directories:

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/mongo
sudo mkdir -p /var/log/mongodb

By default, MongoDB runs using the mongod user account. Once created, set the owner and group of these directories to mongod:

sudo chown -R mongod:mongod <directory>
To Use Non-Default Directories

To use a data directory and/or log directory other than the default directories:

  1. Create the new directory or directories.

  2. Edit the configuration file /etc/mongod.conf and modify the following fields accordingly:

    • storage.dbPath to specify a new data directory path (e.g. /some/data/directory)
    • systemLog.path to specify a new log file path (e.g. /some/log/directory/mongod.log)
  3. Ensure that the user running MongoDB has access to the directory or directories:

    sudo chown -R mongod:mongod <directory>
    

    If you change the user that runs the MongoDB process, you must give the new user access to these directories.

  4. Configure SELinux if enforced. See Configure SELinux.

Configure SELinux

Important

If SELinux is in enforcing mode, you must customize your SELinux policy for MongoDB.

The current SELinux Policy does not allow the MongoDB process to access /sys/fs/cgroup, which is required to determine the available memory on your system. If you intend to run SELinux in enforcing mode, you will need to make the following adjustment to your SELinux policy:

  1. Ensure your system has the checkpolicy package installed:

    sudo yum install checkpolicy
    
  2. Create a custom policy file mongodb_cgroup_memory.te:

    cat > mongodb_cgroup_memory.te <<EOF
    module mongodb_cgroup_memory 1.0;
    
    require {
        type cgroup_t;
        type mongod_t;
        class dir search;
        class file { getattr open read };
    }
    
    #============= mongod_t ==============
    allow mongod_t cgroup_t:dir search;
    allow mongod_t cgroup_t:file { getattr open read };
    EOF
    
  3. Once created, compile and load the custom policy module by running these three commands:

    checkmodule -M -m -o mongodb_cgroup_memory.mod mongodb_cgroup_memory.te
    semodule_package -o mongodb_cgroup_memory.pp -m mongodb_cgroup_memory.mod
    sudo semodule -i mongodb_cgroup_memory.pp
    

The MongoDB process is now able to access the correct files with SELinux set to enforcing.

Important

You will also need to further customize your SELinux policy in the following two cases if SELinux is in enforcing mode:

  • You are not using the default MongoDB directories (for RHEL 7.0), and/or
  • You are not using default MongoDB ports.
Non-Default MongoDB Directory Path(s)
  1. Update the SELinux policy to allow the mongod service to use the new directory:

    semanage fcontext -a -t <type> </some/MongoDB/directory.*>
    

    where specify one of the following types as appropriate:

    • mongod_var_lib_t for data directory
    • mongod_log_t for log file directory
    • mongod_var_run_t for pid file directory

    Note

    Be sure to include the .* at the end of the directory.

  2. Update the SELinux user policy for the new directory:

    chcon -Rv -u system_u -t <type> </some/MongoDB/directory>
    

    where specify one of the following types as appropriate:

    • mongod_var_lib_t for data directory
    • mongod_log_t for log directory
    • mongod_var_run_t for pid file directory
  3. Apply the updated SELinux policies to the directory:

    restorecon -R -v </some/MongoDB/directory>
    

For examples:

Tip

  • Depending on your user permission, you may need to use sudo to perform these operations.
  • Be sure to include the .* at the end of the directory for the semanage fcontext operations.
  • If using a non-default MongoDB data path of /mongodb/data: