Install MongoDB Community on Windows using msiexec.exe

Overview

Use this tutorial to install MongoDB 3.6 Community Edition on Windows in an unattended fashion using msiexec.exe from the command line. This is useful for system administrators who wish to deploy MongoDB using automation.

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

This tutorial installs MongoDB on Windows in an unattended fashion using msiexec.exe. Alternatively, you may chose to install MongoDB on Windows using the default installation wizard.

➤ See Install MongoDB Community Edition on Windows for instructions.

Considerations

Platform Support

MongoDB 3.6 Community Edition supports the following 64-bit versions of Windows on x86_64 architecture:

  • Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016
  • Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012
  • Windows 7 / Windows Server 2008 R2

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

See Supported Platforms for more information.

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

Users on Windows versions previous to Windows 10 must install the following update before installing MongoDB:

Update for Universal C Runtime for Windows

Users on Windows 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019 do not need this update.

Procedure

Follow these steps to install MongoDB Community Edition unattended on Windows from the Windows command prompt/interpreter (cmd.exe) using msiexec.exe.

1

Download MongoDB Community Edition.

  1. Open a web browser and visit the MongoDB Download Center .
  2. The Download Center should display MongoDB Community Server tab. If not, select Server, then click the MongoDB Community Server tab.
  3. In the Version dropdown, select the version that corresponds to MongoDB Server 3.6. The download center always displays the latest available point version. For older point releases, click All version binaries in the right hand navigation box.
  4. In the OS dropdown, verify that Windows 64-bit X64 is selected.
  5. In the Package drop down, verify that MSI is selected.
  6. Click Download.
2

Run the Windows Installer from the Windows Command Interpreter.

Change to the directory containing the .msi installation binary and invoke:

msiexec.exe /q /i mongodb-win32-x86_64-2008plus-ssl-3.6.19-signed.msi

To specify a different installation location for the executables, add the INSTALLLOCATION value.

msiexec.exe /q /i mongodb-win32-x86_64-2008plus-ssl-3.6.19-signed.msi ^
            INSTALLLOCATION="C:\MongoDB\Server\3.6\"

By default, this method installs all MongoDB binaries. To install specific MongoDB component sets, you can specify them in the ADDLOCAL argument using a comma-separated list including one or more of the following component sets:

Component Set Binaries
Server mongod.exe
Router mongos.exe
Client mongo.exe
MonitoringTools mongostat.exe, mongotop.exe
ImportExportTools mongodump.exe, mongorestore.exe, mongoexport.exe, mongoimport.exe
MiscellaneousTools bsondump.exe, mongofiles.exe, mongoperf.exe

Example

To install only the MongoDB utilities, invoke:

msiexec.exe /q /i mongodb-win32-x86_64-2008plus-ssl-3.6.19-signed.msi ^
            ADDLOCAL="MonitoringTools,ImportExportTools,MiscellaneousTools"

If you do not wish to install MongoDB Compass at this time, include the SHOULD_INSTALL_COMPASS="0" argument.

msiexec.exe /q /i mongodb-win32-x86_64-2008plus-ssl-3.6.19-signed.msi ^
            SHOULD_INSTALL_COMPASS="0"

Run MongoDB Community Edition from the Command Interpreter

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

Important

You must open the command interpreter as an Administrator.

1

Create the 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 directory:

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

Start your MongoDB database.

To start MongoDB, invoke mongod.exe.

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\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\3.6\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.

To connect a mongo.exe shell to the MongoDB instance, open another Command Interpreter with Administrative privileges and run:

"C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\bin\mongo.exe"

For more information on connecting a mongo.exe shell, such as to connect to a MongoDB instance running on a different host and/or port, see The mongo Shell. For information on CRUD (Create,Read,Update,Delete) operations, see MongoDB CRUD Operations.

To help you start using MongoDB, MongoDB provides Getting Started Guides in various driver editions. See Getting Started for the available editions.

Run MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

Start MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows Service

You can set up the MongoDB server as a Windows Service that starts automatically at boot time.

1

Create the database and log directories.

If you have not created the data and log directories for your MongoDB server, you must create them before running MongoDB Community Edition as a Windows service.

From the Command Interpreter, create the following directories:

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

Create a MongoDB configuration file.

Create a MongoDB configuration file:

C:\Program Files\MongoDB\Server\3.6\mongod.cfg

Note

MongoDB configuration files use the YAML file format. Per the YAML 1.2 specification , all indents must use spaces to maintain portability. To ensure no parsing errors, enclose all values in double quotation marks (") and escape any backslash characters (\).

Set the storage.dbPath and systemLog.path. Include additional configuration options as needed:

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