Author

Francis Ndungu

On this Page

Home → Articles → How to Install MongoDB Database Server on Ubuntu 26.04

How to Install MongoDB Database Server on Ubuntu 26.04

09 May, 2026

Introduction

MongoDB is a popular open-source NoSQL database that stores data in flexible, JSON-like documents rather than traditional table-based structures. Unlike relational databases that require predefined schemas, MongoDB allows you to store data with varying fields and structures within the same collection. This document-oriented approach handles unstructured or semi-structured data efficiently, making MongoDB a preferred choice for modern applications that require rapid iteration and scalability. Many development teams use MongoDB for content management systems, real-time analytics, catalogs, and mobile applications where data models evolve frequently.

This tutorial teaches you how to install and configure MongoDB on Ubuntu 26.04.

Prerequisites

Before you start:

Purchase an Ubuntu 26.04 VPS (Virtual Private Server) . If you don't have an Ubuntu VPS, sign up with Vultr and get upto $300 worth of free credit to test the Vultr platform.
Connect to your server through SSH, replace 192.168.0.1 with your VPS public IP address..
Windows
- Use PuTTY to connect to your VPS .
Linux or Mac
- Run the following command in your shell.
  console
  $ ssh username@192.168.0.1
Create a non-root user with sudo privileges. Read our guide on How to Create a Non-Root Sudo User on Ubuntu 24.04. You'll use this user's account to run the commands in this guide.

Understand MongoDB Terminology Compared to SQL Databases

MongoDB uses different terminology than traditional SQL databases. Understanding these differences helps you transition between database systems. The table below maps common SQL concepts to their MongoDB equivalents.

SQL Concept	MongoDB Concept	Description
Database	Database	Both systems use databases to contain related data
Table	Collection	A group of documents in MongoDB, equivalent to a table in SQL
Row	Document	A single data record, stored as a BSON document in MongoDB
Column	Field	A key for a value within document in MongoDB
Column Value	Key Value	The actual value of a column (in SQL) or a actual value of a key (in MongoDB)
Primary Key	`_id` field	MongoDB automatically creates a unique `_id` field for each document
JOIN	Embedded documents or `$lookup`	MongoDB supports embedding related data directly or using aggregation lookups
GROUP BY	Aggregation pipeline	MongoDB uses aggregation stages like `$group` for data grouping

Install MongoDB

MongoDB provides official packages for Ubuntu. To install the database server, follow these steps.

Refresh your system package list to get the latest available versions.
console
```
$ sudo apt update
```

Install prerequisite packages that allow apt to use repositories over HTTPS.

console

$ sudo apt install -y gnupg curl

Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
gnupg is already the newest version (2.4.8-2).
curl is already the newest version (8.12.1-2).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

Import the official MongoDB GPG key to verify package authenticity.

console

$ curl -fsSL https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-8.0.asc | \
sudo gpg -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg --dearmor

Add the MongoDB repository to your system sources list.

console

$ echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg ] \
https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu noble/mongodb-org/8.0 multiverse" | \
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-8.0.list

Output:

deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu noble/mongodb-org/8.0 multiverse

Refresh the package list again to include the newly added MongoDB repository.
console
```
$ sudo apt update
```

Install the MongoDB packages.

console

$ sudo apt install -y mongodb-org

Output:

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  mongodb-database-tools mongodb-mongosh mongodb-org mongodb-org-database
  mongodb-org-database-tools-extra mongodb-org-mongos mongodb-org-server
  mongodb-org-shell mongodb-org-tools
0 upgraded, 9 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 252 MB of archives.
After this operation, 1,024 MB of additional disk space will be used.

Verify the MongoDB version using the mongod daemon.

console

$ mongod --version

Output:

db version v8.0.21
Build Environment:
    distarch: x86_64
    target_arch: x86_64

Manage MongoDB Service

MongoDB runs as a system service on Ubuntu under the name mongod. You can manage this service using specific commands to start, stop, restart, and check the MongoDB status. These commands ensure your database server runs correctly and simplify maintenance tasks.

Enable MongoDB to Start on Boot

console

$ sudo systemctl enable mongod

Output:

Synchronizing state of mongod.service with SysV service script with /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
Executing: /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable mongod

Check MongoDB Status

console

$ sudo systemctl status mongod

Output:

● mongod.service - MongoDB Database Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mongod.service; disabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: inactive (dead)
       Docs: https://docs.mongodb.org/manual

Press Ctrl + C to return to the shell prompt.

Start MongoDB Service

console

$ sudo systemctl start mongod

Check MongoDB Status

console

$ sudo systemctl status mongod

Output:

● mongod.service - MongoDB Database Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/mongod.service; enabled; preset: disabled)
     Active: active (running) since Tue 2026-04-30 08:15:23 UTC; 45s ago
       Docs: https://docs.mongodb.org/manual
   Main PID: 2456 (mongod)
     Memory: 198.2M
        CPU: 3.482s
     CGroup: /system.slice/mongod.service
             └─2456 /usr/bin/mongod --config /etc/mongod.conf

Stop MongoDB Service

console

$ sudo systemctl stop mongod

Restart MongoDB Service

console

$ sudo systemctl restart mongod

Secure MongoDB with Authentication

MongoDB does not enable authentication by default. To protect your database server, you create an administrative user and enable access control.

Connect to the MongoDB shell, the interactive command-line interface for managing MongoDB.

console

$ mongosh

Output:

Current Mongosh Log ID: 67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d0
Connecting to: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000
Using MongoDB: 8.0.13
Using Mongosh: 2.5.0

test>

Switch to the admin database where you store administrative users.
```
test> use admin
```
Output:
```
switched to db admin
```

Create an administrative user with root role privileges.

admin> db.createUser({
    user: "adminUser",
    pwd: "your_secure_password",
    roles: [{ role: "root", db: "admin" }]
})

Output:

{ ok: 1 }

Exit from the MongoDB shell.
```
admin> exit
```
Output:
```
$
```
Open the MongoDB configuration file again.
console
```
$ sudo nano /etc/mongod.conf
```
Add the following security section to enable authentication.
YAML
```
security:
  authorization: enabled
```
The updated configuration file should look like this:
YAML
```
net:
  port: 27017
  bindIp: 0.0.0.0

security:
  authorization: enabled
```
Save and close the /etc/mongod.conf file by pressing Ctrl + X, Y then Enter.
Restart MongoDB to apply the security changes.
console
```
$ sudo systemctl restart mongod
```

Test the MongoDB Database Server

In this section, you'll test MongoDB by logging in with the administrative user. Then, you'll create a sample database and collection, insert documents, and query the collection to verify the database works correctly.

Connect to the MongoDB shell with authentication.

console

$ mongosh --username adminUser --password SecurePassword123! --authenticationDatabase admin

Output:

Current Mongosh Log ID: 67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d1
Connecting to: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000&authSource=admin
Using MongoDB: 8.0.13
Using Mongosh: 2.5.0

test>

Create a new library_db database. In MongoDB, switching to a database creates it automatically.
```
test> use library_db
```
Output:
```
switched to db library_db
```

Create a books collection and insert a document in one operation.

library_db> db.books.insertOne({
    title: "The Great Gatsby",
    author: "F. Scott Fitzgerald",
    year: 1925,
    genres: ["fiction", "classic"],
    available: true
})

Output:

{
  acknowledged: true,
  insertedId: ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d2')
}

Insert multiple documents into the books collection.

library_db> db.books.insertMany([
    { title: "1984", author: "George Orwell", year: 1949, genres: ["fiction", "dystopian"], available: true },
    { title: "To Kill a Mockingbird", author: "Harper Lee", year: 1960, genres: ["fiction", "classic"], available: false },
    { title: "Moby Dick", author: "Herman Melville", year: 1851, genres: ["fiction", "adventure"], available: true }
])

Output:

{
  acknowledged: true,
  insertedIds: {
    '0': ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d3'),
    '1': ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d4'),
    '2': ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d5')
  }
}

Query all documents in the books collection.

library_db> db.books.find().pretty()

Output:

[
  {
    _id: ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d2'),
    title: 'The Great Gatsby',
    author: 'F. Scott Fitzgerald',
    year: 1925,
    genres: [ 'fiction', 'classic' ],
    available: true
  },
  {
    _id: ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d3'),
    title: '1984',
    author: 'George Orwell',
    year: 1949,
    genres: [ 'fiction', 'dystopian' ],
    available: true
  },
  {
    _id: ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d4'),
    title: 'To Kill a Mockingbird',
    author: 'Harper Lee',
    year: 1960,
    genres: [ 'fiction', 'classic' ],
    available: false
  },
  {
    _id: ObjectId('67f8a3b2c1d4e5f6a7b8c9d5'),
    title: 'Moby Dick',
    author: 'Herman Melville',
    year: 1851,
    genres: [ 'fiction', 'adventure' ],
    available: true
  }
]

Query only the available books.

library_db> db.books.find({ available: true }, { title: 1, author: 1, _id: 0 })

Output:

[
  { title: 'The Great Gatsby', author: 'F. Scott Fitzgerald' },
  { title: '1984', author: 'George Orwell' },
  { title: 'Moby Dick', author: 'Herman Melville' }
]

Count the total number of books in the collection.
```
library_db> db.books.countDocuments()
```
Output:
```
4
```
Exit from the MongoDB shell.
```
library_db> exit
```

Your MongoDB database server is working as expected.

Conclusion

In this guide, you have installed MongoDB on Ubuntu 26.04 using the official repository, secured the server with authentication, and tested the installation by creating a database with collections and documents. Now that you have MongoDB running, consider integrating the database with a programming language like Python using pymongo, with Node.js using the mongodb package, or with Java using the MongoDB Java Driver to build modern data-driven applications.

Database
VPS
NoSQL