How to Install MongoDB Community Edition on Ubuntu 24.04

In this tutorial, you’ll install MongoDB Community Edition on a Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM, enable authentication, create an application database user, and verify the deployment with authenticated CRUD operations.

MongoDB Community Edition is the self-managed MongoDB server package for Linux systems. This tutorial installs MongoDB 8.0 from the official MongoDB repository on Ubuntu 24.04, then locks the database to local access with authentication enabled. Raff Technologies has supported 10,000+ VM deployments across its compute platform, and Raff Linux VMs can be provisioned in 60 seconds with NVMe storage and unmetered bandwidth.

This tutorial was tested on a Raff VM with 2 vCPU, 4 GB DDR5 RAM, 80 GB NVMe storage, running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Tested on Raff infrastructure by Aybars Altınyay, platform engineer at Raff Technologies.

Prerequisites:

• A Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM
• SSH access with sudo privileges
• A terminal connected to the VM
• Basic familiarity with Linux package management

📌 Note: This tutorial keeps MongoDB bound to 127.0.0.1. That means applications running on the same VM can connect locally, while public internet access to MongoDB remains blocked.

Step 1 — Update system packages

Update the package index and install the tools required to add the MongoDB repository:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y gnupg curl ca-certificates lsb-release ufw

Verify that no package upgrades remain pending:

sudo apt list --upgradable

Expected output:

Listing... Done

Step 2 — Add the MongoDB 8.0 repository

Import the MongoDB 8.0 public GPG key:

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

Create the MongoDB 8.0 repository file for Ubuntu 24.04 Noble:

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

Reload the package index:

sudo apt update

Verify that the MongoDB repository is available:

apt-cache policy mongodb-org

Expected output includes:

mongodb-org:
  Candidate: 8.0.
  Version table:
     8.0.
        https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu noble/mongodb-org/8.0/multiverse

Step 3 — Install MongoDB Community Edition

Install MongoDB Community Edition from the official repository:

sudo apt install -y mongodb-org

Verify the installed MongoDB server and shell versions:

mongod --version
mongosh --version

Expected output includes:

db version v8.0.

and:

2.

Step 4 — Start and verify MongoDB

Start the MongoDB service and enable it at boot:

sudo systemctl start mongod
sudo systemctl enable mongod

Verify that the service is running:

sudo systemctl status mongod --no-pager

Expected output includes:

Active: active (running)

Verify that MongoDB responds locally:

mongosh --quiet --eval 'db.runCommand({ ping: 1 })'

Expected output:

{ ok: 1 }

Step 5 — Create the MongoDB admin user

Create an admin user before enabling authentication:

mongosh

Inside the MongoDB shell, run:

use admin

db.createUser({
  user: "admin",
  pwd: "ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!",
  roles: [
    { role: "userAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" },
    { role: "readWriteAnyDatabase", db: "admin" },
    { role: "dbAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" }
  ]
})

exit

Verify that the admin user exists:

mongosh --quiet --eval 'db.getSiblingDB("admin").getUsers().map(user => user.user)'

Expected output:

[ 'admin' ]

⚠️ Warning: Replace ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword! with a unique password before using this setup for real application data. Do not reuse tutorial credentials.

Step 6 — Enable MongoDB authentication

Back up the MongoDB configuration file:

sudo cp /etc/mongod.conf /etc/mongod.conf.bak

Enable authorization:

cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee -a /etc/mongod.conf

security:
  authorization: enabled
EOF

Restart MongoDB:

sudo systemctl restart mongod

Verify that MongoDB is running after the configuration change:

sudo systemctl status mongod --no-pager

Expected output includes:

Active: active (running)

Verify authenticated admin access:

mongosh --quiet \
  -u admin \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase admin \
  --eval 'db.runCommand({ connectionStatus: 1 }).authInfo.authenticatedUsers'

Expected output includes:

[
  {
    user: 'admin',
    db: 'admin'
  }
]

Step 7 — Create an application database user

Create a database named raffapp and an application user with readWrite access only to that database:

mongosh \
  -u admin \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase admin

Inside the MongoDB shell, run:

use raffapp

db.createUser({
  user: "raffappuser",
  pwd: "ChangeThisStrongAppPassword!",
  roles: [
    { role: "readWrite", db: "raffapp" }
  ]
})

exit

Verify the application user:

mongosh --quiet \
  -u admin \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase admin \
  --eval 'db.getSiblingDB("raffapp").getUsers().map(user => user.user)'

Expected output:

[ 'raffappuser' ]

⚠️ Warning: Replace ChangeThisStrongAppPassword! with a unique application password before connecting production workloads.

Step 8 — Verify CRUD operations end to end

Connect as the application user:

mongosh raffapp \
  -u raffappuser \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAppPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase raffapp

Insert a test document:

db.tutorial.insertOne({
  name: "raff-mongodb-test",
  status: "created",
  createdAt: new Date()
})

Expected output includes:

acknowledged: true

Read the document:

db.tutorial.findOne({ name: "raff-mongodb-test" })

Expected output includes:

name: 'raff-mongodb-test'
status: 'created'

Update the document:

db.tutorial.updateOne(
  { name: "raff-mongodb-test" },
  { $set: { status: "verified" } }
)

Expected output includes:

modifiedCount: 1

Verify the update:

db.tutorial.findOne({ name: "raff-mongodb-test" })

Expected output includes:

status: 'verified'

Delete the test document:

db.tutorial.deleteOne({ name: "raff-mongodb-test" })

Expected output includes:

deletedCount: 1

Exit the MongoDB shell:

exit

The database is working end to end when the application user can insert, read, update, and delete a document in the raffapp database.

Step 9 — Confirm firewall and network binding

MongoDB listens on 127.0.0.1 by default. Keep that default unless you are intentionally building a private network deployment with strict access controls.

Verify the active bind address:

sudo grep -n "bindIp" /etc/mongod.conf

Expected output:

bindIp: 127.0.0.1

Verify that MongoDB listens only on localhost:

sudo ss -lntp | grep 27017

Expected output includes:

127.0.0.1:27017

Enable UFW and explicitly block public MongoDB traffic:

sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw deny 27017/tcp
sudo ufw --force enable

Verify the firewall status:

sudo ufw status numbered

Expected output includes:

22/tcp     ALLOW IN
27017/tcp  DENY IN

End-to-end verification is complete when:

• MongoDB is active under systemd
• Authentication is enabled
• The admin user can authenticate
• The application user can complete CRUD operations
• MongoDB is bound to 127.0.0.1
• Public access to port 27017 is blocked

Cleanup (Optional)

Use this section only when you want to remove MongoDB, its users, databases, configuration files, logs, and firewall rules from the VM.

⚠️ Warning: The following commands permanently delete MongoDB databases, users, configuration files, and logs. Back up any data you need before proceeding.

Stop MongoDB:

sudo systemctl stop mongod
sudo systemctl disable mongod

Remove MongoDB packages:

sudo apt purge "mongodb-org*" -y
sudo apt autoremove -y

Remove MongoDB data, logs, repository files, and keyring files:

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mongodb
sudo rm -rf /var/log/mongodb
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-8.0.list
sudo rm -f /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-8.0.gpg
sudo rm -f /etc/mongod.conf
sudo rm -f /etc/mongod.conf.bak

Remove the MongoDB firewall rule:

sudo ufw delete deny 27017/tcp
sudo ufw status numbered

Verify that the MongoDB service is gone:

systemctl status mongod --no-pager

Expected output includes:

Unit mongod.service could not be found.

Troubleshooting

MongoDB fails to start after installation

Cause: The package installed, but systemd has not loaded the new MongoDB service yet.

Fix:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl start mongod
sudo systemctl status mongod --no-pager

Expected output includes:

Active: active (running)

mongosh authentication fails

Cause: The username, password, or authentication database is incorrect.

Fix:

mongosh \
  -u admin \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase admin

Expected result: the MongoDB shell opens without an authentication error.

For the application user, connect to the raffapp database and authenticate against raffapp:

mongosh raffapp \
  -u raffappuser \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAppPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase raffapp

Expected result: the MongoDB shell opens on the raffapp database.

db.createUser() fails after authentication is enabled

Cause: User creation now requires an authenticated admin session.

Fix:

mongosh \
  -u admin \
  -p 'ChangeThisStrongAdminPassword!' \
  --authenticationDatabase admin

Then create the database user from the authenticated shell:

use raffapp

db.createUser({
  user: "raffappuser",
  pwd: "ChangeThisStrongAppPassword!",
  roles: [
    { role: "readWrite", db: "raffapp" }
  ]
})

Verify the user:

db.getUsers()

Expected output includes:

user: 'raffappuser'

MongoDB listens on the public interface

Cause: The bindIp value in /etc/mongod.conf was changed from 127.0.0.1 to a public interface.

Fix:

sudo nano /etc/mongod.conf

Set:

net:
  port: 27017
  bindIp: 127.0.0.1

Restart MongoDB:

sudo systemctl restart mongod

Verify the bind address:

sudo ss -lntp | grep 27017

Expected output includes:

127.0.0.1:27017

The MongoDB repository is not found

Cause: The repository file is missing, malformed, or not using the Ubuntu 24.04 Noble repository path.

Fix:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-8.0.list

Expected 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

Recreate the repository file if needed:

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

sudo apt update

Verify package availability:

apt-cache policy mongodb-org

Expected output includes:

Candidate: 8.0.

Conclusion and next steps

You now have MongoDB Community Edition running on a Raff Ubuntu 24.04 VM with authentication enabled, a dedicated application database user, verified CRUD operations, and public access to the database port blocked. If you have not deployed your Raff VM yet, you can spin one up in 60 seconds at rafftechnologies.com.

Next: How to Secure Your Ubuntu 24.04 Server

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