How to Install MongoDB on Ubuntu 26.04 and 24.04

• Ubuntu 26.04 or 24.04, 64-bit AMD64 or ARM64, internet access and sudo.
• A new standalone installation with systemd. Back up existing databases before changes; do not treat this as an upgrade guide.
• MongoDB 9.0.4 or newer is required for Ubuntu 26.04. Check CPU support below.

Open a terminal and check your release, architecture and init system:

cat /etc/os-release
dpkg --print-architecture
ps -p 1 -o comm=

Look for Ubuntu 26.04 (resolute) or 24.04 (noble), amd64 or arm64, and systemd. If these do not match, stop and check the official platform documentation. WSL or containers may need a different service setup.

On AMD64, MongoDB requires AVX support, including in virtual machines. Check before installing:

grep -qw avx /proc/cpuinfo && echo "AVX available" || echo "AVX not detected"

Run this check on AMD64 only. If AVX is missing, stop and check the CPU or virtual machine settings. ARM64 has separate architecture requirements; check the official production notes for your processor.

Check for an existing MongoDB installation:

dpkg-query -W -f='${binary:Package} ${Version} ${db:Status-Abbrev}\n' '*mongo*' 2>/dev/null

If packages or an existing database are present, do not remove them or install over them without a backup and a version-specific upgrade plan. Package names alone do not establish database compatibility.

Refresh package information and install the tools needed to fetch the signing key:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates curl gnupg

If the update reports an error, fix it before continuing. Review proposed package changes when prompted.

Download the official MongoDB 9.0 signing key and convert it into a dedicated APT keyring. The second command replaces a file of the same name if one exists.

curl -fsSLo /tmp/mongodb-server-9.asc https://pgp.mongodb.com/server-9.asc &&
sudo gpg --dearmor --yes -o /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-9.0.gpg /tmp/mongodb-server-9.asc

The second command runs only if the download succeeds. The keyring lets APT verify packages from this repository.

Use the command for your release only. It creates or replaces the named repository file; inspect it first if you have already configured MongoDB.

echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-9.0.gpg] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu resolute/mongodb-org/9.0 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-9.0.list

That command is for Ubuntu 26.04. For Ubuntu 24.04, use this instead:

echo "deb [arch=amd64,arm64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-9.0.gpg] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu noble/mongodb-org/9.0 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-9.0.list

Do not use a different Ubuntu release’s repository as a workaround.

Refresh APT and inspect the candidate before installing:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy mongodb-org

The candidate should be from MongoDB’s 9.0 repository for your Ubuntu codename. On 26.04 it must be 9.0.4 or newer. If no candidate appears or the update fails, stop and use troubleshooting below.

sudo apt install mongodb-org

Review the package list. This installs the server, MongoDB Shell and database tools through the official packages.

Start MongoDB now and enable it at boot:

sudo systemctl enable --now mongod
systemctl is-active mongod
systemctl is-enabled mongod

Expect active and enabled. If systemd says the unit is not found, run sudo systemctl daemon-reload, then retry. Test the server and shell:

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

A successful ping contains ok: 1. A version number alone does not prove the server is running.

Open the local administrative database:

mongosh admin

At the mongosh prompt, create an administrator. The shell prompts for the password so it is not written in the command itself. Choose a strong password and store it safely.

db.createUser({ user: "siteAdmin", pwd: passwordPrompt(), roles: [ { role: "userAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" }, { role: "readWriteAnyDatabase", db: "admin" } ] })

Wait for a successful response. If creation fails, stop and investigate before enabling authorization. This account can manage users and read and write data; create narrower application users later. Exit the shell with exit.

Open the configuration file. Restarting the service will briefly interrupt connected applications.

sudo nano /etc/mongod.conf

Find the existing security: section, which may be commented out. Enable or add this block once at the top YAML level, using spaces, not tabs:

security:
  authorization: enabled

Do not duplicate a security key. Save with Ctrl+O, Enter, and exit with Ctrl+X. Then restart and check:

sudo systemctl restart mongod
systemctl is-active mongod

If restart fails, inspect sudo journalctl -u mongod -n 50 --no-pager, correct the YAML, and retry. Do not disable authorization merely to hide the error.

Connect as the administrator. The password is requested interactively:

mongosh admin --username siteAdmin --password

Run db.adminCommand({ listDatabases: 1 }).ok at the shell prompt; a permitted request returns 1. Exit, then confirm an unauthenticated request is refused:

mongosh --quiet --eval 'db.adminCommand({ listDatabases: 1 })'

Expect an authentication or authorization error. If the command lists databases, access control is not active; check the configuration and service before continuing.

Use siteAdmin for administration, not application connections. An application user limited to one database reduces the damage from a leaked password.

Connect as the administrator and enter its password when prompted:

mongosh admin --username siteAdmin --password

At the MongoDB shell prompt, create a user in ubuntuFreeDemo. Choose a new strong password when prompted. The readWrite role applies only to that database.

db.getSiblingDB("ubuntuFreeDemo").createUser({ user: "demoApp", pwd: passwordPrompt(), roles: [ { role: "readWrite", db: "ubuntuFreeDemo" } ] })

A successful creation returns { ok: 1 }. If it fails, check that you authenticated as siteAdmin on the admin database. Type exit to leave the shell.

Connect as the limited user. Its authentication database is ubuntuFreeDemo, where the account was created:

mongosh ubuntuFreeDemo --username demoApp --password --authenticationDatabase ubuntuFreeDemo

Enter the application user password. At the MongoDB shell prompt, insert and read a sample document:

db.notes.insertOne({ topic: "MongoDB", status: "working" })
db.notes.findOne({ topic: "MongoDB" })

The insert reports acknowledged: true. The query returns a document like this; the generated ID will differ:

{
  _id: ObjectId('...'),
  topic: 'MongoDB',
  status: 'working'
}

This account cannot write to other databases. To remove the example collection, first confirm the selected database is ubuntuFreeDemo, then run db.notes.drop(). This permanently deletes that collection. Do not use it on data you need.

In /etc/mongod.conf, edit the existing net section to include the server’s actual private interface address alongside localhost. This example address is a placeholder, not the client address:

net:
  port: 27017
  bindIp: 127.0.0.1,192.168.1.10

Replace the private address with one assigned to this server. Save, restart mongod, and check the service. Avoid binding to all interfaces. On an active UFW firewall, allow only the trusted client address, for example:

sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.20 to any port 27017 proto tcp
sudo ufw status numbered

Replace the example with the client’s real IP. This adds a firewall rule but does not enable UFW. Check existing rules and cloud firewalls too. Do not enable or reset a remote firewall without first preserving SSH access.

APT may not be able to read the signing key, or the repository file may point to the wrong keyring. Inspect both:

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-9.0.list
gpg --show-keys /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-9.0.gpg

Check that signed-by names this keyring. If it is missing or incorrect, repeat the signing-key step above and run sudo apt update. If verification still fails, check the error and MongoDB’s current signing-key instructions. Do not disable signature verification.

A missing source, wrong Ubuntu codename or failed repository refresh can leave APT without a candidate. Check:

cat /etc/os-release
cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-9.0.list
sudo apt update
apt-cache policy mongodb-org

Confirm resolute for Ubuntu 26.04 or noble for 24.04, then correct the source using the matching repository step above. Resolve any APT errors before retrying the install.

Another MongoDB instance or service may already be listening on the configured port. Identify it first:

sudo ss -ltnp '( sport = :27017 )'

If another service owns the port, stop it only after confirming it is safe to interrupt. Alternatively, choose an unused port in the existing net section of /etc/mongod.conf and use that port in client connections. Restart mongod and check its status. Do not delete a socket or stop an unknown process blindly.

Read the service log and inspect the configured data path and its permissions:

sudo journalctl -u mongod -n 50 --no-pager
sudo grep -A 3 '^storage:' /etc/mongod.conf
sudo namei -l /var/lib/mongodb
sudo ls -ld /var/lib/mongodb

The path commands inspect the default directory; substitute your actual storage.dbPath if it differs. If the log identifies an ownership problem and you have confirmed this is the default data directory used by the package service, restore the directory owner:

sudo chown mongodb:mongodb /var/lib/mongodb
sudo systemctl restart mongod
systemctl is-active mongod

This changes the directory itself, not its contents. If a specific file or parent directory still blocks access, inspect that path and correct its ownership only after verifying it belongs to this instance. Avoid recursive ownership changes or world-writable permissions.

On AMD64, an illegal instruction can mean that AVX is unavailable or hidden by a virtual machine. Recheck the processor step. For authentication, use the correct username, password and authentication database: admin for siteAdmin, and ubuntuFreeDemo for demoApp. Check the service log if it still fails.

Back up databases first. Stopping the service interrupts connected applications. Review the list of packages before accepting removal; the shell and tools may be shared by other MongoDB installations.

sudo systemctl disable --now mongod
sudo apt purge mongodb-org mongodb-org-database mongodb-org-server mongodb-org-mongos mongodb-org-tools mongodb-org-database-tools-extra mongodb-mongosh mongodb-database-tools

Check installed MongoDB packages with dpkg-query as shown above. Package removal does not mean your database files are gone.

Remove the source and keyring only if no other configured source uses them:

sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-9.0.list /usr/share/keyrings/mongodb-server-9.0.gpg
sudo apt update

Permanent deletion: this removes databases and logs in the default directories. Skip this step if you want to keep them. Confirm the actual storage.dbPath and systemLog.path in your saved configuration and verify backups first. Do not run this if those paths contain anything you need.

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mongodb /var/log/mongodb

Custom paths are not removed by this command. Removing the packages and files does not remove backups stored elsewhere.