This guide will help you set up your environment to follow along with the MongoDB training materials.

Table of Contents

  1. Prerequisites
  2. MongoDB Installation
  3. Python Setup
  4. Verification
  5. Quick Start
  6. Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • A computer with internet access
  • Administrator/sudo access (for installation)
  • Basic command-line knowledge
  • Text editor or IDE (VS Code, PyCharm, etc.)

MongoDB Installation

macOS Installation

# Install Homebrew if not already installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Add MongoDB tap
brew tap mongodb/brew

# Install MongoDB Community Edition
brew install mongodb-community

# Start MongoDB service
brew services start mongodb-community

# Verify installation
mongosh --version

Option 2: Manual Installation

  1. Download MongoDB Community Server from mongodb.com
  2. Extract the archive
  3. Move to /usr/local/mongodb
  4. Add to PATH in ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile: bash export PATH="/usr/local/mongodb/bin:$PATH"
  5. Create data directory: bash sudo mkdir -p /data/db sudo chown $(whoami) /data/db
  6. Start MongoDB: bash mongod

Linux Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Import MongoDB public GPG key
wget -qO - https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-7.0.asc | sudo apt-key add -

# Add MongoDB repository
echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/7.0 multiverse" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-7.0.list

# Update package list
sudo apt-get update

# Install MongoDB
sudo apt-get install -y mongodb-org

# Start MongoDB service
sudo systemctl start mongod

# Enable MongoDB to start on boot
sudo systemctl enable mongod

# Verify installation
mongosh --version

Windows Installation

  1. Download MongoDB: - Visit MongoDB Download Center - Select Windows version - Download the MSI installer

  2. Run Installer: - Run the downloaded MSI file - Choose "Complete" installation - Select "Install MongoDB as a Service" - Choose "Run service as Network Service user" - Install MongoDB Compass (optional GUI tool)

  3. Verify Installation: - Open Command Prompt or PowerShell - Run: mongosh --version

  4. Start MongoDB: - MongoDB should start automatically as a Windows service - If not, go to Services and start "MongoDB" service

Docker Installation (All Platforms)

# Pull MongoDB image
docker pull mongo:latest

# Run MongoDB container
docker run -d \
  --name mongodb \
  -p 27017:27017 \
  -v mongodb_data:/data/db \
  mongo:latest

# Connect to MongoDB
docker exec -it mongodb mongosh

Python Setup

1. Install Python

macOS

# Check if Python is installed
python3 --version

# If not installed, install via Homebrew
brew install python3

Linux

# Install Python 3
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip

Windows

  1. Download Python from python.org
  2. Run installer
  3. Check "Add Python to PATH" during installation
  4. Verify: python --version

2. Install Python Dependencies

# Navigate to project directory
cd /path/to/NonSQL

# Install required packages
pip install -r python-examples/requirements.txt

# Or install individually
pip install pymongo python-dotenv

3. Verify Python Installation

# Check Python version (should be 3.7+)
python3 --version

# Check pip
pip3 --version

# Test PyMongo import
python3 -c "import pymongo; print(pymongo.__version__)"

Verification

1. Verify MongoDB Installation

# Check MongoDB version
mongosh --version

# Connect to MongoDB
mongosh

# In mongosh, run:
db.adminCommand('ping')
# Should return: { ok: 1 }

# Exit mongosh
exit

2. Verify Python Setup

# Run basic connection test
cd python-examples
python3 01_basic_connection.py

# Expected output:
# ✓ Successfully connected to MongoDB!
# ✓ Using database: testdb

3. Test Complete Workflow

# 1. Create some data
python3 02_create_operations.py

# 2. Read the data
python3 03_read_operations.py

# 3. Update the data
python3 04_update_operations.py

# 4. Delete some data
python3 05_delete_operations.py

Quick Start

Step 1: Start MongoDB

macOS/Linux:

# If using Homebrew
brew services start mongodb-community

# Or manually
mongod

Windows: - MongoDB should run as a service automatically - Or start from Services panel

Docker:

docker start mongodb

Step 2: Connect to MongoDB Shell

mongosh

Step 3: Try Basic Commands

// In mongosh
show dbs
use testdb
db.users.insertOne({name: "Test User", age: 25})
db.users.find()

Step 4: Run Python Examples

cd python-examples
python3 01_basic_connection.py

Troubleshooting

MongoDB Issues

Issue: "mongosh: command not found"

Solution: - Verify MongoDB is installed: which mongosh - Add MongoDB to PATH - Reinstall MongoDB

Issue: "Connection refused"

Solution:

# Check if MongoDB is running
ps aux | grep mongod

# Start MongoDB
brew services start mongodb-community  # macOS
sudo systemctl start mongod           # Linux

Issue: "Permission denied" for /data/db

Solution:

# Create directory and set permissions
sudo mkdir -p /data/db
sudo chown $(whoami) /data/db

Issue: Port 27017 already in use

Solution:

# Find process using port 27017
lsof -i :27017

# Kill the process or use different port
mongod --port 27018

Python Issues

Issue: "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pymongo'"

Solution:

# Install pymongo
pip3 install pymongo

# Or use virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # macOS/Linux
# or
venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows
pip install pymongo

Issue: "ConnectionFailure" in Python

Solution: 1. Verify MongoDB is running 2. Check connection string 3. Verify firewall settings 4. Check MongoDB logs

Issue: Python version too old

Solution:

# Check Python version
python3 --version

# Should be 3.7 or higher
# Update Python if needed

General Issues

Issue: Can't connect to MongoDB Atlas

Solution: 1. Check connection string 2. Verify IP whitelist in Atlas 3. Check username/password 4. Verify network connectivity

Issue: Authentication failed

Solution: 1. Verify username and password 2. Check authentication database 3. Ensure user has proper roles

Next Steps

After completing setup:

  1. Read the main README.md - Overview of NoSQL and MongoDB
  2. Study mongosh-examples.md - Learn MongoDB shell commands
  3. Work through Python examples - Start with 01_basic_connection.py
  4. Practice with exercises - Try the exercises in each guide
  5. Build a project - Apply what you've learned

Additional Resources

Getting Help

If you encounter issues:

  1. Check the troubleshooting section above
  2. Review MongoDB logs: /var/log/mongodb/mongod.log (Linux) or check system logs
  3. Search MongoDB documentation
  4. Ask on MongoDB community forums
  5. Check GitHub issues for PyMongo

Setup Complete! You're ready to start learning MongoDB! 🚀