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Installing and Securing MongoDB on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish

Reviewed on 13 December 2023 • Published on 25 June 2018
  • database
  • compute
  • mysql
  • mongoDB
  • UFW
  • bindIP

MongoDB is a document-oriented database that is free and open-source. It considered one of the most popular NoSQL database engines because it is scalable, powerful, reliable and easy to use.

In contrast to relational database, MongoDB does not require a deep predefined schema before you can add data since it can be altered at any time. As it uses the NoSQL concept, data rows are stored in JSON-like documents which allows arbitrary data to be inserted.

Before you start

To complete the actions presented below, you must have:

  • A Scaleway account logged into the console
  • Owner status or IAM permissions allowing you to perform actions in the intended Organization
  • An SSH key
  • An Instance running on Ubuntu 16.04
  • sudo privileges or access to the root user

Setting up MongoDB

Adding MongoDB Repository

Important

You should always use the official MongoDB mongodb-org packages, which are kept up-to-date with the most recent major and minor MongoDB releases.

  1. Connect to your Instance via SSH.

    ssh root@your.instance.ip.address

  2. Update the Ubuntu package manager (apt).

    apt update

  3. Upgrade the Ubuntu packages already installed.

    apt upgrade -y

  4. Import the key for the official MongoDB repository (Ubuntu ensures the authenticity of software packages by verifying that they are signed with GPG keys.).

    wget -qO - https://www.mongodb.org/static/pgp/server-6.0.asc |  apt-key add -

  5. Add the MongoDB repository details so that Ubuntu’s apt command-line tool will know where to download the packages. Execute the following command to create a list file for MongoDB.

    echo "deb [ arch=amd64,arm64 ] https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu jammy/mongodb-org/6.0 multiverse" |  tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mongodb-org-6.0.list

  6. Update the packages list.

    apt update

Installing MongoDB

  1. Install the mongodb-org meta-package, which includes the daemon, configuration and init scripts, shell, and management tools on the server. 
    apt install mongodb-org
  2. Press enter or type Y to proceed when prompted. Once the installation is completed, we start the MongoDB daemon. 
    systemctl start mongod.service
  3. Since systemctl does not provide output, verify that the service has started properly. 
    systemctl status mongod
    ● mongod.service - MongoDB Database Server
        Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mongod.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Mon 2022-11-21 12:44:17 UTC; 7s ago
          Docs: https://docs.mongodb.org/manual
      Main PID: 2453 (mongod)
        Memory: 63.8M
            CPU: 317ms
        CGroup: /system.slice/mongod.service
                └─2453 /usr/bin/mongod --config /etc/mongod.conf
  4. Ensure that it restarts automatically at each boot. 
     systemctl enable mongod.service
    Created symlink from /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/mongod.service to /lib/systemd/system/mongod.service.

Securing MongoDB

The default installation of MongoDB is vulnerable because no authentication is required to interact with the database. Any user could create and destroy databases, as well as read from and write to their contents by default. To secure MongoDB, we need to create an administrative user and enable authentication.

  1. Connect to the Mongo shell to add a new user.

    mongosh
    Note

    The legacy mongo shell was deprecated in MongoDB 5.0 and removed in MongoDB 6.0. The new MongoDB Shell, mongosh, offers numerous advantages over the legacy shell.

    Current Mongosh Log ID:	637b7314f10d3c7da4e43aa0
    Connecting to:		mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000&appName=mongosh+1.6.0
    Using MongoDB:		6.0.3
    Using Mongosh:		1.6.0
    For mongosh info see: https://docs.mongodb.com/mongodb-shell/
    To help improve our products, anonymous usage data is collected and sent to MongoDB periodically (https://www.mongodb.com/legal/privacy-policy).
    You can opt-out by running the disableTelemetry() command.
    ------
      The server generated these startup warnings when booting
      2022-11-21T12:44:17.875+00:00: Using the XFS filesystem is strongly recommended with the WiredTiger storage engine. See http://dochub.mongodb.org/core/prodnotes-filesystem
      2022-11-21T12:44:18.184+00:00: Access control is not enabled for the database. Read and write access to data and configuration is unrestricted
      2022-11-21T12:44:18.184+00:00: vm.max_map_count is too low
    ------
    ------
      Enable MongoDB's free cloud-based monitoring service, which will then receive and display
      metrics about your deployment (disk utilization, CPU, operation statistics, etc).
      The monitoring data will be available on a MongoDB website with a unique URL accessible to you
      and anyone you share the URL with. MongoDB may use this information to make product
      improvements and to suggest MongoDB products and deployment options to you.
      To enable free monitoring, run the following command: db.enableFreeMonitoring()
      To permanently disable this reminder, run the following command: db.disableFreeMonitoring()
    ------
    test>

    You can choose any preferred name for the administrative user since the privilege level is assigned from the role of userAdminAnyDatabase.

    The admin database designates where the credentials are stored. You can learn more about authentication in the MongoDB Security Authentication section.

  2. Set the username of your choice and be sure to pick your own secure password and substitute them in the command below:

    use admin
    db.createUser(
      {
        user: "AdminOce",
        pwd: "PWD2018AdminOce",
        roles: [ { role: "userAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" } ]
      }
    )
    use admin
    switched to db admin
    > db.createUser(
    ...   {
    ...     user: "AdminOce",
    ...     pwd: "PWD2022AdminOce",
    ...     roles: [ { role: "userAdminAnyDatabase", db: "admin" } ]
    ...   }
    ... )
    Successfully added user: {
      "user" : "AdminOce",
      "roles" : [
        {
          "role" : "userAdminAnyDatabase",
          "db" : "admin"
        }
      ]
    }

  3. Type exit and press ENTER or use CTRL+C to leave the client.

    > exit
    bye

Enabling authentication

In order to enforce authentication, we need to enable authentication and restart the MongoDB daemon.

  1. Open the configuration file. 
     nano /etc/mongod.conf
  2. In the #security section, remove the hash in front of security to enable the section. Then, we add the authorization lines (indented with two spaces) as per the following excerpt below: 
    security:
    authorization: "enabled"
  3. Restart the daemon. 
    systemctl restart mongod.service
  4. Check the status to verify that the service has rebooted. 
    systemctl status mongod.service
    ● mongod.service - MongoDB Database Server
        Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/mongod.service; disabled; vendor preset: enabled)
        Active: active (running) since Mon 2022-11-21 12:44:17 UTC; 6min ago
          Docs: https://docs.mongodb.org/manual
      Main PID: 2453 (mongod)
        Memory: 67.0M
            CPU: 2.074s
        CGroup: /system.slice/mongod.service
                └─2453 /usr/bin/mongod --config /etc/mongod.conf
  5. Ensure that the daemon restarts automatically at boot. 
     systemctl enable mongod.service

Testing authentication

  1. Connect without credentials to verify that our actions are restricted.

    mongosh
    Current Mongosh Log ID:	637b74912a82c7f73d453e15
    Connecting to:		mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000&appName=mongosh+1.6.0
    Using MongoDB:		6.0.3
    Using Mongosh:		1.6.0
    For mongosh info see: https://docs.mongodb.com/mongodb-shell/
    test>

    We are connected to the test database.

  2. Test that the access is restricted with the show dbs command:

    test> show dbs
    MongoServerError: command listDatabases requires authentication

  3. Exit the shell to proceed.

    > exit
    bye

Verifying the administrative user’s access

  1. Connect as our administrator with the -u option to supply a username and -p to be prompted for a password. Supply the database where we stored the user’s authentication credentials with the --authenticationDatabase option. 
    mongosh -u AdminOce -p --authenticationDatabase admin
  2. Once the correct password is entered, we are dropped into the shell, where we can issue the show dbs command: 
    Enter password: ***************
    Current Mongosh Log ID:	637b7509efc9d145b6279982
    Connecting to:		mongodb://<credentials>@127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000&authSource=admin&appName=mongosh+1.6.0
    Using MongoDB:		6.0.3
    Using Mongosh:		1.6.0
    For mongosh info see: https://docs.mongodb.com/mongodb-shell/
    test> show dbs
    admin   148.00 KiB
    config   60.00 KiB
    local    72.00 KiB

Type exit or press CTRL+C to exit.

Configuring remote access (optional)

Enabling UFW

Uncomplicated Firewall (UFW), is a front-end to iptables. Its main goal is to make managing your firewall drop-dead simple and to provide an easy-to-use interface.

Note

If UFW is already installed on your computer, go directly to step 5.

  1. Install UFW. 
    apt install ufw
  2. Check UFW status. 
     ufw status
  3. Enable UFW, as it is probably inactive. 
     ufw enable
  4. Ensure to allow SSH. 
     ufw allow OpenSSH
  5. Rerun the UFW status command. 
     ufw status
    Status: active
    To                         Action      From
    --                         ------      ----
    OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
    OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
  6. Allow access to the default MongoDB port 27017 but restrict that access to a specific host. 
     ufw allow from client_ip_address to any port 27017
  7. Re-run this command using the IP address for each additional client that needs access. To double-check the rule, run ufw status again: 
     ufw status
    To                         Action      From
    --                         ------      ----
    OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
    27017                      ALLOW       client_ip_address
    OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

Configuring a public bindIP

  1. To allow remote connections, add our host’s publically-routable IP address to the mongod.conf file.

     nano /etc/mongod.conf

  2. In the net section, add the MongoHost’s IP to the bindIp line.

    Note

    Verify your private IP with the ifconfig command.

    net:
      port: 27017
      bindIp: 127.0.0.1,IP_of_MongoHost

  3. Restart the daemon.

    systemctl restart mongod.service

  4. Check the daemon status.

    systemctl status mongod.service
    Active: active (running) since Thu 2022-xx-yy 13:15:35 UTC; 5s ago

Testing remote connections

Ensure that Mongo is listening on its public interface by adding the --host flag with the IP address from the mongodb.conf file.

mongo -u AdminOce -p --authenticationDatabase admin --host IP_address_of_MongoHost
Current Mongosh Log ID:	637b7509efc9d145b6279982
Connecting to:		mongodb://<credentials>@127.0.0.1:27017/?directConnection=true&serverSelectionTimeoutMS=2000&authSource=admin&appName=mongosh+1.6.0
Using MongoDB:		6.0.3
Using Mongosh:		1.6.0

Uninstalling MongoDB

Important

This process will completely remove MongoDB, its configuration, and all databases. This process is not reversible, so ensure that all of your configuration and data is backed up before proceeding.

  1. Stop MongoDB. 
     service mongod stop
  2. Remove any MongoDB packages that you had previously installed. 
    apt purge mongodb-org*
  3. Remove MongoDB databases and log files. 
     rm -r /var/log/mongodb
     rm -r /var/lib/mongodb
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