How to Start MongoDB with Command Line Options

In this tutorial, we will show you how to start the MongoDB server with some command line options on Windows.

What We Used

Microsoft Windows 7
MongoDB 3.2.9

Start MongoDB without Command Line Options

We can start MongoDB server without any command line options by executing the following command in Command Prompt window:

mongod

MongoDB server will be started with the following default settings:

Store data in data directory C:\data\db
Listen to port 27017 for new connections
Print out the logs on console

Listen to Different Port

You can start the MongoDB server to listen to different port number for connections.

mongod --port 27018

Store Data to Different Directory

You can specify the MongoDB server to store the database data in different data directory.

mongod --dbpath C:\mongodb\data\db

Write Logs to File

You can specify the MongoDB server to write the logs to a log file.

mongod --logpath C:\mongodb\logs\mongodb.log

Limit Data File Size

For development purpose, you can reduce the initial data files size of MongoDB server and limit the maximum data files size up to 512MB with --smallfiles option. This option also can reduce the maximum file size of each journal files from 1GB to 128MB.

mongod --smallfiles

Note: --smallfiles option is not recommended for production server.

Start MongoDB with Command Line Options

You can start the MongoDB server with all above options in one command line.

mongod --port 27018 --dbpath C:\mongodb\data\db --logpath C:\mongodb\logs\mongodb.log --smallfiles

Tip: If you have too many options required to start the MongoDB server, it is recommended to use configuration file rather than command line options.

Summary

Congratulation! You have learned how to start MongoDB server with command line options on Windows.

Starting MongoDB with Command Line Options