Question

I am try to set up an environment using Node.js and MongoDB on an installation of ubuntu. I am able to start a mongo database shell by running the mongo command. But I am unsure of how to accomplish a couple things.

• How do I set up MongoDB to run persistently, so that I can connect to it?
• How do I connect to a certain MongoDB database from within Node.js once it is up and running?

I have the mongoose package installed, but I am still confused on how to connect to a particular database with it.

Answer 1

How do I set up MongoDB to run persistently, so that I can connect to it?

Depends on how you installed the MongoDB.

If you used the whole apt-get installation process, it generally installs an init.d script and the whole thing just runs with the default settings.

Try a ps -ef | grep mongod to look for the mongod process.

If you “installed” by downloading the tar file, then take a look at using upstart or similar process for making it run persistently. You’ll want to use config files.

How do I connect to a certain MongoDB database from within Node.js once it is up and running?

Based on the Mongoose page, here is the basic connection process:

var mongoose = require('mongoose');
mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost/my_database');

The standard connection string format is detailed here. Note that in my experience, not all drivers support all of the connection string features equally well, so do test your configuration.