This document outlines the process of installing MongoDB using brew 4.1.14 in an intel, macOS 14.0, Sonoma environment.

NOTE

MongoDB offers a cloud service with a free tier.
If you use the cloud service, there is no need to install MongoDB locally.
This document will guide you through the installation of MongoDB via brew.
The command provided in the official download page, brew install mongodb-atlas, is intended for cloud users.
If you are not a cloud user, there is no need to install this package.
🟣 IMPORTANT
mongodb-atlas has been renamed to mongodb-atlas-cli. (Refer to the brew documentation)
This document follows the installation guide from the MongoDB 7.0 Docs.

INSTALL

MongoDB cannot be installed from the default repository of brew.
You need to add the repository provided by MongoDB.

brew tap mongodb/brew

This adds MongoDB to the brew repository.

brew install mongodb/brew/mongodb-community

This installs MongoDB using the stable version provided by MongoDB without specifying a version.
As of the date of writing, version 7.0.2 will be installed.

🔵 NOTE
When installing without specifying a version,
you can use brew info to check the package version.
brew info mongodb/brew/mongodb-community
Information about the package will be displayed.

🔵 NOTE
You can intentionally specify a version to install.
brew install mongodb/brew/mongodb-community@6.0
This installs an older version by specifying the version information.

RUN

After installation via brew, you can run it using brew services.

brew services start mongodb/brew/mongodb-community

This command starts the MongoDB service using brew.

brew services info mongodb/brew/mongodb-community

This command outputs information about the MongoDB service using brew.

mongodb-community (homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community)
Running: ✔
Loaded: ✔
Schedulable: ✘
User: xiyo
PID: 21105

If the running status is displayed as ✔, it indicates that the service is running normally.

To run it manually, enter the following command:

$(brew --prefix)/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config $(brew --prefix)/etc/mongod.conf --fork --logpath $(brew --prefix)/var/log/mongodb/mongod.log

$(brew --prefix) returns the installation path of brew.
The --fork option runs the mongod process in the background.
The --logpath option specifies the location of the log file.
Both options must be used together when running in the background.

⚠️ TROUBLESHOOTING

ERROR: Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error

When trying to run mongoDB using brew services after connecting to macOS via ssh, an error occurs.

Warning: running over SSH, using user/* instead of gui/* domain!
Hide this warning by setting HOMEBREW_SERVICES_NO_DOMAIN_WARNING.
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).
Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error
Try re-running the command as root for richer errors.
Error: Failure while executing; `/bin/launchctl bootstrap user/501 /Users/xiyo/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community.plist` exited with 5.

Error Explanation:

```
Warning: running over SSH, using user/* instead of gui/* domain!
Hide this warning by setting HOMEBREW_SERVICES_NO_DOMAIN_WARNING.
```
This warning message indicates that when accessing via an ssh session, the execution domain is running as user instead of gui.
brew is a package manager designed for personal users.
Therefore, it should ideally run in the gui domain without issues, but since I executed it using ssh, this warning appears.
The last message informs you of the environment variable, HOMEBREW_SERVICES_NO_DOMAIN_WARNING, which can be set to hide this warning.
```
Hide these hints with HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS (see `man brew`).
```
HOMEBREW_NO_ENV_HINTS is an environment variable that, when set, can hide environment-related hint messages from brew.
This is useful for users who want to keep command output concise.
Running man brew will display the manual for brew, where you can find additional information about this environment variable.
```
Bootstrap failed: 5: Input/output error
Try re-running the command as root for richer errors.
Error: Failure while executing; `/bin/launchctl bootstrap user/501 /Users/xiyo/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community.plist` exited with 5.
```
This is an error output from launchctl in macOS.
The command at the bottom, /bin/launchctl, distinguishes between the GUI domain and the USER domain based on the execution environment of brew. (GUI refers to physical logins, while USER refers to remote sessions like ssh.)
This is a characteristic of the launchctl command in macOS, and when connected via ssh, brew runs in the USER domain.

If you explicitly change user/501 to gui/501 and execute it, it will run normally (501 is the user's uid).
However, if a screen requiring gui input/output appears, it cannot proceed in an ssh session.
For example, if the firewall is active, it needs to be allowed from the gui.
Ultimately, since it must run in the gui domain, I accessed macOS remotely using vnc and then executed brew services to run mongoDB in the terminal.

🔵 NOTE
In the error message, there is a recommendation:
Try re-running the command as root for richer errors.
# Run as `root` to see detailed errors
However, mongoDB is blocked from running as root for security reasons.
If executed as root, the ownership of the brew directory will change, so you must either:
sudo chown -R $(whoami) $(brew --prefix)/*
This command changes the ownership of all directories and files in brew to the current user.
Alternatively, you can explicitly change the ownership of $(brew --prefix)/Cellar/mongodb-community.
The -R option means recursive, which applies the command to all sub-files and directories.
You should use the method of uninstalling and reinstalling.
brew uninstall mongodb/brew/mongodb-community
When you enter the uninstall command using brew, it will clearly indicate which directories need to be deleted as root.

`PLIST`

To diagnose permission issues that arise when running as root, instead of just looking for error resolutions, you can directly check the contents of the plist file mentioned in the error message.

🔵 NOTE
A plist is a file used to manage services in macOS.

cat /Users/xiyo/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community.plist

This command outputs the service management file used in macOS to the current shell.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD plist 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
    <string>/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod</string>
    <string>--config</string>
    <string>/usr/local/etc/mongod.conf</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <false/>
    <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
    <string>/usr/local</string>
    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/usr/local/var/log/mongodb/output.log</string>
    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/usr/local/var/log/mongodb/output.log</string>
    <key>HardResourceLimits</key>
    <dict>
    <key>NumberOfFiles</key>
    <integer>64000</integer>
    </dict>
    <key>SoftResourceLimits</key>
    <dict>
    <key>NumberOfFiles</key>
    <integer>64000</integer>
    </dict>
</dict>
</plist>

Label:
- This is a unique identifier for the service. In this case, it is labeled as homebrew.mxcl.mongodb-community.
ProgramArguments:
- This specifies the program to be executed along with its arguments.
- Here, it is set to run the /usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod program with the --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf option.
RunAtLoad:
- If this key is set to true, the service will automatically start when the system loads.
KeepAlive:
- If this key is set to true, launchd will automatically restart the service if it stops. In this case, it is set to false, so the service will not restart if it stops.
WorkingDirectory:
- This specifies the working directory when the service is executed. It is set to /usr/local in this case.
StandardErrorPath and StandardOutPath:
- These specify the file paths for redirecting standard error and standard output. Both are set to /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/output.log, meaning all output and error messages will be logged to this file.
HardResourceLimits and SoftResourceLimits:
- These set resource limits for the service. Here, the maximum number of file descriptors is set to 64000 with the key NumberOfFiles.

As specified in ProgramArguments, let's execute it directly.

/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf

This command runs mongod while explicitly specifying the config file.

 /usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T10:09:26.789Z"},"s":"F",  "c":"CONTROL",  "id":20574,   "ctx":"thread1","msg":"Error during global initialization","attr":{"error":{"code":38,"codeName":"FileNotOpen","errmsg":"Can't initialize rotatable log file :: caused by :: Failed to open /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/mongo.log"}}}

According to the output, mongod is failing to open the log file /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/mongo.log.
This type of error typically occurs when the file is missing or when there are insufficient write permissions for the file.

Let's check directly.

ls -al /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/

This command checks the files under the directory.

total 24
drwxr-xr-x   4 xiyo  admin    128 Oct  9 12:47 .
drwxr-xr-x  10 xiyo  admin    320 Oct  9 12:23 ..
-rw-------   1 root  admin  11360 Oct  9 12:47 mongo.log
-rw-r--r--   1 root  admin      0 Oct  9 12:47 output.log

The output shows that the ownership of the mongo.log file is set to root.
Running brew as root violates the rule that it should not be run as such, leading to permission issues.

Since the output.log file is also referenced in the plist, let's change the ownership of both files to the current user.

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/

This command changes the ownership of all files.

Now, let's run the command again.

/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf

This command executes mongod in the same way as the plist, directly specifying the config file.

To check if it is running correctly, let's verify the process.

ps aux | grep mongod

This command checks if mongod is running.

ps aux | grep mongod
root             94237   0.3  0.3 36489684  47860   ??  Ss   12:47PM   1:35.65 /usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf
xiyo             12842   0.0  0.0 34121212    524 s000  S+    7:32PM   0:00.00 grep --color=auto --exclude-dir=.bzr --exclude-dir=CVS --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=.hg --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=.idea --exclude-dir=.tox mongod

The output shows a total of 2 processes, with the one executed as root being the actual running mongod.

Since brew was run as root, it has caused permission issues throughout.

Let's terminate the process.

kill 94237

This command terminates the process using the kill command.

🔵 NOTE
Contrary to its name, the kill command is used to terminate a process normally.
To forcefully terminate a process, use kill -9.

Now, let's run it again and check the logs.

/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf
ps aux | grep mongod

This command runs mongod and checks the process.

xiyo             13061   0.0  0.0 34126336    496 s000  R+    7:37PM   0:00.00 grep --color=auto --exclude-dir=.bzr --exclude-dir=CVS --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=.hg --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=.idea --exclude-dir=.tox mongod

The output shows that mongod is not running.
Now, let's check the mongo.log.

tail /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/mongo.log

The cat command outputs everything, so we will use the tail command to display only the last 10 lines.

{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:33.994+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"TENANT_M", "id":7091600, "ctx":"thread1","msg":"Starting TenantMigrationAccessBlockerRegistry"}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:33.995+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"CONTROL",  "id":4615611, "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"MongoDB starting","attr":{"pid":12858,"port":27017,"dbPath":"/usr/local/var/mongodb","architecture":"64-bit","host":"XIYOsMini"}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:33.995+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"CONTROL",  "id":23403,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Build Info","attr":{"buildInfo":{"version":"7.0.2","gitVersion":"02b3c655e1302209ef046da6ba3ef6749dd0b62a","modules":[],"allocator":"system","environment":{"distarch":"x86_64","target_arch":"x86_64"}}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:33.995+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"CONTROL",  "id":51765,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Operating System","attr":{"os":{"name":"Mac OS X","version":"23.0.0"}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:33.995+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"CONTROL",  "id":21951,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Options set by command line","attr":{"options":{"config":"/usr/local/etc/mongod.conf","net":{"bindIp":"127.0.0.1, ::1","ipv6":true},"storage":{"dbPath":"/usr/local/var/mongodb"},"systemLog":{"destination":"file","logAppend":true,"path":"/usr/local/var/log/mongodb/mongo.log"}}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:34.001+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"NETWORK",  "id":5693100, "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Asio socket.set_option failed with std::system_error","attr":{"note":"acceptor TCP fast open","option":{"level":6,"name":261,"data":"00 04 00 00"},"error":{"what":"set_option: Invalid argument","message":"Invalid argument","category":"asio.system","value":22}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:34.002+09:00"},"s":"I",  "c":"NETWORK",  "id":5693100, "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Asio socket.set_option failed with std::system_error","attr":{"note":"acceptor TCP fast open","option":{"level":6,"name":261,"data":"00 04 00 00"},"error":{"what":"set_option: Invalid argument","message":"Invalid argument","category":"asio.system","value":22}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:34.004+09:00"},"s":"F",  "c":"STORAGE",  "id":28661,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Unable to read the storage engine metadata file","attr":{"error":{"code":38,"codeName":"FileNotOpen","errmsg":"Failed to read metadata from /usr/local/var/mongodb/storage.bson"}}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:34.004+09:00"},"s":"F",  "c":"ASSERT",   "id":23091,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"Fatal assertion","attr":{"msgid":28661,"file":"src/mongo/db/storage/storage_engine_metadata.cpp","line":93}}
{"t":{"$date":"2023-10-09T19:33:34.004+09:00"},"s":"F",  "c":"ASSERT",   "id":23092,   "ctx":"initandlisten","msg":"\n\n***aborting after fassert() failure\n\n"}

Reading the output from the bottom, the third-to-last line shows the error message Unable to read the storage engine metadata file.

Let's check the ownership of the actual file and change it if necessary.

ls -al /usr/local/var/mongodb/

This command checks the ownership.

🔵 NOTE
var is short for variable, and it is a directory that stores files that are created or modified during use.

total 560
drwxr-xr-x  20 xiyo  admin    640 Oct  9 19:33 .
drwxrwxr-x  10 xiyo  admin    320 Oct  9 12:23 ..
-rw-------   1 root  admin     50 Oct  9 12:47 WiredTiger
-rw-------   1 root  admin     21 Oct  9 12:47 WiredTiger.lock
-rw-------   1 root  admin   1471 Oct  9 19:33 WiredTiger.turtle
-rw-------   1 root  admin  69632 Oct  9 19:33 WiredTiger.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin   4096 Oct  9 19:33 WiredTigerHS.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin  20480 Oct  9 19:33 _mdb_catalog.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin  20480 Oct  9 19:33 collection-0-7618419118836831796.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin  20480 Oct  9 19:33 collection-2-7618419118836831796.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin   4096 Oct  9 19:33 collection-4-7618419118836831796.wt
drwx------   3 root  admin     96 Oct  9 19:33 diagnostic.data
-rw-------   1 root  admin      0 Oct  9 19:33 mongod.lock
-rw-------   1 root  admin  20480 Oct  9 19:33 sizeStorer.wt
-rw-------   1 root  admin    114 Oct  9 12:47 storage.bson

The ownership is set to root.

Let's change the ownership from root to the current user and run mongod again.

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/var/log/mongodb/
/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community/bin/mongod --config /usr/local/etc/mongod.conf

This command changes the ownership and immediately runs the process.

The shell becomes unresponsive, indicating that the process has started successfully.

Now that we have resolved the permission issues caused by violating the principle of not running brew as root, you can run mongoDB using brew services with either VNC or physical access to macOS.

Enjoy using mongoDB!

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