How to access MongoDB inside a Volume Block Storage via MongoDB Compass?

Hi there,

To access MongoDB hosted on a Volume Block Storage via MongoDB Compass, you need to ensure that MongoDB is correctly set up and accessible over the network, and your Volume is attached to a specific Droplet in DigitalOcean.

From your doctl volume list, it seems you have your volumes set up and attached to Droplets.

The volumes you’ve listed are using ext4, which is a filesystem type. For MongoDB to run on these volumes, you must have MongoDB installed on a Droplet that has access to these volumes. Make sure MongoDB data directories are correctly set to use the mounted volume paths.

By default, MongoDB binds to localhost (127.0.0.1). To access it remotely (e.g., via MongoDB Compass), you need to edit the MongoDB configuration file (mongod.conf) to listen on an external interface. You can do this by setting the bindIp option under net to 0.0.0.0 (to listen on all interfaces) or to the specific IP address of your Droplet’s network interface.

Example:

net:
  port: 27017
  bindIp: 0.0.0.0  # Listen on all interfaces

Warning: Exposing MongoDB to the internet can pose significant security risks. Ensure you secure MongoDB access using authentication and firewall rules.

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to usually configure this:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-configure-remote-access-for-mongodb-on-ubuntu-20-04

Before proceeding, it’s crucial to secure your MongoDB instance:

• Enable Authentication: Edit mongod.conf to enable security.authorization.
• Firewall Configuration: Limit access to MongoDB’s port (default 27017) to known IP addresses. Use DigitalOcean’s Cloud Firewall service to restrict access to your Droplet’s MongoDB port.
• Create MongoDB Users: Create user accounts with the necessary privileges for database access.

Once your MongoDB has been configured for remote access, you can connect using Compass as normal:

• Install MongoDB Compass: Download and install MongoDB Compass on your local machine.
• Connection String: Use the connection string format to connect MongoDB Compass to your MongoDB instance. The format is generally:

  mongodb://<user>:<password>@<droplet-ip>:27017/<database>?authSource=admin
  

• Input Connection Details: Open MongoDB Compass and input your connection details based on the above format.

An alternative option here is to use a Managed MongoDB cluster instead which will simplify the operational side of things for you:

https://www.digitalocean.com/products/managed-databases-mongodb

Hope that this helps!

Best,

Bobby