How to connect Angular app with MongoDb running in two separate droplets?

Heya,

Connecting an Angular application to MongoDB that’s running on two separate droplets requires careful configuration, especially when the MongoDB instance is exposed to the public internet.

The ufw and netstat outputs you provided show that MongoDB is indeed listening on all network interfaces and you have set up the firewall to allow connections from any IP.

However, exposing MongoDB directly to the public internet is not advisable due to security concerns. The preferable option you mentioned, creating an SSH tunnel, is a good choice as it provides a secure connection between the two droplets.

Here are the steps and explanations:

1. SSH Key Authentication: First, ensure that you can SSH from the Angular droplet to the MongoDB droplet using SSH key authentication. This will eliminate the need for a password when setting up the SSH tunnel.

2. Setup SSH Tunnel: Run the SSH tunnel command on the Angular droplet, as your Angular app will be the client connecting to the MongoDB server. The command is:

ssh -L 4321:localhost:27017 user@mongo_droplet_ip -f -N

Here’s a breakdown of what this does:

• -L 4321:localhost:27017 maps port 4321 on the Angular droplet to port 27017 (MongoDB’s port) on the MongoDB droplet.
• -f puts SSH in the background.
• -N ensures no commands are executed.

3. Connect from Angular app: In your Angular application (or rather, on the server-side part that your Angular app communicates with, such as a Node.js backend), when you connect to MongoDB, use localhost:4321 as your MongoDB URI.

mongodb://localhost:4321/your_database_name

4. Troubleshooting:

   If you’re facing connection denied issues, it could be due to several reasons:

   • The SSH key might not be set up correctly between the two droplets.
   • The MongoDB droplet might not allow SSH connections from the Angular droplet. Double-check the ufw rules on the MongoDB droplet and ensure SSH connections are allowed.
   • Ensure that mongod (the MongoDB process) is actually running on the MongoDB droplet.

5. A More Secure Approach: Instead of allowing MongoDB connections from anywhere, it’s better to tighten security:

   • On the MongoDB droplet, bind MongoDB to localhost only by setting bindIp: 127.0.0.1 in your mongod.conf file.
   • Change the ufw rules on the MongoDB droplet to deny all incoming connections on port 27017. This way, even if someone discovers your MongoDB port, they won’t be able to access it directly.

6. Additional Considerations: If your Angular app is talking directly to MongoDB, you might want to reconsider this design. Typically, you’d have a backend (like Node.js with Express) that your Angular app communicates with, and then this backend interacts with the database. This provides a layer of security and abstraction.

Lastly, always ensure your MongoDB instance is secure, especially if it’s exposed to the internet. Use strong authentication, regularly update and patch your software, and consider encrypting sensitive data.