Changing the MongoDB Data and Logs Directory Path

MongoDB is a popular NoSQL database that uses a document-oriented data model, providing flexibility and scalability for handling large volumes of unstructured data.

Introduction

In certain scenarios, you might find the need to change both the data and logs directory where MongoDB stores its data and log files. This could be due to various reasons, such as running out of disk space or simply wanting to organize your file structure. In this guide, we’ll walk through the process of moving both the MongoDB data and logs directory on an Ubuntu system.

Stop MongoDB

Before making any changes to the data directory, it’s crucial to ensure that MongoDB is stopped. Use the following command to stop the MongoDB service

sudo service mongod stop

Move Data and Logs Directories

Now that MongoDB is stopped, you can move the existing data and logs directories to new locations of your choice. Replace /path/to/new/data/directory and /path/to/new/logs/directory with the actual paths where you want to store the MongoDB data and logs

sudo mv /var/lib/mongodb /path/to/new/data/directory
sudo mv /var/log/mongodb /path/to/new/logs/directory

Update MongoDB Configuration

Next, you need to update the MongoDB configuration file to reflect the new data and logs directories. Open the configuration file using a text editor. In this example, I will use nano

sudo nano /etc/mongod.conf

Find the storage.dbPath line and update it with the path to your new data directory, and add or update the systemLog.path line with the path to your new logs directory

storage:
  dbPath: /path/to/new/data/directory

systemLog:
  path: /path/to/new/logs/directory

Save and exit the text editor.

Start MongoDB

With the data directory moved and the configuration updated, you can now start the MongoDB service

sudo systemctl start mongod

MongoDB should now be using the new data and logs directories specified in the configuration file. Be sure to replace /path/to/new/data/directory and /path/to/new/logs/directory with the actual paths you've chosen for your MongoDB data and logs storage.