[Updated: 28 Feb 2019] Time to lose this post! The MongoDB 3.4 binaries have vanished from the Debian buster ARM repository BUT I now have MongoDB 4.0.6 running under Ubuntu 18.04 on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ Check out this new post!
I’ve been asked multiple times if MongoDB 3.2 (or greater) can run on a Raspberry Pi. The answer has always been “no” — as you need a 64-bit OS to run versions >= 3.2. Some 64-bit Linux OS’s are starting to become available for R-Pi that, in theory, could run 64-bit MongoDB. I finally found a configuration that was easy to install and use. I now have MongoDB 3.4.18 running under Debian buster on a Raspberry Pi 3 — with a few caveats 😉
The Debian buster release for Raspberry Pi 3 is NOT yet an official image. The hardware still needs the non-free R-Pi firmware to boot. NOTE: the latest image WILL work for the new R-Pi 3B+. There are a growing number of apps that run under buster 🙂 My install is strictly terminal based — or headless (via ssh). The MongoDB utilities are also (now) ported. You can run “mongod,” “mongos,” the “mongo” shell and utilities such as “mongoimport,” “mongodump,” and “mongorestore” from the local command line or via ssh.
Here is the how-to:
- get and install the Debian buster image on a microSD Card
- boot the R-Pi 3 under Debian buster
- update the OS via “update” and “upgrade”
- install MongoDB via “apt-get install”
- configure memory and swap
- test out your configuration
- put data into MongoDB database(s)
- enjoy!
Detailed instructions after the break…