How to install earlier version of mongodb with homebrew? - mongodb

Question

I'm on osx6.8 and need to install an earlier version of Mongodb, how do I install an earlier version with HomeBrew?
The below didn't work :(
dream-2:app2 star$ brew install mongodb-2.6.10
Error: No available formula for mongodb-2.6.10
Searching formulae...
Searching taps...
dream-2:app2 star$
Edit:
I'm getting a message to explain how this post is unique compared to another one, well, the answer to the other question is super long and complex and it's specific to postgresql and doesn't really answer my question.

Answer 1

Note: In September 2019 mongodb was removed from homebrew core, so these instructions have been updated to use mongodb-community instead, installed from the external tap.
If your current installation is still the pre-September mongodb package then you will need to use that name when you unlink, stop, relink and start, on the lines marked with #*# below.
Another option is to simply upgrade away from the deprecated package now.
I already have the latest version of mongo installed, thanks to.
brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install mongodb-community
But I want to switch to the old version sometimes. First, install it:
brew search mongo
brew install mongodb-community#3.2
Let's stop the current mongodb, if it is running:
brew services stop mongodb/brew/mongodb-community #*#
# or if you had started it manually
killall mongod
Now I want 3.2 on my PATH instead of the latest:
brew unlink mongodb-community #*#
brew link --force mongodb-community#3.2
(Apparently it needs --force because it is keg-only.)
Now I have 3.2 on my PATH, I can start the test DB:
mongod --version
brew services start mongodb/brew/mongodb-community
# or start your own mongod from the command-line
When I am finished, I can do the reverse to switch back to the latest version:
brew services stop mongodb/brew/mongodb-community
brew unlink mongodb-community#3.2
brew link mongodb-community #*#
brew services start mongodb/brew/mongodb-community #*#
And restart again.

Answer 2

When trying to install old versions of something with homebrew, it's usually useful to start with brew search packagename, in this case, there's a 2.6 version available under homebrew/versions/mongodb26
So, to install that version:
brew install homebrew/versions/mongodb26
Edit
This answer has certainly become very dated. Take a look at the answer below for a valid way to accomplish this in 2021.

Answer 3

curl -O https://fastdl.mongodb.org/osx/mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12.tgz
tar -zxvf mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12.tgz
mkdir -p mongodb
cp -R -n mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12/ mongodb
export PATH=<mongodb-install-directory>/bin:$PATH #path to the dir created in step 3
mkdir -p /data/db
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /data/
mongod

Answer 4

Addition to the excellent answer of joeytwiddle :
if you don't want to link then unlink the old version of the software, you can just run it from the "cellar" (/usr/local/Cellar/), where brew installed it.
Use ls /usr/local/Cellar/ to find the exact path of the executable. For example in my case, to run mongo shell:
/usr/local/Cellar/mongodb#3.6/3.6.7/bin/mongo

Answer 5

Instead of using homebrew you can use docker to install as many versions of mongodb as you want. Each mongodb can then run on separate ports.
Install docker with brew cask install docker and then open Docker.app. After docker is running, go to Terminal and install your mongodb version by selecting an image from https://hub.docker.com/_/mongo/ like so: docker run -d -p 28017:27017 --name mongo4 mongo:latest
Verify that it's running with docker ps and you can connect to mongodb from your app using port 28017. Repeat the steps with a different name and port to install more versions. Enjoy!

Answer 6

I was able to install it using these instructions:
Installing MongoDB on OSX for local development
Over the last week, I’ve been building our MongoDB cluster on EC2 for
production. For development, however, we’ll still need to install
MongoDB locally. I’m running OSX 10.6.8, but these install
instructions should be the same on all modern OSX versions.
Installing on OSX is much more pleasant than on EC2 (actually it’s just as easy on EC2, but since it’s a simpler setup there’s n real configuration or
head scratching).
Download the latest binary:
curl -O http://fastdl.mongodb.org/osx/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2.tgz
Note!: If
you don’t have wget installed, simply download the file above by
visiting the link in your web browser and move it into your home
directory.
We’re going to install everything under /usr/local/mongodb
to keep things organized.
Create the directories (switch 'youruser' with your home user name):
sudo mkdir /usr/local/mongodb
sudo mkdir /usr/local/mongodb/log
sudo mkdir/usr/local/mongodb/data
sudo chown youruser /usr/local/mongodb/log
sudo chown youruser /usr/local/mongodb/data
sudo chgrp staff /usr/local/mongodb/log
sudo chgrp staff /usr/local/mongodb/data
Un-tar the binaries and move them into the correct folder:
tar -xvzf ~/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2.tgz
sudo mv ~/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2/* /usr/local/mongodb/
Create a config file for mongod:
sudo vi /usr/local/mongodb/mongod.conf
Paste:
dbpath=/usr/local/mongodb/data
logpath=/usr/local/mongodb/log/mongod.log
logappend=false
bind_ip=127.0.0.1
Note: dbpath and logpath specify the path to their
respective files, logappend is set to overwrite the log file on each
start of the database server, bind_ip only allows local connections.
Create an alias so that issuing mongod always read the config file:
vi ~/.profile
Paste:
# MongoDB Alias'
alias mongod="/usr/local/mongodb/bin/mongod --config=/usr/local/mongodb/mongod.conf"
All done, you should be able to simply type mongod after you reload the shell to start MongoDB. I
preferred not to start mongod on boot, but there are other who prefer
to and there’s plenty of documentation online to show you how to set
that up with launchd and creating a .plist.
http://alexanderwong.me/post/15259867190/installing-mongodb-on-osx-for-local-development

Answer 7

If you want to install an earlier MongoDB version on mac. Go to the link https://docs.mongodb.com/v3.6/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-os-x/ and select the version which you want to install and its very easy to install, just give a try. There will be around 2-3 commands for installation.
For example if you want to install version 3.6
brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install mongodb-community#3.6
If you got some error
If you need to have mongodb-community#3.6 first in your PATH run:
echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community#3.6/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile
Then run
export PATH="/usr/local/opt/mongodb-community#3.6/bin:$PATH"
To confirm if it successfully installed:
mongod -version