First create a directory for the database and set permissions:
```bash
$ mkdir /data/db
$ sudo chown -R `id -un` /data/db
```
Then start the Mongo daemon
```bash
mongod
```
This will run continuously in the terminal and should say somewhere that it is waiting for connections on port `27017`. This command must be executed before you run any backend that interacts with the Mongo database.
## MongoDB Compass
_Compass_ is a graphical interface for viewing and interacting with the data in your Mongo database. It will automatically load to the default Mongo port: `27017`.