For the following challenges, you are going to use MongoDB to store data. To simplify the configuration, you'll use a service called MongoDB Atlas.

Create a MongoDB Atlas account

MongoDB Atlas is a MongoDB Database-as-a-Service platform, which means that they configure and host the database for you. Then, your only responsibility will be to populate your database with what matters: data.

  • Go here to sign up for a new MongoDB Atlas account.
  • Fill the registration form with your information and click Sign up.

Create a new cluster

  • On the next page, fill in your organization's name, project's name, select JavaScript as your preferred programming language, and click the green Continue button.
  • Click the Create a cluster button under Shared Clusters. This should be the only free option.
  • In the Cloud Provider & Region dropdown, leave this as the default (typically AWS).
  • In the Cluster Tier dropdown, leave this as the default, M0 Sandbox (Shared RAM, 512 MB Storage).
  • In the Cluster Name dropdown, you can give your cluster a name, or leave it as the default, Cluster 0.
  • Click the green Create Cluster button at the bottom of the screen.
  • You should now see the message Your cluster is being created. New clusters take between 1-3 minutes to provision. Wait until the cluster is created before going to the next step.

Create a new user for the database

  • On the left side of screen, click on Database Access.
  • Click the green Add New Database User button.
  • In the modal, enter a new username and password.
  • Under Database User Privileges, leave this as the default option, Read and write to any database.
  • Click the Add User button to create your new user.

Allow access from all IP addresses

  • On the left side of the screen, click on Network Access.
  • Click the green Add IP Address button.
  • In the modal, click the ALLOW ACCESS FROM ANYWHERE button. You should see 0.0.0.0/0 in the Access List Entry entry field.
  • Click the green Confirm button.

Connect to your cluster

  • Click on the green Get Started button in the bottom left of your screen should now show you the final step, Connect to your cluster, click on it.
  • On the left side of the screen, click on Clusters.
  • Click the Connect button for your cluster.
  • In the popup modal, click on Connect your application.
  • You should see the URI you'll use to connect to your database similar to this: mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster-name>.mongodb.net/<db-name>?retryWrites=true&w=majority.
  • Click the Copy button to copy your URI to your clipboard.

Notice that the <username>, <cluster-name>, and <db-name> fields of URI you copied are already filled out for you. All you need to do is replace the <password> field with the one you created in the previous step.

And that's it — you now have the URI to add to your application and connect to your database. Keep this URI safe somewhere so you can use it later.