How to connect to MongoDB on Windows 8 I'm trying to get MongoDB installed and running on my new Windows 8 computer. However, I cannot seem to be able to connect to MongoDB when using the mongo.exe shell. 

I got the following error:

MongoDB shell version: 2.4.8
connecting to: test
Sun Dec 15 14:06:39.835 Error: couldn't connect to server 127.0.0.1:27017 at src/mongo/shell/mongo.js:146
exception: connect failed


How can I connect to MongoDB properly? I already have MongoDB installed, along with having the Data Directory all set up. I also created a specific directory for the MongoDB log files, and installed the MongoDB service.
In the directory that you ran mongo.exe you should also see the executable mongod.exe. 


mongo.exe is the shell that connects to the server/daemon that allows you to issue commands and query your databases.
mongod.exe is the actaul mongo server/daemon.


First run mongod.exe to start the server then in a new command window run mongo.exe. The shell should now connect to the running server. For production you will want to look at setting mongod as Windows Service instead of just running in a separate command window.