The MongoDB shell is an interactive JavaScript interface used to access a MongoDB database to query, update data or perform database management operations.
To get started, you will need to have a downloaded copy of MongoDB from the official website.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/Annotation-2020-08-25-135352.png)
I will select complete installation on the installation page and then choose MongoDB to run as a network service.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/image-68.png)
Next, check the MongoDB compass check box. This will help us access our MongoDB instance through a GUI, for this article, access will be performed through the shell.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/image-69.png)
Once it's done installing, you can access the folder that contains the installed files using the path as shown below.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/image-70.png)
Next, edit the system environment variables to run the executables above in the command line without having to specify the full path.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/Annotation-2020-08-25-140401.png)
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/Annotation-2020-08-25-140719.png)
Next, open up a new command-line session and then run the command below to verify that your change is working perfectly.
mongo --nodb
You will then be able to confirm that Mongo has been successfully installed.
![](https://cloudnodelab.azurewebsites.net/content/images/2020/10/image-71.png)