Strapi gives you the option to choose the most appropriate database for your project. It currently supports **PostgreSQL**, **MongoDB**, **SQLite**, **MySQL** and
**MariaDB**. The following documentation covers how to install these databases locally (for development purposes) and on various hosted or cloud server solutions (for staging or production purposes).
This will create a new project and launch it in the browser. (The [Quick Start Guide](/3.0.0-alpha.x/getting-started/quick-start.html) is a complete step-by-step tutorial.)
In order to use Strapi with [MongoDB](https://www.mongodb.com/) in production, you must have and use MongoDB on your local development environment. These instructions show how to start using Strapi with a MongoDB database.
### 1. Install MongoDB on your development environment
If you already have MongoDB installed locally and running as a background service, you may skip to [Install Strapi locally with MongoDB](#install-strapi-locally-with-mongodb). (If you have additional questions, please see the official [MongoDB documentation](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/installation/#tutorial-installation). )
Please complete the installation steps appropriate to your operating system.
Follow these steps to [install MongoDB onto your Windows 10](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-windows/) environment (The Windows Sub-System for Linux (WSL) is unsupported by MongoDB):
1. Download the `MongoDB Community Edition Server` for Windows [here](https://www.mongodb.com/download-center/community?jmp=docs). Select `MongoDB Community Server` and verify the options that match your computer. Then `Download` the package and follow the installation instructions to complete the process.
2. After successfully installing MongoDB, the MongoDB service is started. To begin using MongoDB, connect a mongo.exe shell to the running MongoDB instance.
2. Next, add the repository for 18.04. Repositories for other versions of Ubuntu are found [here](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-ubuntu/).
You have successfully installed Strapi with MongoDB on your local development environment. You are now ready to [create your first user](/3.0.0-alpha.x/getting-started/quick-start.html#_3-create-an-admin-user).
Follow these steps to configure a local Strapi project to use a [MongoDB Atlas](https://www.mongodb.com/cloud/atlas) free 512 MB account in production. (Please see [MongoDB Atlas Documentation](https://docs.atlas.mongodb.com/getting-started/) if you have any questions.)
3. Then `whitelist` your IP address. Under `Security`, click to `IP Whitelist`
- Click the green `+ ADD IP ADDRESS`
- Next click `ALLOW ACCESS FROM ANYWHERE`. **Note:** In permanent projects you would configure this with the appropriate IP addresses.
- Click `Confirm`. Then wait until the status turns from `Pending` to `Active`.
4. Retrieve database credentials
MongoDB Atlas automatically exposes the database credentials into a single environment variable accessible by your app. To locate it, follow these steps:
- Under the `Overview` tab, click `CONNECT` and then `Connect Your Application`.
- Under `1. Choose your driver version`, select **DRIVER** as `Node.js` and **VERSION** as `2.2.12 or later`.
- This should show a **Connection String Only** similar to this:
- You created earlier a `cluster name`, `username` and `password`. These are the other variables needed to configure your project to connect to MongoDB Atlas.