Integrating .NET Core with MongoDB in a Dockerized Environment

Hello, fellow developers! Whether you're building a new project or integrating into an existing one, this guide is your starting point for a "hello world" level application in the .NET 8 plus MongoDB stack. Let's get to it!

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Docker
• .NET SDK (I'm using dotnet 8)

Step 1: Dockerize MongoDB

First off, let's get MongoDB up and running inside a Docker container. Just run this command (assuming you have docker installed and running)

docker run --name mongodb -d -p 27017:27017 mongo

You should see output similar to this:

This command sets up MongoDB in a container, mapping the default MongoDB port to the same on your host, making it accessible to your application.

Step 2: Scaffold a .NET Core Console Application

Now, let's create our .NET application:

dotnet new console -n HelloMongo
cd HelloMongo

Don't forget to add MongoDB's driver to your project:

dotnet add package MongoDB.Driver

Step 3: The Application Code

Here's where the magic happens. Replace the Program.cs content with the following:

// See https://aka.ms/new-console-template for more information
using MongoDB.Bson;
using MongoDB.Driver;

Console.WriteLine("Hello, World!");

var client = new MongoClient("mongodb://localhost:27017");
var database = client.GetDatabase("testdb");
var collection = database.GetCollection<BsonDocument>("testcollection");

// Clearing the collection (optional)
await collection.DeleteManyAsync(new BsonDocument());
Console.WriteLine("Collection cleared.");

// Inserting a document
var document = new BsonDocument
            {
                { "name", "Ardalis" },
                { "Company", "NimblePros - Force Multipliers for Dev Teams" },
                { "MvpAwardCount", 20 },
                { "city", "Kent, Ohio" }
            };
await collection.InsertOneAsync(document);
Console.WriteLine("Document inserted.");

// Reading documents
var documents = await collection.Find(new BsonDocument()).ToListAsync();
foreach (var doc in documents)
{
    Console.WriteLine(doc.ToString());
}

This snippet demonstrates connecting to MongoDB, inserting, and then reading documents back. Simple, yet powerful! I also included the code for clearing out the collection, so that you can run this multiple times and get the same result each time.

Step 4: Run Your Application

To see your application in action, run:

dotnet run

Voilà! You've just integrated a .NET Core application with MongoDB, all running smoothly with Docker. You should see something like this:

Step 5: Cleaning Up

After you're done, don't forget to clean up your Docker environment:

docker stop mongodb
docker rm mongodb

And that's it! You've now got a solid foundation for integrating .NET Core applications with MongoDB.

Get the Code

You can grab the latest version of the code directly from its GitHub repo.

References

• .NET SDK
• MongoDB Docker Hub Page
• MongoDB.Driver NuGet Package

Keep Improving!

P.S. If you're looking to improve as a software developer, you may wish to join thousands of other developers who get my newsletter each week. Sign up here!