How to install earlier version of mongodb with homebrew?

I'm on osx6.8 and need to install an earlier version of Mongodb, how do I install an earlier version with HomeBrew?

The below didn't work :(

dream-2:app2 star$ brew install mongodb-2.6.10
Error: No available formula for mongodb-2.6.10 
Searching formulae...
Searching taps...
dream-2:app2 star$ 

Edit:
I'm getting a message to explain how this post is unique compared to another one, well, the answer to the other question is super long and complex and it's specific to postgresql and doesn't really answer my question.

> Note: In September 2019 mongodb was removed from homebrew core, so these instructions have been updated to use mongodb-community instead, installed from the external tap. > > If your current installation is still the pre-September mongodb package then you will need to use that name when you unlink, stop, relink and start, on the lines marked with #*# below. > > Another option is to simply upgrade away from the deprecated package now.

I already have the latest version of mongo installed, thanks to.

brew tap mongodb/brew

brew install mongodb-community

But I want to switch to the old version sometimes. First, install it:

brew search mongo

brew install mongodb-community@3.2

Let's stop the current mongodb, if it is running:

brew services stop mongodb/brew/mongodb-community           #*#

# or if you had started it manually

killall mongod

Now I want 3.2 on my PATH instead of the latest:

brew unlink mongodb-community                               #*#

brew link --force mongodb-community@3.2

(Apparently it needs --force because it is keg-only.)

Now I have 3.2 on my PATH, I can start the test DB:

mongod --version

brew services start mongodb/brew/mongodb-community

# or start your own mongod from the command-line

When I am finished, I can do the reverse to switch back to the latest version:

brew services stop mongodb/brew/mongodb-community

brew unlink [email protected]

brew link mongodb-community                                 #*#

brew services start mongodb/brew/mongodb-community          #*#

And restart again.

When trying to install old versions of something with homebrew, it's usually useful to start with brew search packagename, in this case, there's a 2.6 version available under homebrew/versions/mongodb26

So, to install that version:

brew install homebrew/versions/mongodb26

Edit

This answer has certainly become very dated. Take a look at the answer below for a valid way to accomplish this in 2021.

curl -O https://fastdl.mongodb.org/osx/mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12.tgz
tar -zxvf mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12.tgz
mkdir -p mongodb
cp -R -n mongodb-osx-x86_64-3.2.12/ mongodb
export PATH=<mongodb-install-directory>/bin:$PATH #path to the dir created in step 3
mkdir -p /data/db
sudo chown -R $(whoami) /data/
mongod

Addition to the excellent answer of joeytwiddle :

if you don't want to link then unlink the old version of the software, you can just run it from the "cellar" (/usr/local/Cellar/), where brew installed it. Use ls /usr/local/Cellar/ to find the exact path of the executable. For example in my case, to run mongo shell:

/usr/local/Cellar/[email protected]/3.6.7/bin/mongo

I was able to install it using these instructions:

> Installing MongoDB on OSX for local development > > Over the last week, I’ve been building our MongoDB cluster on EC2 for > production. For development, however, we’ll still need to install > MongoDB locally. I’m running OSX 10.6.8, but these install > instructions should be the same on all modern OSX versions. > >Installing on OSX is much more pleasant than on EC2 (actually it’s just as easy on EC2, but since it’s a simpler setup there’s n real configuration or > head scratching).

>Download the latest binary:

>curl -O http://fastdl.mongodb.org/osx/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2.tgz

>Note!: If > you don’t have wget installed, simply download the file above by > visiting the link in your web browser and move it into your home > directory.

>We’re going to install everything under /usr/local/mongodb > to keep things organized.

>Create the directories (switch 'youruser' with your home user name):

>sudo mkdir /usr/local/mongodb

>sudo mkdir /usr/local/mongodb/log

>sudo mkdir/usr/local/mongodb/data

>sudo chown youruser /usr/local/mongodb/log

>sudo chown youruser /usr/local/mongodb/data

>sudo chgrp staff /usr/local/mongodb/log

>sudo chgrp staff /usr/local/mongodb/data

>Un-tar the binaries and move them into the correct folder:

>tar -xvzf ~/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2.tgz

>sudo mv ~/mongodb-osx-x86_64-2.0.2/* /usr/local/mongodb/

>Create a config file for mongod:

>sudo vi /usr/local/mongodb/mongod.conf

>Paste:

> dbpath=/usr/local/mongodb/data

> logpath=/usr/local/mongodb/log/mongod.log

> logappend=false

> bind_ip=127.0.0.1

> Note: dbpath and logpath specify the path to their > respective files, logappend is set to overwrite the log file on each > start of the database server, bind_ip only allows local connections.

> Create an alias so that issuing mongod always read the config file:

>vi ~/.profile

>Paste:

> # MongoDB Alias'

>alias mongod="/usr/local/mongodb/bin/mongod --config=/usr/local/mongodb/mongod.conf"

>All done, you should be able to simply type mongod after you reload the shell to start MongoDB. I > preferred not to start mongod on boot, but there are other who prefer > to and there’s plenty of documentation online to show you how to set > that up with launchd and creating a .plist.

http://alexanderwong.me/post/15259867190/installing-mongodb-on-osx-for-local-development

Instead of using homebrew you can use docker to install as many versions of mongodb as you want. Each mongodb can then run on separate ports.

Install docker with brew cask install docker and then open Docker.app. After docker is running, go to Terminal and install your mongodb version by selecting an image from https://hub.docker.com/_/mongo/ like so: docker run -d -p 28017:27017 --name mongo4 mongo:latest

Verify that it's running with docker ps and you can connect to mongodb from you app using port 28017. Repeat the steps with a different name and port to install more versions. Enjoy!

If you want to install an earlier MongoDB version on mac. Go to the link https://docs.mongodb.com/v3.6/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-os-x/ and select the version which you want to install and its very easy to install, just give a try. There will be around 2-3 commands for installation.

For example if you want to install version 3.6

brew tap mongodb/brew
brew install [email protected]

If you got some error

If you need to have mongodb-community@3.6 first in your PATH run:
  echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bash_profile

Then run

export PATH="/usr/local/opt/[email protected]/bin:$PATH"

To confirm if it successfully installed:

mongod -version