Preamble

MongoDB PHP: The database will receive a data stream from an external application or return this data back to it.
Therefore, we will need to organize work between MongoDB and an application written in one of the programming languages. PHP has been chosen as one of the most common programming languages, by the example of which we will consider such interaction.
Installing a driver for PHP
Install the driver for the PHP language. The driver itself can be downloaded directly from the Github project page: github.com/mongodb/mongo-php-driver.
After loading the driver and unpacking its package on Unix systems, you should enter the following commands:
phpize
./configure
make
sudo make install
And then add the next line to the php.ini file:
extension=mongo.so
So, let’s download and unpack this archive package. It will contain drivers for possible versions of PHP. We need to select the one that corresponds to your version of PHP and put the corresponding driver file in the PHP/ext directory where all the extensions for PHP are stored.
Then you need to make a change to the php.ini file by adding the following line to the section where the extensions are connected:
extension=php_mongo-[version].dll
For example, in my case with the PHP 5.4 Tread Safe version I added the file php_mongo-1.4.5-5.4-vc9.dll to the PHP/ext directory. So I add extension=php_mongo-1.4.5-5.4-vc9.dll to php.ini.
Then we reload the webserver and test it. To test the mongodb driver connection, you can use the standard phpinfo() function which outputs all PHP information to the webserver. In our case it should output the following:

Connecting to MongoDB from PHP
By connecting the driver to PHP, we can now connect to the database and interact with it from PHP code.
To establish a connection from the database, just write one line in the code:
$connection = new Mongo();
In this case, we connect to a server running on the localhost on standard port 27017. However, we can also connect to an external server:
$connection = new Mongo("somesite.com");
Here we are talking about connecting to a MongoDB server running on somesite.com and also on port 27017. If the port is different then we can also specify it:
$connection = new Mongo("somesite.com:888");
Once the database work is complete, we can close the connection using the close method:
$connection->close();
Document creation in PHP
Earlier we saw that a document in mongodb actually represents an object in a format similar to JSON. It can store keys with which certain values are mapped. The values themselves can also represent complex objects from keys and values. So, we created a document that represents an individual person:
steve = ({
"name": "Steve",
"age": 25,
"languages": ["engish", "french"],
company: {
"name": "Apple",
"year": 1976
}
})
Let’s create a similar document in PHP. To do this we will use associative arrays:
$steve = array(
"name" => "Steve",
"age" => 25,
"languages"=> array("engish", "french"),
"company" => array(
"name" => "Apple",
"year" => 1976
)
)
MongoDB PHP Tutorial Driver and PHP Library Set Up
About Enteros
IT organizations routinely spend days and weeks troubleshooting production database performance issues across multitudes of critical business systems. Fast and reliable resolution of database performance problems by Enteros enables businesses to generate and save millions of direct revenue, minimize waste of employees’ productivity, reduce the number of licenses, servers, and cloud resources and maximize the productivity of the application, database, and IT operations teams.
The views expressed on this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Enteros Inc. This blog may contain links to the content of third-party sites. By providing such links, Enteros Inc. does not adopt, guarantee, approve, or endorse the information, views, or products available on such sites.
Are you interested in writing for Enteros’ Blog? Please send us a pitch!
RELATED POSTS
How to Optimize Technology and SaaS Operations with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Database Observability
- 14 August 2026
- Database Performance Management
Introduction Technology companies and SaaS providers operate some of the most demanding database environments in the world. SaaS applications must support thousands or millions of users, continuous transactions, real-time analytics, API requests, subscription billing, customer management, and increasingly AI-powered workloads. For SaaS companies, database performance is directly connected to customer experience, retention, revenue, infrastructure costs, … Continue reading “How to Optimize Technology and SaaS Operations with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Database Observability”
How to Optimize Government Digital Services with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Database Observability
Introduction Government agencies are rapidly modernizing public services through digital platforms, cloud computing, AI, citizen portals, and data-driven operations. Citizens increasingly expect government services to be as accessible and responsive as private-sector digital experiences. Every tax payment, license application, benefits request, public record search, permit application, and citizen service interaction depends on enterprise databases. Enteros … Continue reading “How to Optimize Government Digital Services with Enteros Database Software, AI-Powered Analytics, and Database Observability”
How AIOps and FinOps Enable Cost-Efficient, High-Performance Enterprise IT Operations
Introduction Enterprise IT environments are becoming increasingly complex. Organizations now operate across public and private clouds, hybrid infrastructure, distributed databases, microservices, containers, SaaS platforms, and increasingly data-intensive applications. At the same time, business users expect these systems to deliver fast, reliable, and continuously available digital experiences. This creates a difficult balance for IT leaders: how … Continue reading “How AIOps and FinOps Enable Cost-Efficient, High-Performance Enterprise IT Operations”
The Business Value of AIOps and FinOps for Banking, Healthcare, and Education
Introduction Organizations across banking, healthcare, and education are accelerating digital transformation. Mobile banking applications, digital payment platforms, electronic health records, telemedicine services, learning management systems, virtual classrooms, and cloud-based administrative platforms have become essential to everyday operations. However, digital transformation brings a fundamental challenge: how can organizations deliver reliable, high-performing digital services while controlling increasingly … Continue reading “The Business Value of AIOps and FinOps for Banking, Healthcare, and Education”