diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f452abc..6cd8a85 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript-Node-Starter.git <pr
 cd <project_name>
 npm install
 ```
+- Configure your mongoDB server
+```
+# create the db directory
+sudo mkdir -p /data/db
+# give the db correct read/write permissions
+sudo chmod 777 /data/db
+```
 - Start your mongoDB server (you'll probably want another command prompt)
 ```
 mongod