What is the use of the mongo.lock file?

I am using mongodb-v1.8.1. Unfortunately my server gets hanged and i restarted my server.Once it comes back i could-not start the开发者_运维知识库 MongoDB. I removed the mongo.lock file and ran repair database query.Now mongo working fine. I am baffled with the mongo.lock file.What is the use of the mongo.lock file?.Removing the mongo.lock file will affect my existing data? Please let me know your suggestion..

Thanks,

Mongodb always creates the mongodb.lock file when the server starts and drops it before mongodb is stopped.

Removing mongodb.lock does not affect any data it just means that mongodb was not stopped correctly. So, you are correct in removing this file and running with the -repair option should fix database.