diff --git a/vars/default_vars.yml b/vars/default_vars.yml
index ad699544d..a5449448f 100644
--- a/vars/default_vars.yml
+++ b/vars/default_vars.yml
@@ -446,10 +446,16 @@ moodle_enabled: False
 
 # MongoDB (/library/dbdata/mongodb) is used by Sugarizer:
 # The mongodb playbook itself is later invoked by roles/sugarizer/meta/main.yml
-# 2019-07-08: mongodb_install is completely ignored.  FYI mongodb_enabled: False
-# works but is ineffective, as Sugarizer starts mongodb's systemd svc on its own
-mongodb_install: False
+# 2019-07-08: mongodb_install is completely ignored as it is installed on demand as a dependency.
+# 2020-01-23 set to True for installed: True test
+mongodb_install: True
+
+# FYI mongodb_enabled: False works but is ineffective but is required by mongodb/tasks/enable.yml
+# to shutdown the service and log status but that is misleading as Sugarizer starts mongodb's systemd
+# svc on its own due to requires=mongodb.service within sugarizer.service file
 mongodb_enabled: False
+
+# port assignment
 mongodb_port: 27018
 
 # Regional OSM vector maps use far less disk space than bitmap/raster versions.