diff --git a/lib/charms/mongodb/v1/helpers.py b/lib/charms/mongodb/v1/helpers.py
index ea2dd7363..806c0ed2f 100644
--- a/lib/charms/mongodb/v1/helpers.py
+++ b/lib/charms/mongodb/v1/helpers.py
@@ -143,6 +143,9 @@ def get_mongod_args(
         # for simplicity we run the mongod daemon on shards, configsvrs, and replicas on the same
         # port
         f"--port={Config.MONGODB_PORT}",
+        "--auditDestination=file",
+        f"--auditFormat={Config.AuditLog.FORMAT}",
+        f"--auditPath={full_data_dir}/{Config.AuditLog.FILE_NAME}",
         logging_options,
     ]
     if auth:
diff --git a/src/config.py b/src/config.py
index 95263189a..1b0a22989 100644
--- a/src/config.py
+++ b/src/config.py
@@ -18,19 +18,19 @@ class Config:
     MONGOD_CONF_FILE_PATH = f"{MONGOD_CONF_DIR}/mongod.conf"
     SNAP_PACKAGES = [("charmed-mongodb", "6/edge", 87)]
 
-    class Role:
-        """Role config names for MongoDB Charm."""
-
-        CONFIG_SERVER = "config-server"
-        REPLICATION = "replication"
-        SHARD = "shard"
-
+    # Keep these alphabetically sorted
     class Actions:
         """Actions related config for MongoDB Charm."""
 
         PASSWORD_PARAM_NAME = "password"
         USERNAME_PARAM_NAME = "username"
 
+    class AuditLog:
+        """Audit log related configuration."""
+
+        FORMAT = "JSON"
+        FILE_NAME = "audit.json"
+
     class Backup:
         """Backup related config for MongoDB Charm."""
 
@@ -80,6 +80,13 @@ class Relations:
         DB_RELATIONS = [OBSOLETE_RELATIONS_NAME, NAME]
         Scopes = Literal[APP_SCOPE, UNIT_SCOPE]
 
+    class Role:
+        """Role config names for MongoDB Charm."""
+
+        CONFIG_SERVER = "config-server"
+        REPLICATION = "replication"
+        SHARD = "shard"
+
     class Secrets:
         """Secrets related constants."""
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/helpers.py b/tests/integration/helpers.py
index 3ce39568f..efe1f38e5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/helpers.py
+++ b/tests/integration/helpers.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # See LICENSE file for licensing details.
 
 import json
+import logging
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Dict, Optional
 
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@
 SERIES = "jammy"
 
 
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
 def unit_uri(ip_address: str, password, app=APP_NAME) -> str:
     """Generates URI that is used by MongoDB to connect to a single replica.
 
@@ -189,3 +193,12 @@ async def get_secret_content(ops_test, secret_id) -> Dict[str, str]:
     _, stdout, _ = await ops_test.juju(*complete_command.split())
     data = json.loads(stdout)
     return data[secret_id]["content"]["Data"]
+
+
+def audit_log_line_sanity_check(entry) -> bool:
+    fields = ["atype", "ts", "local", "remote", "users", "roles", "param", "result"]
+    for field in fields:
+        if entry.get(field) is None:
+            logger.error("Field '%s' not found in audit log entry \"%s\"", field, entry)
+            return False
+    return True
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_charm.py b/tests/integration/test_charm.py
index a3c6cd250..b52a78751 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_charm.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_charm.py
@@ -5,7 +5,9 @@
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import subprocess
 import time
+from subprocess import check_output
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 import pytest
@@ -20,6 +22,7 @@
     APP_NAME,
     PORT,
     UNIT_IDS,
+    audit_log_line_sanity_check,
     count_primaries,
     find_unit,
     get_leader_id,
@@ -314,3 +317,22 @@ def juju_reports_one_primary(unit_messages):
 
     # cleanup, remove killed unit
     await ops_test.model.destroy_unit(target_unit)
+
+
+async def test_audit_log(ops_test: OpsTest) -> None:
+    """Test that audit log was created and contains actual audit data."""
+    leader_unit = await find_unit(ops_test, leader=True)
+    audit_log_snap_path = "/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/common/var/lib/mongodb/audit.json"
+    audit_log = check_output(
+        f"JUJU_MODEL={ops_test.model_full_name} juju ssh {leader_unit.name} 'sudo cat {audit_log_snap_path}'",
+        stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        shell=True,
+        universal_newlines=True,
+    )
+
+    for line in audit_log.splitlines():
+        if not len(line):
+            continue
+        item = json.loads(line)
+        # basic sanity check
+        assert audit_log_line_sanity_check(item), "Audit sanity log check failed for first line"
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_mongodb_helpers.py b/tests/unit/test_mongodb_helpers.py
index d64557a12..4c5bd675c 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_mongodb_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_mongodb_helpers.py
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ def test_get_mongod_args(self):
             "--replSet=my_repl_set",
             "--dbpath=/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/common/var/lib/mongodb",
             "--port=27017",
+            "--auditDestination=file",
+            "--auditFormat=JSON",
+            "--auditPath=/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/common/var/lib/mongodb/audit.json",
             "--auth",
             "--clusterAuthMode=keyFile",
             "--keyFile=/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/current/etc/mongod/keyFile",
@@ -36,6 +39,9 @@ def test_get_mongod_args(self):
             "--replSet=my_repl_set",
             "--dbpath=/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/common/var/lib/mongodb",
             "--port=27017",
+            "--auditDestination=file",
+            "--auditFormat=JSON",
+            "--auditPath=/var/snap/charmed-mongodb/common/var/lib/mongodb/audit.json",
         ]
 
         self.assertEqual(
@@ -50,6 +56,9 @@ def test_get_mongod_args(self):
             "--replSet=my_repl_set",
             "--dbpath=/var/lib/mongodb",
             "--port=27017",
+            "--auditDestination=file",
+            "--auditFormat=JSON",
+            "--auditPath=/var/lib/mongodb/audit.json",
             "--logpath=/var/lib/mongodb/mongodb.log",
         ]