Elasticsearch node prerequisites

This chart enables memory-mapped storage in its Elasticsearch node-set defaults. Prepare the worker nodes according to Elastic’s virtual-memory requirements. For Elasticsearch 8.16 and later (including this chart’s 9.x images), Elastic recommends vm.max_map_count=1048576; the old 262144 recipe is not the current recommendation for these versions.

Prefer persistent node provisioning over privileged workload init containers. Apply node changes through your infrastructure owner and approved cluster controls, including newly added nodes. Do not deploy an unreviewed privileged DaemonSet or disable Kyverno/Pod Security restrictions as a workaround.

If an approved environment requires init-container customization, package entry points are elasticsearch.common.initContainers (prepended to all node sets) or each node set’s initContainers. The chart does not set the host sysctl for you. Disabling mmap through raw node configuration is a separate performance decision, not a general production fix. See troubleshooting.