Install PEGA Personal Edition in MacOS (Only free softwares included)
One of my favourite topics over the last several months has been to explore ways in which a PEGA Personal Edition can be used in a Mac laptop. Being a fan of the Apple ecosystem I was unwilling to leave it and tried several avenues to find the ideal approach , but all of them had their downsides : a Cloud instance , for example, is extremely limited in its ability for customisation, while other approaches like getting a Windows Virtual Machine through Parallels software (requiring a monthly paid subscription) was not providing the adequate levels of performance I was expecting.
This latest approach is by far the best solution : anyone interested in trying it out requires a downloaded PEGA Personal Edition, a free version of the Parallels software, and a free instance of Debian GNU/Linux 10 VM installed in the Parallels machine. This was tested in both x86 and ARM-based architecture models of Mac , so it should work for both M1 and Intel-based Mac laptops. The choice of Debian was also a simple one : Debian’s stable releases are much more reliable compared to other distros like Ubuntu , and although Debian’s software ecosystem is considered outdated, stability was a benefit which far outweighed any such issues.
The Github repository with the details is given here : https://github.com/sunilsankar/pega-pe .
The documentation is fairly detailed, only requiring a rudimentary knowledge of technical details, and anyone having an issue while using it can definitely reach out to us for clarification. I have been using it in my own M1 machine with 32GB RAM for about a week now, and it is INSANELY fast !
If anyone using MacOS tries it out and encounters any issues, please let me know.
--- Update on 14th October 2022 ---
Parallels require a licensing cost, so use UTM instead. It is a free virtualization tool and is available here : https://mac.getutm.app/
Only downside is : unlike Parallels you have to install Debian OS manually, but the steps are pretty simple. Once Debian is installed, the PEGA installation steps are exactly the same.
***Edited by Moderator Marije to add Capability tags***
Virtusa
IN
Hello ,can you please help . getting below error in the 2nd step .
ssh parallels@"<inet Proprietary information hidden/24>"
ssh: Could not resolve hostname <inet Proprietary information hidden/24>: nodename nor servname provided, or not known
ING Bank N.V.
NL
@AyazShaikHi,
The part after @ should only contain the IP address. I am assuming the IP is Proprietary information hidden, then the whole expression would be :
ssh parallels@ Proprietary information hidden
Also, the VM needs to be up, before you can SSH into it.
Pegasystems Inc.
SE
@VTALUKDAR Is there a free version of the Parallels ? I can only find a 14 day trial.
ING Bank N.V.
NL
@HenrikW I think the Parallels software itself doesnot require a subscription. Only the Windows installation in the Parallels software should require that.
Can you please check and confirm ?
Verizon
IN
@VTALUKDAR Good day - Many thanks for the steps - I was able to run Pega using Parallels & Debian in my MacBook(intel based machine) - However the Parallels has a trial period of only 14 days - I tried to search for a free version but it is in available - could you let me know if there are any links which I can use to download the Parallels free version- Thanks in advance.
ING Bank N.V.
NL
@RadhakrishnanR4657 I have a an even better suggestion : try using an application UTM. UTM is a free tool which you can use without any extra money to pay for.
The downside is : unlike Parallels, you have install Debian manually in the UTM VM, but the steps are fairly simple. Once Debian is installed in VM, the steps to install PEGA are exactly the same.
Here is the link : https://mac.getutm.app/
Verizon
IN
@VTALUKDAR Thank you so much for helping me on this .. Will try and update back if I face any issues
ING Bank N.V.
NL
@RadhakrishnanR4657No problem.Do let me know if this approach works for you !
Verizon
IN
@VTALUKDAR Yep - it worked .. Using UTM - I had to download the Debian gnome.iso file separately and then had to install it - it took few more steps and some amount of googling to take care of the access issues - But finally running the app without problem.
The iso file available in the UTM gallery is for M1 macs and Unfortunately mine is Macbook pro (15 inch model -amd64) version was required.. that is the difference.
It works though .. Thanks again for all the help
Toyota Financial Services
AU
Hi there,
Hope you are doing well.
I am having M1 Macbook Air 8GB Model. My understanding is, to run PEGA PE we need at least 8GB RAM. How can I allocate a total of 8GB to the UTM VM?
Thanks
Sandeep P V
ING Bank N.V.
NL
@SandeepPamidamarriIf you are somehow able to allocate 8GB RAM to the UTM, your Mac will crash (I would know as I have tried it !). Try allocating 6GB to it, and it might still work : although it would be extremely slow.
To be honest, running a basic PEGA 8.7 Personal Edition is best done on a 16GB RAM machine.