Starting with Pega Platform 24.2, externalization of key services such as Hazelcast, Elasticsearch (Search), and Kafka is required. Due to certain dependencies, our current approach is to initially run Pega 24.2 on a VM-based architecture, and then transition to a container-based (Kubernetes) architecture in the coming months.

According to the release notes:

• Embedded Hazelcast is still supported in Pega 24.2, but it is deprecated and will be completely unsupported starting with Pega Platform 25.

However, we would like to understand the current support status for Search and Kafka in Pega 24.2:

• Can Search (Elasticsearch) still be run in embedded mode, or is externalization mandatory?

• Is Kafka supported in embedded mode, or does it also require externalization from Pega 24.2 onward?

We would appreciate any insights or guidance on how these services must be configured during this interim VM deployment phase.