Add option to skip kernel parameters on install

distribution/src/main/packaging/scripts/postinst

@@ -52,10 +52,17 @@ case "$1" in
 esac
 
 # to pick up /usr/lib/sysctl.d/elasticsearch.conf
-if command -v /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl > /dev/null; then
-    /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl
-elif command -v /lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl > /dev/null; then
-    /lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl
+if [ "${ES_SKIP_SET_KERNEL_PARAMETERS:-false}" == "false" ]; then
+    if command -v /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl > /dev/null; then
+        /usr/lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl
+    elif command -v /lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl > /dev/null; then
+        /lib/systemd/systemd-sysctl
+    fi
+elif [ "$ES_SKIP_SET_KERNEL_PARAMETERS" == "true" ]; then
+    echo "skipping setting kernel parameters"
+else
+    echo "unrecognized value [$ES_SKIP_SET_KERNEL_PARAMETERS] for ES_SKIP_SET_KERNEL_PARAMETERS; must [false] (default) or [true]"
+    exit 1
 fi
 
 if [ "x$IS_UPGRADE" != "xtrue" ]; then

docs/reference/setup/install/deb.asciidoc

@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ Examine +/etc/apt/sources.list.d/elasticsearch-{major-version}.list+ for the dup
 
 endif::[]
 
+include::skip-set-kernel-parameters.asciidoc[]
 
 [[install-deb]]
 ==== Download and install the Debian package manually

docs/reference/setup/install/rpm.asciidoc

@@ -112,6 +112,8 @@ sudo rpm --install elasticsearch-{version}.rpm
 
 endif::[]
 
+include::skip-set-kernel-parameters.asciidoc[]
+
 include::init-systemd.asciidoc[]
 
 [[rpm-running-init]]

docs/reference/setup/install/skip-set-kernel-parameters.asciidoc

@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+NOTE: On systemd-based distributions, the installation scripts will attempt to set kernel parameters (e.g.,
+`vm.max_map_count`); you can skip this by setting the environment variable `ES_SKIP_SET_KERNEL_PARAMETERS` to `true`.