diff --git a/elastic/logs/README.md b/elastic/logs/README.md
index 6ce000e4..3a2b0cec 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/README.md
+++ b/elastic/logs/README.md
@@ -246,6 +246,9 @@ The following parameters are available:
 * `disable_pipelines` (default: `false`) - Prevent installing ingest node pipelines. This parameter is experimental and is to be used with indexing-only challenges.
 * `initial_indices_count` (default: 0) - Number of initial indices to create, each containing `100` auditbeat style documents. Parameter is applicable in [many-shards-quantitative challenge](#many-shards-quantitative-many-shards-quantitative) and in [many-shards-snapshots challenge](#many-shards-snapshots-many-shards-snapshots).
 * `ingest_percentage` (default: 100) - The percentage of data to be ingested.
+* `index_sorting` (default: unset): Whether index sorting should be used. Accepted values: `hostname` and `timestamp`. 
+* `synthetic_source_mode` (default: `false`): Whether to enable synthetic source.
+* `force_merge_max_num_segments` (default: unset): An integer specifying the max amount of segments the force-merge operation should use. Only supported in `logging-querying` track.
 
 ### Querying parameters
 
diff --git a/elastic/logs/challenges/logging-querying.json b/elastic/logs/challenges/logging-querying.json
index c8cc10ac..3b523855 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/challenges/logging-querying.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/challenges/logging-querying.json
@@ -22,6 +22,52 @@
         "clients": {{ p_bulk_indexing_clients }},
         "ignore-response-error-level": "{{error_level | default('non-fatal')}}"
       }
+      {%- if force_merge_max_num_segments is defined %},
+      {
+        "name": "refresh-after-index",
+        "index": "logs-*",
+        "operation": "refresh"
+      },
+      {
+        "name": "wait-until-index-merges-fininshes",
+        "operation": {
+          "operation-type": "index-stats",
+          "index": "logs-*",
+          "condition": {
+            "path": "_all.total.merges.current",
+            "expected-value": 0
+          },
+          "retry-until-success": true,
+          "include-in-reporting": false
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "operation": {
+          "operation-type": "force-merge",
+          "index": "logs-*",
+          "request-timeout": 36000,
+          "max-num-segments": {{ force_merge_max_num_segments | tojson }}
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "name": "wait-until-merges-finish",
+        "operation": {
+          "operation-type": "index-stats",
+          "index": "logs-*",
+          "condition": {
+            "path": "_all.total.merges.current",
+            "expected-value": 0
+          },
+          "retry-until-success": true,
+          "include-in-reporting": false
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "name": "refresh-after-force-merge",
+        "index": "logs-*",
+        "operation": "refresh"
+      }
+      {%- endif %}
       {# non-serverless-index-statistics-marker-start #}{%- if build_flavor != "serverless" or serverless_operator == true -%},
       {
         "name": "compression-stats",
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/component/auditbeat-mappings.json b/elastic/logs/templates/component/auditbeat-mappings.json
index 84cfd08f..c63978d1 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/component/auditbeat-mappings.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/component/auditbeat-mappings.json
@@ -1785,6 +1785,9 @@
             "message": {
               "norms": false,
               "type": "text"
+              {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %},
+              "store": true
+              {% endif %}
             },
             "stack_trace": {
               "fields": {
@@ -2941,6 +2944,9 @@
         "message": {
           "norms": false,
           "type": "text"
+          {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %},
+          "store": true
+          {% endif %}
         },
         "network": {
           "properties": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/component/track-shared-logsdb-mode.json b/elastic/logs/templates/component/track-shared-logsdb-mode.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e8ee4027
--- /dev/null
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/component/track-shared-logsdb-mode.json
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{
+    "template": {
+      "settings": {
+        "index": {
+          {% if index_sorting == "hostname" %}
+            "sort.field": [ "host.name", "@timestamp" ],
+            "sort.order": [ "asc", "desc" ]
+          {% elif index_sorting == "timestamp" %}
+            "sort.field": [ "@timestamp", "host.name" ],
+            "sort.order": [ "desc", "asc" ]
+          {% endif %}
+        }
+      },
+      "mappings": {
+        {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %}
+            "_source": {
+                "mode": "synthetic"
+            }
+        {% endif %}
+      }
+    }
+  }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-frozen.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-frozen.json
index 80bdf0d3..4bb326a4 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-frozen.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-frozen.json
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     "lifecycle": {}
   {%- endif -%}
   },
-  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings"],
+  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings", "track-shared-logsdb-mode"],
   "priority": 1,
   "data_stream" : { }
 }
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-quantitative.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-quantitative.json
index e8927a8e..ab6816a2 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-quantitative.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat-quantitative.json
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     "lifecycle": {}
   {%- endif -%}
   },
-  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings"],
+  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings", "track-shared-logsdb-mode"],
   "priority": 1,
   "data_stream" : { }
 }
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat.json
index d63433c7..1da39f96 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/auditbeat.json
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     "lifecycle": {}
   {%- endif -%}
   },
-  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings"],
+  "composed_of" : ["auditbeat-mappings", "track-shared-logsdb-mode"],
   "priority": 1,
   "data_stream" : { }
 }
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.access.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.access.json
index ecade6ed..145355d8 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.access.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.access.json
@@ -521,7 +521,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.error.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.error.json
index 010bdfa2..3f589e1b 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.error.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-apache.error.json
@@ -477,7 +477,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-k8-application.log.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-k8-application.log.json
index 37e886e9..2c8d8bfe 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-k8-application.log.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-k8-application.log.json
@@ -2000,7 +2000,8 @@
   "composed_of": [
     "logs-mappings",
     "track-custom-mappings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-kafka.log.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-kafka.log.json
index c670bfaa..883aac4e 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-kafka.log.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-kafka.log.json
@@ -158,6 +158,9 @@
                   "properties": {
                     "message": {
                       "type": "text"
+                      {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %},
+                      "store": true
+                      {% endif %}
                     },
                     "class": {
                       "ignore_above": 1024,
@@ -266,11 +269,17 @@
         },
         "message": {
           "type": "text"
+          {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %},
+          "store": true
+          {% endif %}
         },
         "error": {
           "properties": {
             "message": {
               "type": "text"
+              {% if synthetic_source_mode | default(false) is true %},
+              "store": true
+              {% endif %}
             }
           }
         },
@@ -287,7 +296,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.error.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.error.json
index 0f130ef6..510b9230 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.error.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.error.json
@@ -305,7 +305,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.slowlog.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.slowlog.json
index 2a32bef4..ac8cea55 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.slowlog.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-mysql.slowlog.json
@@ -450,7 +450,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.access.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.access.json
index 23453a08..6003836d 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.access.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.access.json
@@ -461,7 +461,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.error.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.error.json
index a2f3dea1..e411b4ed 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.error.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-nginx.error.json
@@ -296,7 +296,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-postgresql.log.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-postgresql.log.json
index 6dd5862d..68c54142 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-postgresql.log.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-postgresql.log.json
@@ -407,7 +407,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.log.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.log.json
index 62eed0ca..8e9d3417 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.log.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.log.json
@@ -278,7 +278,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.slowlog.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.slowlog.json
index 4ec11f1b..2bbd8760 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.slowlog.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-redis.slowlog.json
@@ -259,7 +259,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.auth.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.auth.json
index 51cdbe39..1f795226 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.auth.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.auth.json
@@ -473,7 +473,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.syslog.json b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.syslog.json
index 87828803..6585fd64 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.syslog.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/templates/composable/logs-system.syslog.json
@@ -297,7 +297,8 @@
     ".fleet_component_template-1",
     "track-custom-mappings",
     "track-custom-shared-settings",
-    "track-data-stream-lifecycle"
+    "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
+    "track-shared-logsdb-mode"
   ],
   "priority": 200,
   "_meta": {
diff --git a/elastic/logs/track.json b/elastic/logs/track.json
index b751659b..378b62f8 100644
--- a/elastic/logs/track.json
+++ b/elastic/logs/track.json
@@ -303,6 +303,10 @@
     {
         "name": "track-data-stream-lifecycle",
         "template": "./templates/component/track-data-stream-lifecycle.json"
+    },
+    {
+      "name": "track-shared-logsdb-mode",
+      "template": "./templates/component/track-shared-logsdb-mode.json"
     }
   ],
   "composable-templates": [