redpanda: Add support to map code into hugepages

src/v/config/configuration.cc

@@ -4857,6 +4857,12 @@ configuration::configuration()
       {.needs_restart = needs_restart::no, .visibility = visibility::tunable},
       128,
       {.min = 0, .max = 10000})
+  , code_hugepages_enabled(
+      *this,
+      "code_hugepages_enabled",
+      "Map the binary into hugepages",
+      {.needs_restart = needs_restart::no, .visibility = visibility::tunable},
+      false)
   , development_feature_property_testing_only(
       *this,
       "development_feature_property_testing_only",

src/v/config/configuration.h

@@ -841,6 +841,7 @@ struct configuration final : public config_store {
     property<std::chrono::milliseconds>
       cloud_topics_l1_reader_cache_eviction_timeout_ms;
     bounded_property<size_t> cloud_topics_l1_reader_cache_max_size;
+    property<bool> code_hugepages_enabled;
 
     development_feature_property<int> development_feature_property_testing_only;
 

src/v/redpanda/BUILD

@@ -169,14 +169,20 @@ redpanda_cc_binary(
     srcs = [
         "main.cc",
     ],
-    linkopts =
-        select({
-            ":use_emit_relocs": [
-                "-Wl,--emit-relocs",
-            ],
-            "//conditions:default": [
-            ],
-        }),
+    linkopts = [
+        # Align loadable segments to 2 MB so the text segment is eligible for
+        # transparent huge pages (PMD-mapped). separate-loadable-segments
+        # ensures each PT_LOAD gets its own mmap at a 2 MB boundary rather
+        # than packing segments into a single mapping.
+        "-Wl,-z,max-page-size=2097152",
+        "-Wl,-z,separate-loadable-segments",
+    ] + select({
+        ":use_emit_relocs": [
+            "-Wl,--emit-relocs",
+        ],
+        "//conditions:default": [
+        ],
+    }),
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
         ":application",

src/v/redpanda/application.cc

@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #include "security/audit/audit_log_manager.h"
 #include "storage/api.h"
 #include "storage/directories.h"
+#include "syschecks/hugepages.h"
 #include "syschecks/syschecks.h"
 #include "utils/file_io.h"
 #include "utils/human.h"
@@ -800,6 +801,18 @@ void application::check_environment() {
     syschecks::systemd_message("checking environment (CPU, Mem)").get();
     syschecks::cpu();
     syschecks::memory(config::node().developer_mode());
+    if (config::shard_local_cfg().code_hugepages_enabled()) {
+        syschecks::promote_code_to_hugepages();
+    }
+    _code_hugepages_binding.emplace(
+      config::shard_local_cfg().code_hugepages_enabled.bind());
+    _code_hugepages_binding->watch([this] {
+        if ((*_code_hugepages_binding)()) {
+            syschecks::promote_code_to_hugepages();
+        } else {
+            syschecks::demote_code_from_hugepages();
+        }
+    });
     memory_groups().log_memory_group_allocations(_log);
     storage::directories::initialize(
       config::node().data_directory().as_sstring())

src/v/redpanda/application.h

@@ -293,6 +293,7 @@ class application : public ssx::sharded_service_container {
     ss::sharded<scheduling_groups_probe> _scheduling_groups_probe;
 
     std::optional<config::binding<bool>> _abort_on_oom;
+    std::optional<config::binding<bool>> _code_hugepages_binding;
 
     ss::sharded<memory_sampling> _memory_sampling;
     ss::sharded<rpc::rpc_server> _rpc;

src/v/syschecks/BUILD

@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@ load("//bazel:build.bzl", "redpanda_cc_library")
 redpanda_cc_library(
     name = "syschecks",
     srcs = [
+        "hugepages.cc",
         "pidfile.cc",
         "syschecks.cc",
     ],
     hdrs = [
+        "hugepages.h",
         "syschecks.h",
     ],
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],

src/v/syschecks/hugepages.cc

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Redpanda Data, Inc.
+//
+// Use of this software is governed by the Business Source License
+// included in the file licenses/BSL.md
+//
+// As of the Change Date specified in that file, in accordance with
+// the Business Source License, use of this software will be governed
+// by the Apache License, Version 2.0
+
+#include "syschecks/hugepages.h"
+
+#include "base/vlog.h"
+#include "syschecks/syschecks.h"
+
+#include <sys/mman.h>
+
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <link.h>
+
+// MADV_COLLAPSE was added in Linux 6.1. Define it for older headers.
+#ifndef MADV_COLLAPSE
+#define MADV_COLLAPSE 25
+#endif
+
+namespace syschecks {
+
+namespace {
+
+/// Invoke fn(addr, len) for each non-writable PT_LOAD segment across
+/// all loaded ELF objects (main binary + shared libraries). This covers
+/// .text (PF_R|PF_X) and .rodata (PF_R) segments.
+template<typename Fn>
+void for_each_ro_segment(Fn fn) {
+    dl_iterate_phdr(
+      [](struct dl_phdr_info* info, size_t /*size*/, void* data) -> int {
+          auto& callback = *static_cast<Fn*>(data);
+          for (int i = 0; i < info->dlpi_phnum; ++i) {
+              const auto& phdr = info->dlpi_phdr[i];
+              if (phdr.p_type != PT_LOAD) {
+                  continue;
+              }
+              // Skip writable segments (.data, .bss).
+              if (phdr.p_flags & PF_W) {
+                  continue;
+              }
+              auto addr = info->dlpi_addr + phdr.p_vaddr;
+              auto len = phdr.p_memsz;
+              if (len == 0) {
+                  continue;
+              }
+              callback(reinterpret_cast<void*>(addr), static_cast<size_t>(len));
+          }
+          return 0; // continue iteration
+      },
+      &fn);
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+void promote_code_to_hugepages() {
+    vlog(checklog.info, "Starting hugepage promotioin of code segments");
+
+    size_t total_bytes = 0;
+    size_t marked_bytes = 0;
+    size_t collapsed_bytes = 0;
+
+    for_each_ro_segment([&](void* addr, size_t len) {
+        total_bytes += len;
+
+        // Mark the VMA for huge pages. In "madvise" THP mode (the common
+        // default), khugepaged only scans VMAs with VM_HUGEPAGE set, so this
+        // is required for ongoing huge page maintenance — not just a hint.
+        if (::madvise(addr, len, MADV_HUGEPAGE) == 0) {
+            marked_bytes += len;
+        }
+
+        // Fault in all pages so MADV_COLLAPSE has something to work with.
+        // At startup most pages are still demand-paged.
+        // In theory this is not needed with MADV_COLLAPSE but the docs leave a
+        // cop out so we are just explicit in any case.
+        // Incompatible with ASAN, disable if on
+#if !__has_feature(address_sanitizer)
+        auto* base = static_cast<volatile const char*>(addr);
+        for (size_t off = 0; off < len; off += 4096) {
+            [[maybe_unused]] char c = base[off];
+        }
+#endif
+
+        // Synchronously collapse 4 KB pages into 2 MB huge pages
+        // (Linux 6.1+). Without this, khugepaged promotes pages in the
+        // background over the next few seconds; MADV_COLLAPSE makes it
+        // immediate (best effort).
+        if (::madvise(addr, len, MADV_COLLAPSE) == 0) {
+            collapsed_bytes += len;
+        }
+    });
+
+    if (total_bytes > 0) {
+        vlog(
+          checklog.info,
+          "hugepages: {}/{} MiB marked, {}/{} MiB collapsed",
+          marked_bytes / (1024 * 1024),
+          total_bytes / (1024 * 1024),
+          collapsed_bytes / (1024 * 1024),
+          total_bytes / (1024 * 1024));
+    }
+}
+
+void demote_code_from_hugepages() {
+    size_t total_bytes = 0;
+    size_t demoted_bytes = 0;
+
+    for_each_ro_segment([&](void* addr, size_t len) {
+        total_bytes += len;
+
+        // Prevent khugepaged from re-promoting these pages.
+        if (::madvise(addr, len, MADV_NOHUGEPAGE) != 0) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // MADV_NOHUGEPAGE only prevents future promotions — existing PMD
+        // entries for file-backed pages are not split. MADV_DONTNEED drops
+        // the page table entries. They will be re-faulted at 4 KB granularity
+        // (since MADV_NOHUGEPAGE is set).
+        if (::madvise(addr, len, MADV_DONTNEED) == 0) {
+            demoted_bytes += len;
+        }
+    });
+
+    if (total_bytes > 0) {
+        vlog(
+          checklog.info,
+          "hugepages: demoted {}/{} MiB from huge pages",
+          demoted_bytes / (1024 * 1024),
+          total_bytes / (1024 * 1024));
+    }
+}
+
+} // namespace syschecks

src/v/syschecks/hugepages.h

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026 Redpanda Data, Inc.
+ *
+ * Use of this software is governed by the Business Source License
+ * included in the file licenses/BSL.md
+ *
+ * As of the Change Date specified in that file, in accordance with
+ * the Business Source License, use of this software will be governed
+ * by the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ */
+
+#pragma once
+
+namespace syschecks {
+
+/// Promote file-backed executable mappings (code segments) to transparent huge
+/// pages.
+void promote_code_to_hugepages();
+
+/// Undo the effect of promote_code_to_hugepages(). Marks executable VMAs with
+/// MADV_NOHUGEPAGE
+void demote_code_from_hugepages();
+
+} // namespace syschecks