Linux: transparent hugepage flag logic issue #37064

• Version: v16.0.0-pre
• Platform: Linux node 5.10.0-1-amd64 deps: update openssl to 1.0.1j #1 SMP Debian 5.10.4-1 (2020-12-31) x86_64 GNU/Linux

What steps will reproduce the bug?

Launching the node binary (when compiled with large pages support) with the --use-largepages flag enabled (either on or silent) may lead to this bug occurring.

What is the expected behavior?

Under Linux on a system where transparent hugepages are enabled (either in mode always or madvise), node launched with large pages enabled should make use of that system feature.

What do you see instead?

When --use-largepages=on (requesting non-silent operation), the following output is displayed when node is launched:

Large pages are not enabled.
Welcome to Node.js v16.0.0-pre.
Type ".help" for more information.
>

The state of transparent hugetable support can be examined on a running Linux system from a terminal by running the following command (with example output included):

$ cat /sys/kernel/mm/transparent_hugepage/enabled
always [madvise] never