@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 #       `precompiled_build_dir` or `build_options` can be defined, but not both.
 #   `compiler_wrapper`:
 #       Optional, adds a compiler wrapper if present.
+#   `build_args`:
+#       The additional build arguments to be used when building DPDK.
 #   `func_traffic_generator` & `perf_traffic_generator`:
 #       Define `func_traffic_generator` when `func` set to true.
 #       Define `perf_traffic_generator` when `perf` set to true.

@@ -40,6 +42,17 @@ dpdk:
       # the combination of the following two makes CC="ccache gcc"
       compiler: gcc
       compiler_wrapper: ccache # see `Optional Fields`
+      # arguments to be used when building DPDK
+      # build_args:
+      #   c_args:
+      #     - O3
+      #     - g
+      #   b_coverage:
+      #     - "true"
+      #   buildtype:
+      #     - release
+      #   flags:
+      #     - strip
 func_traffic_generator:
   type: SCAPY
 # perf_traffic_generator:

@@ -191,6 +191,8 @@ class DPDKBuildOptionsConfiguration(FrozenModel):
     #: This string will be put in front of the compiler when executing the build. Useful for adding
     #: wrapper commands, such as ``ccache``.
     compiler_wrapper: str = ""
+    #: The build arguments to build dpdk with
+    build_args: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
 
 
 class DPDKUncompiledBuildConfiguration(BaseDPDKBuildConfiguration):

@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ def setup(self) -> None:
         match self.config:
             case DPDKPrecompiledBuildConfiguration(precompiled_build_dir=build_dir):
                 self._set_remote_dpdk_build_dir(build_dir)
-            case DPDKUncompiledBuildConfiguration(build_options=build_options):
-                self._configure_dpdk_build(build_options)
+            case DPDKUncompiledBuildConfiguration():
+                self._configure_dpdk_build(self.config.build_options)
                 self._build_dpdk()
 
     def teardown(self) -> None:

@@ -277,16 +277,20 @@ def _build_dpdk(self) -> None:
         `remote_dpdk_tree_path` has already been set on the SUT node.
         """
         ctx = get_ctx()
+        build_options = getattr(self.config, "build_options")
         # If the SUT is an ice driver device, make sure to build with 16B descriptors.
         if (
             ctx.topology.sut_port_ingress
             and ctx.topology.sut_port_ingress.config.os_driver == "ice"
         ):
             meson_args = MesonArgs(
-                default_library="static", libdir="lib", c_args="-DRTE_NET_INTEL_USE_16BYTE_DESC"
+                build_options.build_args,
+                default_library="static",
+                libdir="lib",
+                c_args="-DRTE_NET_INTEL_USE_16BYTE_DESC",
             )
         else:
-            meson_args = MesonArgs(default_library="static", libdir="lib")
+            meson_args = MesonArgs(build_options.build_args, default_library="static", libdir="lib")
 
         if SETTINGS.code_coverage:
             meson_args._add_arg("-Db_coverage=true")

@@ -99,10 +99,16 @@ class MesonArgs:
 
     _default_library: str
 
-    def __init__(self, default_library: str | None = None, **dpdk_args: str | bool):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        dpdk_build_args: dict[str, list[str]],
+        default_library: str | None = None,
+        **dpdk_args: str | bool,
+    ):
         """Initialize the meson arguments.
 
         Args:
+            dpdk_build_args: The DPDK build arguments specified in the test run configuration file.
             default_library: The default library type, Meson supports ``shared``, ``static`` and
                 ``both``. Defaults to :data:`None`, in which case the argument won't be used.
             dpdk_args: The arguments found in ``meson_options.txt`` in root DPDK directory.

@@ -121,6 +127,19 @@ def __init__(self, default_library: str | None = None, **dpdk_args: str | bool):
             )
         )
 
+        arguments = []
+        for option, value in dpdk_build_args.items():
+            if option == "c_args":
+                values = " ".join(f"-{val}" for val in value)
+                arguments.append(f'-D{option}="{values}"')
+            elif option == "flags":
+                values = " ".join(f"--{val}" for val in value)
+                arguments.append(values)
+            else:
+                arguments.append(f" -D{option}={value[0]}")
+
+        self._dpdk_args = " ".join(arguments)
+
     def __str__(self) -> str:
         """The actual args."""
         return " ".join(f"{self._default_library} {self._dpdk_args}".split())