Intel Xeon D-2796NT and QAT

[MarinSNB]

Hi all,

Have been searching all the QAT-related topics on the forums in the last several months and especially this post among them:

https://forum.netgate.com/topic/183177/intel-xeon-d-1736nt-qat-on-pfsense-plus-23-05-1?_=1761261416961

and was wondering if I am experiencing the same issue.

I have a Supermicro machine with a Xeon D-2796NT processor and pfSense Plus (25.11 Beta) loaded in it and have been wondering if there would be a way to have QAT fully activated in it. Have run some commands to see if the QAT drivers have been loaded and they show that they are (or at least I hope). However, the main pfSense web UI still displays QAT Crypto: No.

Just like in the post I linked, the vmstat command also does not produce any info, so I am wondering too if this particular CPU/QAT driver is not on the list of FreeBSD approved drivers that has been shared in other posts. If this is the case, how does one find out if this CPU (and or other ones for that matter) may or may not make it in this list in the future? Can users request to have them included via a Redmine request? If so what information is needed for such submission? I am a complete newb when it comes to QAT....

Below are few screenshots from a few commands used when investigating this. Let me know if you need other info.

Appreciate your input and assistance !

![Screenshot 2025-10-23 at 6.26.10 PM.png]

![Screenshot 2025-10-23 at 6.44.11 PM.png] (/assets/uploads/files/1761263216381-screenshot-2025-10-23-at-6.42.13â-pm.png)

![Screenshot 2025-10-23 at 7.00.14 PM.png]
(/assets/uploads/files/1761264040658-screenshot-2025-10-23-at-7.00.14â-pm.png)

[stephenw10]

Mmm, the driver itself is loaded and has attached to the hardware. It should have registered the supported ciphers with the cryptodev framework.

The device lists in pfSense just need to be updated to include it. Similarly to this: https://redmine.pfsense.org/issues/14844

Let me see....

[stephenw10]

Ok try the attached patch if you can:

180.diff

I don't actually have a device with that QAT hardware so I can't test it unfortunately. But it's pretty simple.

[MarinSNB]

@stephenw10

It works! Thank you so much!

So will this patch make it into the next Plus release then?

Thanks again!

[stephenw10]

It may be too late for 25.11 but it's very simple so we'll see.....

[DaddyGo]

@stephenw10 said in Intel Xeon D-2796NT and QAT:

It may be too late for 25.11 but it's very simple so we'll see.....

@stephenw10 -- Steve, since I'm already here on the forum with another question, I'll ask if this also applies to the D-2145NT and D-2187NT CPUs?

QAT is assigned to these CPUs with ESXi.

Intel (R) C62x Chipset with
Intel QuickAssist Technology (Intel QAT) Driver for VMware* for Customer Enabling (CE) Release

[tinfoilmatt]

@stephenw10 Any plans to open source this firmware/driver so CE can take advantage?! Got any insider 'predictions' you're free to share at this time???

[stephenw10]

@DaddyGo said in Intel Xeon D-2796NT and QAT:

if this also applies to the D-2145NT and D-2187NT CPUs

I'm not sure what QAT device is on those so I can't tell you. It seems quite likely though since they're from the same family of CPUs.

@tinfoilmatt said in Intel Xeon D-2796NT and QAT:

Got any insider 'predictions' you're free to share at this time?

Nope, sorry. I have no insight there.

[DaddyGo]

@stephenw10 said in Intel Xeon D-2796NT and QAT:

I'm not sure what QAT device is on those so I can't tell you. It seems quite likely though since they're from the same family of CPUs.

Intel C62x

none1@pci0:4:8:0: class=0x0b4000 rev=0x04 hdr=0x00 vendor=0x8086 device=0x37c9 subvendor=0x8086 subdevice=0x0000
vendor = 'Intel Corporation'
device = 'C62x Chipset QuickAssist Technology Virtual Function'
class = processor

So should I install the given - 1761331340268-180.diff ?

[stephenw10]

That device is already supported in 25.07.1. Check the IDs in the diff.