vasp-engaging

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VASP on MIT Engaging. VASP 6.4.2 (GCC/OpenMPI, Rocky 8 compatible), module loading, SLURM submission, POTCAR paths. Use when setting up or running VASP calculations on Engaging.

mcox3406 By mcox3406 schedule Updated 4/8/2026

name: vasp-engaging description: VASP on MIT Engaging. VASP 6.4.2 (GCC/OpenMPI, Rocky 8 compatible), module loading, SLURM submission, POTCAR paths. Use when setting up or running VASP calculations on Engaging.

VASP on MIT Engaging

VASP 6.4.2 (Recommended)

Compiled with GCC 12.2.0 + OpenMPI 4.1.4 on AMD EPYC (Rocky 8). Works on all current partitions without CentOS 7 constraints.

Binary: /nfs/rafagblab001/vasp.6.x.x/vasp.6.4.2/bin/vasp_std Module: /nfs/rafagblab001/software/modulefiles/vasp/6.4.2

Module Loading

module use -a /nfs/rafagblab001/software/modulefiles
module load vasp/6.4.2

This automatically loads GCC 12.2.0, OpenMPI 4.1.4, and sets LD_LIBRARY_PATH for OpenBLAS, FFTW, and ScaLAPACK.

SLURM Submission Template

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH -p mit_normal           # or ou_cheme, mit_preemptable, pi_ccoley, etc.
#SBATCH --nodes=1
#SBATCH -n 4
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=2
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=4G
#SBATCH -t 0-06:00:00
#SBATCH -J vasp_job
#SBATCH --output=%j_%x.log

export OMP_NUM_THREADS=$SLURM_CPUS_PER_TASK

module use -a /nfs/rafagblab001/software/modulefiles
module load vasp/6.4.2

cd $SLURM_SUBMIT_DIR
srun vasp_std

VASP Variants

Binary Use Case
vasp_std Standard: general k-point meshes
vasp_gam Gamma-only: molecules/clusters in box (~2x faster at gamma)
vasp_ncl Non-collinear: SOC calculations

POTCAR Location

POTCARs (PBE, v54) are at /nfs/rafagblab001/vasp_PBE_54/. Access requires membership in the sched_mit_rafagb group.

cat /nfs/rafagblab001/vasp_PBE_54/Ag/POTCAR \
    /nfs/rafagblab001/vasp_PBE_54/O/POTCAR \
    > POTCAR

Species order in POTCAR must match species order in POSCAR.

Build from Source

If you need to rebuild (e.g., for a new version), follow https://orcd-docs.mit.edu/recipes/build-vasp-gcc-cpu/:

# get an interactive session on an AMD EPYC node (where jobs will run)
salloc -p pi_ccoley -w node2519 -n 8 --mem=16G --time=1:00:00

module load gcc/12.2.0 openmpi/4.1.4 netlib-lapack/3.10.1 netlib-scalapack/2.2.0 fftw/3.3.10 openblas/0.3.26

cd /nfs/rafagblab001/vasp.6.x.x/vasp.6.4.2
cp arch/makefile.include.gnu_omp makefile.include

SCALAPACK_ROOT=$(module -t show netlib-scalapack 2>&1 | grep CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH | awk -F, '{print $2}' | awk -F\" '{print $2}')
FFTW_ROOT=$(pkgconf --variable=prefix fftw3)
OPENBLAS_ROOT=$(dirname $(pkgconf --variable=libdir openblas))

make -j 8 OPENBLAS_ROOT=$OPENBLAS_ROOT FFTW_ROOT=$FFTW_ROOT SCALAPACK_ROOT=$SCALAPACK_ROOT MODS=1 DEPS=1

Important: Always compile on the same CPU architecture where jobs will run. -march=native in the makefile bakes in the compile node's instruction set.

File Transfer

scp works but rsync may hang due to Duo 2FA. For directories, create the remote dir first:

ssh engaging1 "mkdir -p ~/path/to/remote/dir"
scp local/files/* engaging1:~/path/to/remote/dir/

VASP 6.2.1 (Legacy)

The old VASP 6.2.1 at /nfs/rafagblab001/software/vasp/vasp.6.2.1/ is compiled against Intel MKL/MPI 2017 and only works on CentOS 7 nodes (sched_mit_rafagb with -C centos7). Requires srun --mpi=pmi2 with the full binary path. Use 6.4.2 instead unless you specifically need 6.2.1.

The old submission script looks like:

#!/bin/bash
#SBATCH -p sched_mit_rafagb
#SBATCH -C centos7
#SBATCH --nodes=1
#SBATCH -n 4
#SBATCH --cpus-per-task=1
#SBATCH --mem-per-cpu=4G
#SBATCH -t 0-06:00:00
#SBATCH -J vasp_job
#SBATCH --output=%j_%x.log

source ~/.bashrc
module purge
module use -a /nfs/rafagblab001/software/modulefiles
module load vasp/6.2.1

export OMP_NUM_THREADS=1

cd $SLURM_SUBMIT_DIR
srun --mpi=pmi2 /nfs/rafagblab001/software/vasp/vasp.6.2.1/bin/vasp_std

Common Issues

Problem Cause Fix
Illegal instruction Binary compiled on different CPU arch Recompile on the target node type (see Build section)
cannot open shared object file: libscalapack.so LD_LIBRARY_PATH not set Use the module (module load vasp/6.4.2) which sets this
Permission denied on POTCARs Not in sched_mit_rafagb group Ask admin to add you
rsync hangs Duo 2FA issue Use scp instead
POTCAR mismatch Species order wrong Match POSCAR species order exactly
Install via CLI
npx skills add https://github.com/mcox3406/claude-comp-chem-skills --skill vasp-engaging
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