631. Small linux installation in virtualbox on windows for formchk usage

This post is for windows users (it's written for a colleague).

In https://verahill.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/630-making-mo-figures-in-gabedit-using.html I mentioned that g09w doesn't seem to handle my .chk files for linux (G09D).

If you have gaussian for linux (e.g. G09D), then you can set up a small linux installation on windows, install gaussian there and run formchk in the linux environment.

The guide assumes that you don't really know much about linux, or virtual machines. There are plenty of screenshot -- probably too many -- but if you work through them one by one it should be easy to get set up.

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1. Install virtualbox
Go to https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Download "VirtualBox 5.1.2 for Windows hosts"

Download the "VirtualBox 5.1.2 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack" as well.

It doesn't have to be version 5.1.2. Download whatever the latest version is.

Run the installation file for virtual box.

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2. Install linux in the virtual machine
Assuming that you have cheap and fast internet, download the netinst version of debian.
https://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/

You'll want the AMD64 iso file: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.5.0/amd64/iso-cd/debian-8.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso

You can also download this via bittorrent: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/8.5.0/amd64/bt-cd/debian-8.5.0-amd64-netinst.iso.torrent

Start virtualbox and set up a new machine.

Then install linux: Note that at no point are any changes made to your Windows harddrive. All changes are made to a file that virtualbox uses as a harddrive for the virtual machine (i.e. your linux installation)

NO changes are made to your 'real' harddrive, so don't panic.

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3. Install gaussian in the linux virtual machine
For this you will need to figure out how to transfer files between the machines. The easiest, most dependable way is via sftp.

To do this you will need to download and install filezilla: https://filezilla-project.org/download.php?type=client
Do that. It's easy.

Next, configure your virtual machine to set up port forwarding.

Start your linux installation (e.g. hit the Start button in VirtualBox)
First figure out what your IP address is. Log in using the username and password you created when you installed linux.

 Then type ip addr

ip addr

The output you're looking for is the ip address for interface eth0 -- look for the value after inet, i.e. 10.0.2.15

Next configure virtualbox: (leave linux running in the background)

Now start Filezilla:

 You want to connect to sftp:/127.0.0.1 and port 2222. Use the username and password you set up for linux.

Hit connect

Sure

Yes

Create a new directory on the linux computer

It should now look like this (look at the right column)

Transfer your files (navigate to the correct directory in the left column, select files and drag them across)

Select and drag

We're only copying formchk here. That's all we need.

Copied

 In the linux computer, change to the correct directory e.g.

cd ~/g09

Then run

chmod ug+x formchk

Check

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4. Transfer .chk files from windows host to linux guest

You'll transfer the files using filezilla as shown before. Connect to sftp://127.0.0.1, port 2222, and go to the g09 directory where your formchk file is.

Like so

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5. Convert .chk files to .fchk files
In the linux computer, change directory to g09 and run formchk

./formchk example.chk

4. Transfer .chk files from windows host to linux guestThe ./ before formchk is important

running formchk

Then transfer the file back using filezilla:

refresh

See the files

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6. Shutdown linux
E.g. by running

sudo shutdown -h now

shutdown

All in all the linux install takes about 1.1 Gb -- this could probably be cut down to 100-200 Mb, and the set up can be improved quite easily. However, this is the most straightforward set-up that I can think of without having to do customisation.

+1.1 Gb

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630. Making MO figures in gabedit using fchk files from gaussian on Windows XP

The goal is to show how to make pretty figures of MOs from Gaussian computations using GabEdit.

This is a write-up for a colleague whom is using Windows. The GabEdit bits work pretty much the same way on linux, although the povray stuff is a lot easier (in my opinion anyway) on that OS.

Anyway, Windows it is.

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A. Optional: Install Gaussian (G09W)
If you have G09W you can install it. To use the formchk utility, add the location of your gaussian installation to path.

Do this by right-clicking on My Computer, select the Advanced tab, click on Environment Variables, and then click on the Path entry under System Variables. Click Edit, and add

;c:\g09w

if that's the correct path for you. The ";" is just to separate your entry from the previous one. If you need to add another entry afterwards (e.g. for povray), put a ";" after c:\g09w



Either way it's optional, as you will likely have access to formchk on the same computer/system that you ran your job on and can do the chk -> fchk conversion there.

Also, using formchk on a windows computer on a .chk file from a linux computer might not work (which was my case)

An alternative is to set up a smallish linux VM: https://verahill.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/631-small-linux-installation-in.html

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B. Optional: Add option to open terminal using mouse
Following this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/378319/windows-explorer-command-prompt-here/379804

Create a plain text file called context.reg



Edit it and put the following in it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\cmd]
@="Open Command Prompt Here"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Folder\shell\cmd\command]@="cmd.exe /k pushd %L"

Like so...

Run it (i.e. double-click):

Yes!

You will now have an "Open Command Prompt Here" option when right-clicking on a folder in the file explorer.

Open terminal here

Why do this? Because it makes it easier to run either formchk or povray in the directory where you have your files.

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C. Install gabedit
Got to https://sites.google.com/site/allouchear/Home/gabedit/download and get "The Gabedit installer for Windows (OpenGL)"

Run. It's that easy.

When running gabedit for the first time you may be asked lots of questions. You can probably just accept all the defaults. We'll change some of them below.

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D. Install povray
Download http://www.povray.org/redirect/www.povray.org/ftp/pub/povray/Official/povwin-3.7-agpl3-setup.exe and also accept to install the editor dlls at the end of the installation.

Download povray

Once that's done, add povray to path. Go to My Computer, right-click, click on the Advanced tab, select Environment Variables, click on path under System Variables and then Edit. Add

;C:\Program Files\POV-Ray\v3.7\bin

Like So

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Let's get going!

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1. Optional: Convert chk to fchk using formchk
Didn't work for me, but you can always try (I convert the files under linux)

Either way, you must have the fchk file before going to gabedit

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2. Open fchk file in gabedit
You need to do a bit of setting up:

Set path and command for povray






To look at the fchk file:
a) Go to Display

Display Geometry/Orbitals/Density/Vibration

b) unset dipole (because otherwise you'll have an annoying arrow in your figure)

Untick dipole

c) Set desired atom colours.
In particular, I change N from dark blue to light blue so that it doesn't interfere with the orbital colours.

Atom colour

d) Set backgrounds (povray and screen) to white

Povray background

Window background

e) load fchk file

Go to Orbitals/Gaussian fchk

Open your fchk file

f) Set ball/stick parameters

Set Ball and Stick parameters

Apply

g) select level/MO

Note that you get the alpha OR beta orbitals. For a spin restricted system these are the same (apart from signage)

You should edit number of points. 65 is the default. 80 is slow but manageable. 90 is pushing it. Higher = smoother.

Computing...

"Get Isovalue" almost never works properly. Try 0.04-0.06.

Et voilá!

To select a different MO, go back to orbitals and click on Selection.

Selection

h) Edit surfaces
You can change colours and transparency

Transparency is an option

Adjust the transparency/opacity here

i) Export pov
To make a publication-worthy figure, export as pov

Export as Povray

Clicking 'Run' occasionally leads to crash, so it's safer to click on save. Make sure that the background in white.

Edit the command to +A0.01 instead of +A0.3 for less 'pixelated' figure on zooming in. Takes a bit longer to render though. The H/W values depend on your window shape.

Select save, not Run

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3. Render povray
You now have a pov file (example.pov). The most straight-forward way to render it is to open the command prompt (terminal) in the same folder and run

pvengine +A0.01 +H604 +W620 example.pov

Rendering

assuming that the H/W values are the ones listed (or multiples of them) when you saved the pov file (it'll be listed in example.bat in the same folder).

And it looks like this:

A basic POV-Ray generated png

You can also run the .bat file associated with the pov file, but note that you'll have to put paths in "":

You need ""s

You can also render in the povray editor (open the povray with the editor):

Povray editor

Render Settings

The issue becomes the default H/W (resolution) values. Override using command line options: +HXXX +WYYY

You may have to associate .pov files with pvengine manually:

Edit -- but you'll be told that there's no program

Select a program to open

pvengine

Always use the selected program

629. Google drive with rclone on debian jessie

My free dropbox account has 6Gb storage, whereas my google drive has 15Gb. Dropbox pro is way too expensive, so here's what you can do to get your google drive to work ok-ish with linux.

To set up rclone, do:

cd ~/Downloads
wget http://downloads.rclone.org/rclone-current-linux-amd64.zip
unzip rclone-current-linux-amd64.zip
cd rclone-v1.27-linux-amd64
sudo cp rclone /usr/bin/

rclone config

No remotes found - make a new one
n) New remote
q) Quit config
n/q> n
name> google_drive
What type of source is it?
Choose a number from below
 1) amazon cloud drive
 2) b2
 3) drive
 4) dropbox
 5) google cloud storage
 6) swift
 7) hubic
 8) local
 9) onedrive
10) s3
11) yandex
type> 3
Google Application Client Id - leave blank normally.
client_id> 
Google Application Client Secret - leave blank normally.
client_secret> 
Remote config
Use auto config?
 * Say Y if not sure
 * Say N if you are working on a remote or headless machine or Y didn't work
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> y
If your browser doesn't open automatically go to the following link: http://127.0.0.1:53682/auth
Log in and authorize rclone for access
Waiting for code...
Got code
--------------------
[google_drive]
client_id = 
client_secret = 
token = {"access_token":"y**5","token_type":"Bearer","refresh_token":"1/o**T","expiry":"2016-02-06T18:41:22.167889627+11:00"}
--------------------
y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y
Current remotes:

Name                 Type
====                 ====
google_drive         drive

e) Edit existing remote
n) New remote
d) Delete remote
q) Quit config
e/n/d/q> q

Syncing is a bit of an issue as you can't sync based on last changed file. So, my solution is that each device has it's own folder that it syncs up to, and each device syncs down all other folders. For my two devices, nb and be, I have thus set it up like this:

Create new dirs and sync:

mkdir ~/gdrive/nbdrive -p
mkdir ~/gdrive/bedrive

On Nb the crontab looks like this:

*/2 *    * * * rclone sync /home/me/gdrive/nbdrive google_drive:/nbdrive
*/10 *   * * * rclone sync google_drive:/bedrive /home/me/gdrive/bedrive

and on Be it looks like this:

*/10 *    * * * rclone sync google_drive:/nbdrive /home/me/gdrive/nbdrive 
*/2 *   * * * rclone sync /home/me/gdrive/bedrive google_drive:/bedrive 

If I do work on a file on Be I then copy it to bedrive, and edit it. To edit it late on Nb I copy it from bedrive to nbdrive and edit it. Of course I could always sync manually and avoid this, but the above is a solution for people who might not feel comfortable working on the command line or if you want everything automated.