diff --git a/src/CPFEM2.f90 b/src/CPFEM2.f90
index 89e65f5fd..ed356d5b6 100644
--- a/src/CPFEM2.f90
+++ b/src/CPFEM2.f90
@@ -243,12 +243,20 @@ subroutine CPFEM_age()
  use IO, only: &
    IO_write_jobRealFile, &
    IO_warning
- use DAMASK_interface
+ use HDF5_utilities, only: &
+   HDF5_createFile, &
+   HDF5_closeFile, &
+   HDF5_closeGroup, &
+   HDF5_addGroup2
+ use HDF5
+ use DAMASK_interface, only: &
+   getSolverJobName
 
  implicit none
 
  integer(pInt) ::                                    i, k, l, m, ph, homog, mySource
  character(len=32) :: rankStr
+ integer(HID_T) :: fileHandle
 
 if (iand(debug_level(debug_CPFEM), debug_levelBasic) /= 0_pInt) &
   write(6,'(a)') '<< CPFEM >> aging states'
@@ -282,6 +290,11 @@ if (restartWrite) then
 
   write(rankStr,'(a1,i0)')'_',worldrank
 
+  fileHandle = HDF5_createFile(trim(getSolverJobName())//trim(rankStr)//'.hdf5_restart')
+
+  call HDF5_closeGroup(HDF5_addGroup2(fileHandle,'HelloWorld'))
+  call HDF5_closeFile(fileHandle)
+
   call IO_write_jobRealFile(777,'recordedPhase'//trim(rankStr),size(material_phase))
   write (777,rec=1) material_phase;       close (777)
 
diff --git a/src/HDF5_utilities.f90 b/src/HDF5_utilities.f90
index e2b0c2450..7cd02e46e 100644
--- a/src/HDF5_utilities.f90
+++ b/src/HDF5_utilities.f90
@@ -27,7 +27,10 @@ module HDF5_Utilities
    HDF5_writeScalarDataset, &
    HDF5_writeTensorDataset, &
    HDF5_closeJobFile, &
-   HDF5_removeLink
+   HDF5_removeLink, &
+   HDF5_createFile, &
+   HDF5_closeFile, &
+   HDF5_addGroup2
 contains
 
 subroutine HDF5_Utilities_init
@@ -93,6 +96,41 @@ subroutine HDF5_createJobFile
 end subroutine HDF5_createJobFile
 
 
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+!> @brief creates and initializes HDF5 output files
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ integer(HID_T) function HDF5_createFile(path)
+ use hdf5
+ use DAMASK_interface, only: &
+   getSolverJobName
+
+ implicit none
+ integer              :: hdferr
+ 
+ integer(SIZE_T)      :: typeSize 
+ character(len=*), intent(in)  :: path
+#ifdef PETSc
+#include <petsc/finclude/petscsys.h> 
+#endif
+  call h5open_f(hdferr) !############################################################ DANGEROUS
+#ifdef PETSC
+ call h5pcreate_f(H5P_FILE_ACCESS_F, plist_id, hdferr)
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg='HDF5_Utilities_init: h5pcreate_f') 
+ call h5pset_fapl_mpio_f(plist_id, PETSC_COMM_WORLD, MPI_INFO_NULL, hdferr)
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg='HDF5_Utilities_init: h5pset_fapl_mpio_f') 
+#endif
+
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+! open file
+ !call h5fcreate_f(path,H5F_ACC_TRUNC_F,resultsFile,hdferr)
+ call h5fcreate_f(path,H5F_ACC_TRUNC_F,HDF5_createFile,hdferr,access_prp = plist_id)
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(100_pInt,ext_msg=path)
+ !call HDF5_addStringAttribute(HDF5_createFile,'createdBy',DAMASKVERSION)
+ call h5pclose_f(plist_id, hdferr)  !neu
+
+end function HDF5_createFile
+
+
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 !> @brief creates and initializes HDF5 output file
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -104,11 +142,28 @@ subroutine HDF5_closeJobFile()
  call HDF5_removeLink('current')
  call h5fclose_f(resultsFile,hdferr)
  if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg='HDF5_closeJobFile: h5fclose_f',el=hdferr)
- CALL h5close_f(hdferr)
+ call h5close_f(hdferr)
 
 end subroutine HDF5_closeJobFile
 
 
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+!> @brief creates and initializes HDF5 output file
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+subroutine HDF5_closeFile(fileHandle)
+ use hdf5
+ 
+ implicit none
+ integer :: hdferr
+ integer(HID_T), intent(in) :: fileHandle
+ call h5fclose_f(fileHandle,hdferr)
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg='HDF5_closeFile: h5fclose_f',el=hdferr)
+ call h5close_f(hdferr)!############################################################ DANGEROUS
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg='HDF5_closeFile: h5close_f',el=hdferr)
+
+end subroutine HDF5_closeFile
+
+
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 !> @brief adds a new group to the results file, or if loc is present at the given location
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -125,6 +180,21 @@ integer(HID_T) function HDF5_addGroup(path)
 end function HDF5_addGroup
 
 
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+!> @brief adds a new group to the results file, or if loc is present at the given location
+!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+integer(HID_T) function HDF5_addGroup2(fileHandle,path)
+ use hdf5
+
+ implicit none
+ character(len=*), intent(in) :: path
+ integer(HID_T), intent(in) :: fileHandle
+ integer                      :: hdferr
+ 
+ call h5gcreate_f(fileHandle, trim(path), HDF5_addGroup2, hdferr)
+ if (hdferr < 0) call IO_error(1_pInt,ext_msg = 'HDF5_addGroup2: h5gcreate_f ('//trim(path)//')')
+end function HDF5_addGroup2
+
 
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 !> @brief adds a new group to the results file
@@ -1214,7 +1284,6 @@ subroutine HDF5_addVectorDataset(group,nnodes,vectorSize,label,SIunit)
 end subroutine HDF5_addVectorDataset
 
 
-
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 !> @brief creates a new scalar dataset in the given group location
 !--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------