How to Set up a JupyterLab Environment on Ubuntu 22.04

Introduction

JupyterLab provides a web-based development environment for data science and AI projects. It is a flexible interface that allows developers to configure and manage machine learning and scientific computing workflows. JupyterLab is the next generation of the Jupyter Notebook. It's designed to fix many usability issues of the Notebook, and it greatly expands its scope with support for more than 40 programming languages, including R, Python, Scala, and Julia.

This article demonstrates the steps to configure and daemonize the JupyterLab server, set up the Nginx web server as a reverse proxy, and secure the environment using a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, you should:

• Deploy a Ubuntu 22.04 server.
• Create a non-root sudo user.
• Point a subdomain to your server using an A record. This article uses jupyterlab.example.com for demonstration.

Install the Required Packages

JupyterLab is an all-inclusive package; there are no extra packages you need to install manually other than the virtualenv package, which is used to isolate the Jupyter kernel.

1. Install the virtualenv package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ apt update
   $ apt install python3-virtualenv

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create a new directory and navigate into it.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ mkdir /home/USER/jupyter-env
   $ cd /home/USER/jupyter-env

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Create and activate a new Python virtual environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ virtualenv env
   $ source env/bin/activate

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above commands create a new directory on the server named env that contains the Python virtual environment files. You use the activate binary file inside the bin directory to enter the virtual environment.

4. Update the pip package manager.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ pip install --upgrade pip

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

5. Install the JupyterLab package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ sudo pip install -U jupyterlab

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command installs the latest version of JupyterLab.

Configure the JupyterLab Server

By default, whenever you spawn a JupyterLab server, it generates a unique token that grants access to the interface. This section demonstrates the steps to configure the JupyterLab server to use a static password and allow remote access.

1. Generate a password hash.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ python3 -c "from jupyter_server.auth import passwd; print(passwd('YOUR_PASSWORD'))"

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command generates a hash of the provided input. It uses the Argon2 password hashing function to generate the hash.

   Copy the generated hash for later use.

2. Create a new directory to organize Jupyter Notebooks.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ mkdir /home/USER/jupyter-env/notebooks

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Create a JupyterLab configuration file.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ sudo nano /home/USER/jupyter-env/config.py

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command generates a configuration file for persistent settings.

4. Copy and paste the below configurations.

   PYTHON

   Copy

   from jupyter_server.auth.identity import PasswordIdentityProvider
   
   c.ServerApp.allow_remote_access = True
   c.ServerApp.allow_origin = '*'
   c.ServerApp.root_dir = "/home/USER/jupyter-env/notebooks"
   
   PasswordIdentityProvider.hashed_password = ''

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above configuration allows JupyterLab to accept remote connections and sets a static password for interacting with the interface.

   Make sure to provide the hash generated earlier in the configuration.

   Save and exit the file.

5. Disable the firewall.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ sudo ufw disable

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command disables the firewall allowing inbound connections to all the ports. You enable the firewall in the later steps to secure your server.

6. Run the JupyterLab server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ jupyter lab --ip 0.0.0.0 --config config.py

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command spawns a JupyterLab server on the default port 8888. You can open the interface in your web browser using http://PUBLIC_IP:8888 and log in using the password used in the previous steps. After confirming the access, stop the server using Ctrl + C to follow along with the next steps.

Daemonize the JupyterLab Server

In this section, you create a new service for the JupyterLab server to run in the background and start automatically during the server boot process.

1. Get the paths for Python and Jupyter.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ which python
   (env) $ which jupyter

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   Copy the paths to use them in the systemd service.

2. Deactivate the virtual environment.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   (env) $ deactivate

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Create a new service named jupyterlab.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/jupyterlab.service

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

4. Add the following contents to the file.

   INI

   Copy

   [Unit]
   Description=JupyterLab Server
   
   [Service]
   User=USER
   Group=USER
   ExecStart=PYTHON_PATH JUPYTER_PATH lab --config=CONFIG_PATH
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above systemd file content creates a new service named jupyterlab, uses the configuration file to spawn the server. Ensure that you replace the USER and the *_PATH values in the content.

   Save and exit the file.

5. Initialize the jupyterlab service.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   $ sudo systemctl start jupyterlab
   $ sudo systemctl status jupyterlab

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   You can confirm the access by opening the interface in your web browser using http://SERVER_IP:8888 and logging into it using the password used in the previous steps.

Set Up the Reverse Proxy Server

This section demonstrates the steps to install and configure the Nginx web server as a reverse proxy server that channels incoming HTTP/HTTPS traffic to the JupyterLab server.

1. Install the Nginx package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo apt install nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Swap the Nginx configuration.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
   $ sudo nano /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

3. Add the following contents to the file.

   http {
       map $http_upgrade $connection_upgrade {
           default upgrade;
           '' close;
       }
   
       server {
           listen 80;
           server_name jupyterlab.example.com;
   
           location / {
               proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:8888;
               proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
               proxy_set_header Host $host;
               proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
   
               proxy_http_version 1.1;
               proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
               proxy_set_header Connection $connection_upgrade;
               proxy_set_header X-Scheme $scheme;
   
               proxy_buffering off;
           }
   
           location ~ /.well-known/acme-challenge/ {
               root /var/www/certbot;
           }
       }
   }
   
   events {}

   The above configuration channels all the incoming HTTP traffic on jupyterlab.example.com to localhost at port 8888 using a virtual host.

4. Restart the Nginx server.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo systemctl restart nginx

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   You can confirm the access by opening the interface in your web browser using http://jupyterlab.example.com and log in to it using the password used in the previous steps.

Secure the Environment using Let's Encrypt

Let's Encrypt is an automated, open certificate authority that offers free TLS/SSL certificates for public benefit. It allocates the certificates using the ACME protocol. In this section, you will install the Certbot package, an ACME client that allows automatic SSL certificate issuance and renewals.

1. Install the Certbot package.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo snap install --classic certbot

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

2. Create a new Let's Encrypt certificate for the virtual host.

   CONSOLE

   Copy

   $ sudo certbot --nginx -d jupyterlab.example.com

   Explain Code

   Powered by Vultr AgentBeta

   The above command issues an SSL certificate and updates the Nginx configuration to use HTTPS. You can confirm the access by opening the interface in your web browser using https://jupyterlab.example.com and log in to it using the password used in the previous steps.

Configure Firewall Rules

The JupyterLab environment requires inbound SSH, HTTP, and HTTPS traffic.

$ sudo ufw allow 'OpenSSH'
$ sudo ufw allow 'Nginx Full'
$ sudo ufw enable
$ sudo ufw status

Conclusion

This article demonstrated the steps to configure and daemonize the JupyterLab server, set up the Nginx web server as a reverse proxy, and secure the environment using a Let's Encrypt SSL certificate.

Refer to the JupyterLab Documentation for more information.