How do I get started with Jupyter Notebooks?
The MSI Standalone Jupyter Notebooks service was removed on May 1, 2024. Jupyter Notebooks are now available through Open OnDemand.
Jupyter Notebooks are available to all MSI users. This interactive computing environment requires only a web browser, and enables data analysis and visualization on our HPC resources in a shareable, reproducible notebook format. Notebooks currently supports both the JupyterLab and Classic Notebook interfaces, computation with the Python (version 2 and 3) and R languages, and can also interoperate with user-installed Jupyter environments. MSI Python tutorial materials provide a helpful overview.
There are many excellent tutorials and videos online that explain how to use Jupyter Notebooks.
How do I connect to Notebooks at MSI?
You can connect to the Jupyter Notebooks service using any modern web browser. You do not need to install any special software. If you are off-campus, you will need to connect through the University VPN.
- To begin, visit Open OnDemand in your browser. You may be prompted to log in with your University Internet ID.
- In the header, click "Interactive Apps", and then "Jupyter" under the Servers section in the dropdown.
- Select options for your session and click "Launch".
- You should now see a new Jupyter session in your list of interactive sessions. Please be patient: typically, your Jupyter Notebooks server will start within a minute; however, during busy periods, you may need to wait several minutes, especially if you have requested additional resources.
- Once your session starts, the state will change to running, and a "Connect to Jupyter" button will appear; click it to open the Jupyter window.
- Your session is hosted by a running job and will continue to run if you close your web browser or log out. You can reconnect to your running session by logging back into Open OnDemand and navigating to "My Interactive Sessions" from the header.
- When you are done working, you should end your session to release the computing resources for other users. If you did not exhaust the session time limit, navigate back to "My Interactive Sessions" on the OnDemand interface and click the "Delete" button on the session card to end that session.
What happened to the old notebook interface?
MSI recently made JupyterLab the default interface for the Notebooks service. The previous interface is now called the Classic Notebook. We hope this modern interface allows a smoother and more productive experience. Some important differences include:
- Classic Notebook opened notebooks, terminals, etc in new browser tabs. JupyterLab opens them in a unified workspace in a single tab.
- Classic Notebook created new notebooks and other resources via a "New..." menu. JupyterLab uses a launcher panel with prominent icons.
Please see the JupyterLab documentation for more details, including a detailed tour of the interface and features. If you prefer to use the Classic Notebook interface, it is still available via the "Help" menu in the menu bar.