Ubuntu: Server Update and Add Users

💡 The following directions are for use on Ubuntu servers [Ubuntu 20.04 LTS].

Obtain administrative rights by requesting root access:

sudo -i

Update the Ubuntu repository and upgrade packages with:

apt update
apt upgrade

Create new Ubuntu system users, say, designated JupyterHub administrator "admin1" and JupyterHub user "student", write:

adduser admin1
adduser student

You will be prompted to enter a password and information for each new user. Note: when typing the password, the cursor will not appear to move.

💡 Why do I need to add new users? Is there other ways? By default, JupyterHub uses PAM (Pluggable Authentication Module) to authenticate system users with their username and password, i.e. any user with an account and password on the Ubuntu system will be allowed to login. Alternatively, GitHub Authentication provides a guide to giving students the ability to login to the server with their GitHub credentials. View the section GitHub Authentication to determine whether it is right for your server.

JupyterHub administrator (we will assign below) does not need to have Ubuntu system administrative rights.

Continue reading the “Anaconda” section to set up Anaconda on the instance.