Setup an iPython Notebook on AWS with LetsEncrypt Certificate

The first step is to setup an EC2 Ubuntu 16.04 instance that you can ssh into. I won't go into detail here but you should be able to easily google it.

You can get free AWS credit here https://education.github.com/pack

A better guide w/ pictures is here: https://chrisalbon.com/jupyter/run_project_jupyter_on_amazon_ec2.html (Note this doesn't include LetsEncrypt, so it only has self signed certificates)

Once you've setup an instance and ssh'd in, do the following:

Install Anaconda:

sudo su
cd ~
wget https://repo.continuum.io/archive/Anaconda3-4.3.1-Linux-x86_64.sh
bash Anaconda3-4.3.1-Linux-x86_64.sh
. ~/.bashrc

If you have your own domain you can link it so you don't have type in the IP address each time you want to access your notebook.

Install Certbot (if you have your own domain)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:certbot/certbot
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install certbot

Get Certificate

mkdir -p /root/.key
certbot certonly --webroot /root/.key -d YOURDOMAIN.com

If you don't have your own domain, create a self signed certificate.

Self Signed Certificate

mkdir -p /root/certs
cd /root/certs
sudo openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:1024 -keyout privkey.pem -out cert.pem

Configure iPython and get Password

cd ~
jupyter notebook --generate-config # Create jupyter config
printf "from notebook.auth import passwd\nprint(passwd())" | python

Enter your password and confirm. Copy the result as we'll use it in the next step.

Edit ~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py

# Set options for certfile, ip, password, and toggle off
c.NotebookApp.certfile = u'/root/.key/cert.pem'
c.NotebookApp.keyfile = u'/root/.key/privkey.pem'
c.NotebookApp.ip = '0.0.0.0'
c.NotebookApp.password = u'sha1:bcd259ccf...<put output from above here>'
c.NotebookApp.open_browser = False
c.NotebookApp.port = 443

Run iPython in background

sudo su
jupyter notebook &> /dev/null &

Now you can connect to the url: https://ec2-54-148-64-44.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com/

If you have a self signed certificate you'll get a warning that your connection is unsafe. Click advanced and then proceed anyways.

You'll then be prompted for the password you set in the Configure iPython and get Password step. Enter that and click continue.

Now you have an iPython notebook running on AWS! 🤓

sean-smith/ec2_ipython.md