Error executing Jupyter command 'notebook': [Errno 2] No such file or directory

# Error executing Jupyter command 'notebook': [Errno 2] No such file or directory

The "Error executing Jupyter command 'notebook': [Errno 2] No such file or directory" most commonly occurs on Linux distributions, e.g. Ubuntu or Arch.

The error occurs for multiple reasons:

1. Having a corrupted installation of Jupyter Notebook.
2. Your installation of Jupyter Notebook clashing with another module, e.g. IPython.
3. Using an incorrect alias of the jupyter notebook command.

# Jupyter clashes with IPython

The jupyter notebook command sometimes clashes with the IPython module.

The first thing you should try is to uninstall IPython.

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# 👇️ Uninstall the IPython module
sudo apt remove ipython
sudo apt purge ipython
sudo apt autoremove

# 👇️ Install the Jupyter module
pip install jupyter

# 👇️ Or with pip3
pip install jupyter

Try to issue the jupyter notebook command after uninstalling IPython.

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jupyter notebook

# Reinstall the Jupyter module on your machine

Make sure you have the python-dev package installed if you are on Linux.

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# 👇️ For Debian (Ubuntu)
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev

# 👇️ For Redhat / CentOS
sudo yum install python3-devel

# 👇️ For Alpine Linux
sudo apk add python3-dev

# 👇️ For openSUSE
sudo zypper in python3-devel

# 👇️ For Cygwin
apt-cyg install python3-devel

Now, reinstall the jupyter module using the --force-reinstall option.

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# for python 2
pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

# for python 3
pip3 install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

You can read more about pip's --no-cache-dir option in the following article.

If you get a permissions error when running the command, add the --user option.

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# For python 2
pip install --user --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

# For python 3
pip3 install --user --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

If you still get a permissions error, try prefixing the command with sudo.

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# For python 2
sudo pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

# For python 3
sudo pip3 install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

Try to issue the jupyter notebook command after uninstalling IPython.

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jupyter notebook

After you issue the command, the server should start and you should see the Notebook app in your browser.

# Try the other variations of the jupyter notebook command

The jupyter notebook command sometimes changes to a different alias after installation.

Try running the following command instead.

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jupyter-notebook

Notice that the words are separated by a hyphen.

If the command doesn't start the server, try using the python -m notebook command instead.

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python -m notebook

# Or python3
python3 -m notebook

If the python -m notebook command words, use the export command to update your PATH environment variable.

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export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin/

Make sure to restart your terminal after using the export command for the changes to take effect.

After you've restarted your terminal, try issuing the jupyter notebook command.

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jupyter notebook

# Install Jupyter using the apt packaging tool

If the error persists, try installing jupyter using apt.

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# Update packages
sudo apt update

# Install pip and Python
sudo apt install python3-pip python3-dev

# Upgrade pip
sudo -H pip3 install --upgrade pip

# Install jupyter-notebook
sudo apt install jupyter-notebook

After running the sudo apt install jupyter-notebook, try issuing the jupyter notebook command.

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jupyter notebook

# Install the Jupyter module using the correct pip version

If the error persists, get your Python version and make sure you are installing the package using the correct Python version.

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python --version

For example, my Python version is 3.11.2, so I would install the GitPython package with pip3.10 install jupyter.

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pip3.11 install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

Notice that the version number corresponds to the version of pip I'm using.

If you get a permissions error when running the command, add the --user option.

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pip3.11 install --user --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

If you still get a permissions error, try prefixing the command with sudo.

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sudo pip3 install --upgrade --force-reinstall --no-cache-dir jupyter

Try to issue the jupyter notebook command after installing the module with a specific pip version.

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jupyter notebook

If the error persists, try using one of the aliases of the jupyter notebook command.

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jupyter-notebook

Notice that the words are separated by a hyphen.

If the command doesn't start the server, try using the python -m notebook command instead.

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python -m notebook

# or python3
python3 -m notebook

If the python -m notebook command words, use the export command to update your PATH environment variable.

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export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin/

Make sure to restart your terminal after using the export command for the changes to take effect.

After you've restarted your terminal, try issuing the jupyter notebook command.

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jupyter notebook

# Conclusion

To solve the "error executing Jupyter command 'notebook': [Errno 2] No such file or directory", reinstall your jupyter module using pip or apt and make sure the IPython module is not installed as it often clashes with jupyter.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• How to check your Python version in Jupyter Notebook
• Note: you may need to restart the kernel to use updated packages
• How to add a new line in a Jupyter Notebook markdown cell
• Wrap code/text into multiple Lines in Jupyter Notebook
• The purpose of the exclamation mark (!) in Jupyter Notebook
• How to show (or hide) the Line Numbers in Jupyter Notebook
• How to display Lists as a Table in Jupyter Notebook
• How to set and get Environment Variables in Jupyter Notebook