How to know which is running in Jupyter notebook ?

Question

I use Jupyter notebook in a browser for Python programming, I have installed Anaconda (Python 3.5). But I'm quite sure that Jupyter in running my python commands with the native python interpreter and not with anaconda. How can I change it and use Anaconda as interpreter ?

Thanks!

Ubuntu 16.10 -- Anaconda3

Answer 1

Assuming you have the wrong backend system you can change the backend kernel by creating a new or editing the existing kernel.json in the kernels folder of your jupyter data path jupyter --paths. You can have multiple kernels (R, Python2, Python3 (+virtualenvs), Haskell), e.g. you can create an Anaconda specific kernel:

$ <anaconda-path>/bin/python3 -m ipykernel install --user --name anaconda --display-name "Anaconda"

Should create a new kernel:

<jupyter-data-dir>/kernels/anaconda/kernel.json

{
    "argv": [ "<anaconda-path>/bin/python3", "-m", "ipykernel", "-f", "{connection_file}" ],
    "display_name": "Anaconda",
    "language": "python"
}

You need to ensure ipykernel package is installed in the anaconda distribution.

This way you can just switch between kernels and have different notebooks using different kernels.

Answer 2

from platform import python_version print(python_version())

This will give you the exact version of python running your script. eg output:
3.6.5

Answer 3

 import sys
 print(sys.executable)
 print(sys.version)
 print(sys.version_info)

Seen below :- output when i run JupyterNotebook outside a CONDA venv

/home/dhankar/anaconda2/bin/python
2.7.12 |Anaconda 4.2.0 (64-bit)| (default, Jul  2 2016, 17:42:40) 
[GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-1)]
sys.version_info(major=2, minor=7, micro=12, releaselevel='final', serial=0)

Seen below when i run same JupyterNoteBook within a CONDA Venv created with command --

conda create -n py35 python=3.5 ## Here - py35 , is name of my VENV

in my Jupyter Notebook it prints :-

/home/dhankar/anaconda2/envs/py35/bin/python
3.5.2 |Continuum Analytics, Inc.| (default, Jul  2 2016, 17:53:06) 
[GCC 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-1)]
sys.version_info(major=3, minor=5, micro=2, releaselevel='final', serial=0)

also if you already have various VENV's created with different versions of Python you switch to the desired Kernel by choosing KERNEL >> CHANGE KERNEL from within the JupyterNotebook menu... JupyterNotebookScreencapture

Also to install ipykernel within an existing CONDA Virtual Environment -

http://ipython.readthedocs.io/en/stable/install/kernel_install.html#kernels-for-different-environments

Source --- https://github.com/jupyter/notebook/issues/1524

 $ /path/to/python -m  ipykernel install --help
 usage: ipython-kernel-install [-h] [--user] [--name NAME]
                          [--display-name DISPLAY_NAME]
                          [--profile PROFILE] [--prefix PREFIX]
                          [--sys-prefix]

Install the IPython kernel spec.

optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit --user Install for the current user instead of system-wide --name NAME Specify a name for the kernelspec. This is needed to have multiple IPython kernels at the same time. --display-name DISPLAY_NAME Specify the display name for the kernelspec. This is helpful when you have multiple IPython kernels. --profile PROFILE Specify an IPython profile to load. This can be used to create custom versions of the kernel. --prefix PREFIX Specify an install prefix for the kernelspec. This is needed to install into a non-default location, such as a conda/virtual-env. --sys-prefix Install to Python's sys.prefix. Shorthand for --prefix='/Users/bussonniermatthias/anaconda'. For use in conda/virtual-envs.

Answer 4

import sys
sys.executable

will give you the interpreter. You can select the interpreter you want when you create a new notebook. Make sure the path to your anaconda interpreter is added to your path (somewhere in your bashrc/bash_profile most likely).

For example I have the following line in my .bash_profile :

export PATH="$HOME/anaconda3/bin:$PATH"