GitHub - casangi/sshpyk: Remote Jupyter Kernels via SSH tunnels

Remote Jupyter Kernels via SSH

Launch and connect securely to Jupyter kernels on remote machines via SSH with minimal configuration, as if they were local.

ℹ️ Note: Currently, Windows is not supported as neither local nor remote machine.

Quick Start

Get up and running with sshpyk in minutes:

Install sshpyk on your local machine

pip install sshpyk

See Installation for more details.

Add a DEDICATED alias configuration entry in your SSH config file (typically ~/.ssh/config) with the following settings:

# You can name the alias anything you want. We recommend to include "sshpyk"
# in the name to remind yourself that this is a DEDICATED alias for sshpyk.
Host remote_server_sshpyk
  HostName 192.168.1.100 # EDIT THIS
  User my_user_name_on_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  BatchMode yes
  # WARNING: ControlMaster/ControlPath/ControlPersist are mandatory and should be
  # under a *DEDICATED* host alias, otherwise you will experience bad side effects
  ControlMaster auto # must be `auto`
  ControlPath ~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p # dir must exist!
  ControlPersist 10m
  # Other recommended configurations
  StrictHostKeyChecking no
  ServerAliveInterval 5
  ServerAliveCountMax 120000
  TCPKeepAlive yes
  ConnectionAttempts 1
  ConnectTimeout 5

💡 Tip

If you already have an ssh host alias configured. You can prefix your host alias name with a wildcard * and then define a dedicated host alias prefixed with, e.g., _sshpyk as follows. (Make sure the wildcard does not match other hosts unintentionally!)

Host remote_server*
  HostName 192.168.1.100 # EDIT THIS
  User my_user_name_on_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  # Other recommended configurations
  StrictHostKeyChecking no
  ServerAliveInterval 5
  ServerAliveCountMax 120000
  TCPKeepAlive yes
  ConnectionAttempts 1
  ConnectTimeout 5

# Inherits the rest of the config from `remote_server*`
Host remote_server_sshpyk
  # WARNING: ControlMaster/ControlPath/ControlPersist are mandatory and should be
  # under a *DEDICATED* host alias, otherwise you will experience bad side effects
  ControlMaster auto # must be `auto`
  ControlPath ~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p # dir must exist!
  ControlPersist 10m

With this config you can ssh into your remote as usual with remote_server for all the purposes you are already used to. While remote_server_sshpyk will be used exclusively for sshpyk without interfering with your other ssh sessions.

See Recommended SSH Config for more details.

Ensure you have SSH access to your remote server and public key authentication is set up, you must connect without password prompt:

ssh -o BatchMode=no remote_server_sshpyk "echo CONNECTED"

See Authentication via Private/Public Key for setting up SSH keys. If you are sure that the remote sshd does not allow authentication via private/public key see Authentication via Password.

Add a remote kernel (replace values with your configuration):

sshpyk add --ssh-host-alias remote_server_sshpyk \
            --kernel-name ssh_remote_python3 \
            --display-name "Remote Python 3.10" \
            --remote-python /path/to/python/env \
            --remote-kernel-name python3 \
            --language python

See Adding a Remote Kernel for all available options.

Start JupyterLab and select your new remote kernel for a notebook/console:

jupyter lab

Your code now runs on the remote server and your local notebook interfaces with it!

Installation

You can install sshpyk using pip:

pip install sshpyk

For development installation:

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Requirements:

On the local system: sshpyk and jupyter_client
On the remote system: jupyter_client

Managing SSH Jupyter Kernels Specifications

sshpyk provides a command-line interface to manage remote Jupyter kernels via SSH tunnels:

$ sshpyk --help
usage: sshpyk [-h] [--verbose] {list,add,edit,delete} ...

Manage SSH Jupyter kernels (version 0.0)

positional arguments:
  {list,add,edit,delete}
                        Command to execute
    list                List available kernels
    add                 Add a new SSH kernel
    edit                Edit an existing SSH kernel
    delete              Delete a kernel

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --verbose, -v         Increase logs verbosity (-v for warning, -vv for info, -vvv for debug)

Listing Available Kernels

You can list all available kernels using the list command:

$ sshpyk list --help
usage: sshpyk list [-h] [--remote] [--local] [--no-check]

options:
  -h, --help      show this help message and exit
  --remote, -r    List only remote SSH kernels
  --local, -l     List only local kernels
  --no-check, -n  Skip remote kernel checks

$ sshpyk list
---- Local Kernel ----
Name:                  f310
Display Name:          Python 3.10
Resource Dir:          /Users/victor/Library/Jupyter/kernels/f310
Command:               /opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/f310/bin/python -m ipykernel_launcher -f {connection_file}
Language:              python
Interrupt Mode:        signal

---- Local Kernel ----
Name:                  ir
Display Name:          R
Resource Dir:          /opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/g/share/jupyter/kernels/ir
Command:               R --slave -e IRkernel::main() --args {connection_file}
Language:              R
Interrupt Mode:        signal

----- SSH Kernel -----
Name:                  demo_remote
Display Name:          Python 3.9 (Remote Demo)
Kernel spec:           /Users/victor/Library/Jupyter/kernels/demo_remote/kernel.json
Command (simplified):  ssh sshpyk_mba sshpyk-kernel --SSHKernelApp.kernel_name=python3 ...
Language:              python
Interrupt Mode:        (v) message
SSH Path:              (v) /opt/homebrew/bin/ssh
SSH Host Alias:        sshpyk_mba
                          (i) user: victor
                          (i) hostname: 192.168.238.4
                          (v) batchmode: yes
                          (v) identityfile: /Users/victor/.ssh/id_rsa_for_localhost
                          (v) controlmaster: auto
                          (v) controlpersist: 600
                          (v) controlpath: /Users/victor/.ssh/sshpyk_victor@192.168.238.4_22
                          (i) proxyjump: sshpyk_jump
SSH Host Alias:        sshpyk_jump (jump)
                          (i) user: root
                          (i) hostname: 81.82.23.179
                          (v) batchmode: yes
                          (v) identityfile: /Users/victor/.ssh/id_rsa_for_sshpyk_jump
                          (v) controlmaster: auto
                          (v) controlpersist: 600
                          (v) controlpath: /Users/victor/.ssh/sshpyk_root@81.82.23.179_53456
Remote Script Dir:     (v) $HOME/.ssh/sshpyk (/Users/victor/.ssh/sshpyk)
SSH Connection:        (v) sshpyk_mba
Remote System:         Darwin MacBook-Air 20.5.0 Darwin Kernel Version 20.5.0: Sat May  8 05:10:33 PDT 2021; root:xnu-7195.121.3~9/RELEASE_X86_64 x86_64
Remote Interrupt Mode: signal
Remote Python:         (v) /usr/local/anaconda3/envs/f39/bin/python
Remote Kernel Name:    (v) python3
Launch Timeout:        15
Shutdown Timeout:      15
Remote Command:        python -m ipykernel_launcher -f {connection_file}

29649 2025-05-15 17:16:58,306 ERROR    sshpyk.utils utils:309 verify_ssh_connection: [sshpyk_mbp stderr] ssh: Could not resolve hostname sshpyk_mbp: nodename nor servname provided, or not known
29649 2025-05-15 17:16:58,306 ERROR    sshpyk.utils utils:325 verify_ssh_connection: SSH connection to 'sshpyk_mbp' failed (exit code=255).
----- SSH Kernel -----
Name:                  ssh_mbp_ext
Display Name:          Python 3.13 (RMBP)
Kernel spec:           /Users/victor/Library/Jupyter/kernels/ssh_mbp_ext/kernel.json
Command (simplified):  ssh sshpyk_mbp sshpyk-kernel --SSHKernelApp.kernel_name=python3 ...
Language:              python
Interrupt Mode:        (v) message
SSH Path:              (v) /opt/homebrew/bin/ssh
SSH Host Alias:        sshpyk_mbp
                          (x) identityfile: Likely missing in your ssh config. Multiple values: ['~/.ssh/id_rsa', '~/.ssh/id_ecdsa', '~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk', '~/.ssh/id_ed25519', '~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk', '~/.ssh/id_xmss'].
                          (i) user: victor
                          (x) hostname: Likely missing in your ssh config. host='sshpyk_mbp' and hostname='sshpyk_mbp' must be different.
                          (!) batchmode: Recommended to be 'yes', not 'no'.
                          (x) controlmaster: Must be 'auto', not 'false'.
                          (x) controlpersist: Must be, e.g., '10m' or 'yes', not 'no'.
                          (x) controlpath: Missing, use, e.g., '~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p'.
Remote Script Dir:     (?) $HOME/.ssh/sshpyk
SSH Connection:        (x) sshpyk_mbp
Remote Python:         (?) /opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/g/bin/python
Remote Kernel Name:    (?) python3
Launch Timeout:        15
Shutdown Timeout:      15

29649 2025-05-15 17:16:58,337 ERROR    sshpyk.utils utils:309 verify_ssh_connection: [sshpyk_mbp_ext stderr] ssh: Could not resolve hostname sshpyk_mbp_ext: nodename nor servname provided, or not known
29649 2025-05-15 17:16:58,337 ERROR    sshpyk.utils utils:325 verify_ssh_connection: SSH connection to 'sshpyk_mbp_ext' failed (exit code=255).
----- SSH Kernel -----
Name:                  ssh_mbp_ext_broken
Display Name:          Python 3.13 (RMBP Broken)
Kernel spec:           /Users/victor/Library/Jupyter/kernels/ssh_mbp_ext_broken/kernel.json
Command (simplified):  ssh sshpyk_mbp_ext sshpyk-kernel --SSHKernelApp.kernel_name=python3 ...
Language:              python
Interrupt Mode:        (v) message
SSH Path:              (v) /opt/homebrew/bin/ssh
SSH Host Alias:        sshpyk_mbp_ext
                          (x) identityfile: Likely missing in your ssh config. Multiple values: ['~/.ssh/id_rsa', '~/.ssh/id_ecdsa', '~/.ssh/id_ecdsa_sk', '~/.ssh/id_ed25519', '~/.ssh/id_ed25519_sk', '~/.ssh/id_xmss'].
                          (i) user: victor
                          (x) hostname: Likely missing in your ssh config. host='sshpyk_mbp_ext' and hostname='sshpyk_mbp_ext' must be different.
                          (!) batchmode: Recommended to be 'yes', not 'no'.
                          (x) controlmaster: Must be 'auto', not 'false'.
                          (x) controlpersist: Must be, e.g., '10m' or 'yes', not 'no'.
                          (x) controlpath: Missing, use, e.g., '~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p'.
Remote Script Dir:     (?) $HOME/.ssh/sshpyk
SSH Connection:        (x) sshpyk_mbp_ext
Remote Python:         (?) /opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/g/bin/python
Remote Kernel Name:    (?) python3
Launch Timeout:        15
Shutdown Timeout:      15

Adding a Remote Kernel

To add a new remote kernel, use the add command. For a remote kernel to work:

sshpyk must be installed on the local system (which depends on jupyter_client explicitly)
jupyter_client must be installed on the remote system

Here's the help information for the add command:

$ sshpyk add --help

Editing an Existing Kernel

You can modify an existing kernel using the edit command:

$ sshpyk edit --help

💡 Pro tip: If you are familiar with Jupyter kernel specifications, you can edit the kernel.json specifications manually in the Resource Dir for quick changes.

Deleting a Kernel

To remove a kernel, use the delete command:

$ sshpyk delete --help

SSH Configuration

Understanding SSH Host Aliases

The --ssh-host-alias parameter refers to host aliases defined in your SSH config file, not IP addresses. These aliases, among other advantages, provide a convenient way to group connection settings under a Host alias_name entry. This simplifies making an SSH connection to just $ ssh alias_name and have the SSH client use the settings defined under its Host alias_name entry. For simplicity and maximum flexibility, sshpyk does not manage any of the SSH config options. Instead we have a Recommended SSH Config below.

Recommended SSH Config

Your SSH configuration is typically stored in $HOME/.ssh/config. We recommend a wildcard host alias and a DEDICATED host alias named such that it matches the wildcard (or simply a dedicated host alias as shown in Quick start):

Host remote_server*
  # Required config: HostName/User/IdentityFile
  # ##################################################################################
  # IP address of the remote system
  HostName 192.168.1.100 # EDIT THIS
  # Your unix username on the remote system
  User my_user_name_on_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  # Required for automated login, see `Authentication via Private/Public Key`_
  # for more details
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server # EDIT THIS
  # `BatchMode yes` prevents ssh from asking for interactive input.
  # E.g., when a password prompt is required for successful connection.
  # You can skip it if you REALLY cannot use any alternative to password-based
  # authentication. In such case, you have to automate the password prompt.
  # Not recommended unless you know how to communicate the password securely.
  BatchMode yes
  # ##################################################################################

  # Connection stability:
  # ServerAliveInterval/ServerAliveCountMax/TCPKeepAlive/ConnectionAttempts/ConnectTimeout
  # ##################################################################################
  # Send a "heartbeat" to the server every ServerAliveInterval seconds, if no reply,
  # wait ServerAliveCountMax attempts before giving up.
  ServerAliveInterval 5
  # Set some big value, e.g. ServerAliveInterval * ServerAliveCountMax = ~7 days
  ServerAliveCountMax 120000
  TCPKeepAlive yes
  # Shorter ConnectionAttempts/ConnectTimeout helps to reconnect to the kernel faster
  # when e.g. loosing internet connection temporarily. However if connecting to your
  # remote host is expected to take a long time, you might need to increase these.
  ConnectionAttempts 1
  ConnectTimeout 5
  # ##################################################################################
  # The port on the remote system that SSH server is listening on (22 is the default)
  Port 22
  # Optional, slightly less secure but recommended for this type of automation:
  StrictHostKeyChecking no

  # ... rest of your config, if you know what you are doing

# You can suffix the alias with anything you want. We recommend to include "sshpyk"
# in the name to remind yourself that this is a dedicated alias for sshpyk.
Host remote_server_sshpyk
  # Isolation, performance, responsiveness: ControlMaster/ControlPath/ControlPersist
  # ##################################################################################
  # Reuse existing connections to the remote server, this speeds up new connections
  # to the remote server by reusing a "master" connection. If a master connection
  # is already established, it will be used, otherwise a new one will be created.
  # `auto` option is also essential for reusing an ssh connection established manually
  # e.g. when the remote host requires a password and explicitly forbids private key
  # authentication.
  ControlMaster auto # must be `auto`
  # The path to the control socket, this is used to manage the connection to the
  # remote server. Make sure to not use the same ControlPath for other host non-sshpyk
  # aliases! This is to avoid conflicts with other SSH connections and session to the
  # same machine. Sharing the same control socket with other non-sshpyk related SSH
  # sessions might have unintended side effects.
  # Make sure the dirs on the path to the control socket exist, otherwise unrelated
  # errors might happen in sshpyk.
  ControlPath ~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p # dir must exist!
  # Keep the master connection "warm" after the last time the SSH connection was used.
  # For connection stability and to speed up kernel restarts.
  # Note that there will be some SSH process on your local machine still running for
  # after the kernel shutdown. This is expected and harmless.
  # When the remote host requires a password, set ControlPersist to a large value,
  # e.g. `200h` to avoid having to restart the master connection manually and input
  # the host password.
  ControlPersist 10m
  # ##################################################################################

With this configuration, you can use remote_server_sshpyk as your --ssh-host-alias in sshpyk commands.

⚠️ Warning: Make sure that your alias name in the SSH config does not match any other alias "wildcards" in your SSH config unintentionally. For example, if you have an alias remote_* in your SSH config, these settings can affect the remote_server_sshpyk as well, which might lead to unexpected behavior.
‼️ Important: ControlMaster: auto is mandatory for sshpyk to work. We highly recommend using the suggested ControlPersist, ControlPath, BatchMode yes, ServerAliveInterval, ServerAliveCountMax, and TCPKeepAlive settings. This is to ensure that your SSH connection is stable and does not get dropped unexpectedly. With these settings your connection to the remote kernel should survive, e.g., losing your WiFi connection for a few minutes, and perhaps even longer.

Authentication via Private/Public Key

sshpyk expects ssh commands to run without password prompts. We recommend using private/public key-based SSH authentication. You must set up SSH key authentication for all remote hosts you intend to use.

To set up SSH key-based authentication:

Generate an SSH key pair on your local machine (if you don't already have one):

# Don't set a passphrase for the key when prompted.
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server -C "some comment for your own reference"

Check your private key is accessible without a passphrase:

ssh-keygen -y -f ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server

Copy your public key to the remote server:

ssh-copy-id -o BatchMode=no remote_username@some.remote.server.com

Or manually add the contents of ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server.pub from your local machine to the authorized_keys file on the remote machine. Typically ~/.ssh/authorized_keys, but please consult your remote system's administrator for the correct location/procedure.

Add the key to your SSH config (edit to match your own setup):

Host remote_server_sshpyk
  HostName some.remote.server.com
  User remote_username
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/private_key_for_remote_server
  BatchMode yes
  # ... the rest of the config as described in `Recommended SSH Config`

Test your connection, you should connect without being prompted for a password:

ssh -o BatchMode=no remote_server_sshpyk "echo CONNECTED"

Common Reasons for Private Key Authentication Failure

If you're having trouble connecting even after setting up SSH keys, here are some common culprits:

Incorrect Permissions on the Remote Server:

Your home directory (e.g., /home/username) on the server should not be writable by others (chmod 755 or drwxr-xr-x is typical).
The ~/.ssh directory on the server must have strict permissions, typically 700 (drwx------). Use chmod 700 ~/.ssh.
The ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file on the server must also have strict permissions, typically 600 (-rw-------). Use chmod 600 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.

Public Key Issues:

The public key content in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the server does not exactly match the corresponding private key, or it's the wrong public key.
The public key in authorized_keys is malformed (e.g., incomplete copy, extra line breaks, missing parts). Ensure it's a single, unbroken line of text, usually starting with ssh-rsa, ssh-ed25519, etc.
Multiple public keys in authorized_keys should each be on a new line.

Client-Side Private Key & Configuration Issues:

The IdentityFile directive in your local ~/.ssh/config points to the wrong private key file, a non-existent file, or the public key file instead of the private key.
The private key file on your local machine has incorrect permissions. It should typically be 600 (-rw-------) or 400 (-r--------). Use chmod 600 /path/to/your/private_key.
If your private key is protected by a passphrase, an SSH agent (like ssh-agent) must be running and have the key added (ssh-add /path/to/your/private_key), especially if BatchMode yes is used in your SSH config, as this prevents interactive passphrase prompts (as intended but can be a source of confusion).

SSH Server Configuration (sshd_config on the Remote Server):

PubkeyAuthentication might be set to no in the server's /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. It should be yes. Check with your remote system's administrator.
The AuthorizedKeysFile directive in sshd_config might point to a non-standard location for the authorized keys file (e.g., .ssh/authorized_keys2). Ensure your public key is in the correct file. Check with your remote system's administrator.
User-specific restrictions like AllowUsers, DenyUsers, AllowGroups, or DenyGroups in sshd_config might be preventing your user from logging in. Check with your remote system's administrator.
The SSH daemon (sshd) on the server might need to be reloaded or restarted after changes to sshd_config. Your remote system's administrator should know how to do this.

SSH Agent Issues on the Client:

The ssh-agent is not running on your local machine.
The correct private key has not been added to the ssh-agent (use ssh-add -l to list added keys, and ssh-add /path/to/private_key to add one). This applies mainly to passphrase-protected keys.
Too many keys have been offered to the server (especially if you have many keys in your agent or specified via IdentityFile), and the server has given up before trying the correct one. You can use IdentitiesOnly yes in your ~/.ssh/config for the specific host to ensure only the specified IdentityFile is used.
When debugging, use verbose output from the SSH client (e.g., ssh -vvv remote_server_sshpyk) to get detailed information about the connection attempt, including which keys are being offered and where the authentication process might be failing.

Alternatives to Private/Public Key Authentication

If the remote sshd is configured to specifically only allow password authentication, you can still use sshpyk by either:

Changing the sshd configuration to allow private/public key-based authentication (ask your system administrator); or
Manually establishing a master SSH connection before attempting to start any sshpyk kernels, as described in Authentication via Password; or
Spawning a sshd on the remote system on a custom port configured to allow private/public key-based authentication and following the instructions above.

Authentication via Password

Persistent Authenticated Control Socket

If your remote host doesn't allow private/public key-based authentication and insists on password authentication, you can still use sshpyk by manually establishing a master SSH connection before attempting to start any sshpyk kernels:

In your SSH config, set a long ControlPersist value (or ControlPersist=yes for an indefinite persistence) to avoid frequent manual password prompts:

Host sshpyk_password_server
  HostName password.example.com
  User remote-username
  # Skip `BatchMode yes` if you setup an automated password-based authentication.
  # Not recommended unless you know how to communicate the password securely.
  BatchMode yes
  ControlMaster auto
  ControlPath ~/.ssh/sshpyk_%r@%h_%p
  # Set a very long persistence time or ControlPersist=yes for indefinite persistence
  ControlPersist 200h
  # ... the rest of the config as described in `Recommended SSH Config`

Manually establish the master connection before attempting to start any sshpyk kernels:

# -M = ControlMaster
# -f = go to background
# -N = do not execute a command on the remote server
ssh -M -f -N sshpyk_password_server
# You'll be prompted for your password

⚠️ Warning: When using password authentication, if the master connection process dies, which happens if you disconnect from internet for a bit (e.g. unstable WiFi), you need to manually run ssh -M -f -N sshpyk_password_server again to input your password. Afterwards the connection to the remote kernel should be smoothly reestablished.

Now add and use your sshpyk kernel as normal, without needing to enter your password again:

sshpyk add --ssh-host-alias sshpyk_password_server --kernel-name ssh_remote_python3 ...

The ControlMaster connection will remain active for the duration specified in ControlPersist, allowing sshpyk to use it seamlessly despite the password requirement.

A Note on Automated Password Input as Last Resort

In rare situations where the remote server only supports password authentication and you have not other alternative but to automate the password authentication in order to be able to use sshpyk. This is highly discouraged due to significant security risks.

If you find yourself in this situation, the dangerous directory within the sshpyk repository contains an example script (ssh-sshpass-wrapper) and a sample SSH config. This script demonstrates using sshpass to automate the password input to login into a Bastion host. Under the hood, from that Bastion host a final ssh jump to the target remote server is made using the ProxyJump feature of SSH. The authentication to the target remote server is done using a normal private key.

Proceed with extreme caution and diligence:

Understand the security implications of storing and handling passwords programmatically.
This approach is less secure than key-based authentication because ssh won't be enforcing file permissions, etc., on the custom ssh-sshpass-wrapper script.
The example script and configuration are provided as a proof-of-concept and require modifications for your specific environment, etc.
Make sure you exhausted all the possible reasons why the key-based authentication is not working. You can find some common reasons in Common Reasons for Private Key Authentication Failure.
Consult the dangerous/README.md file for more details before attempting this method.

Using Bastion/Jump Hosts

One powerful SSH feature is the ability to connect to hosts behind a bastion (jump) server. For example in your SSH config you would add the following dedicated alias entries:

Host sshpyk_bastion
  HostName bastion.example.com
  User bastion-username
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_bastion # required for automated login
  BatchMode yes
  # ... the rest of the config as described in `Recommended SSH Config`

Host sshpyk_internal_server
  HostName internal-server.example.com
  User remote-username
  IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_rsa_internal # required for automated login
  BatchMode yes

  ProxyJump sshpyk_bastion # this is the key line that enables the "jump" through the bastion
  # ... the rest of the config as described in `Recommended SSH Config`

‼️ Important: For connection stability and performance, we highly recommend using the settings described in Recommended SSH Config along with using dedicated alias entries.

This configuration allows you to:

Connect first to bastion.example.com as bastion-username
Then tunnel through to internal-server.example.com as remote-username

When using sshpyk, you would simply specify --ssh-host-alias sshpyk_internal_server and the SSH tunneling will be handled automatically according to your SSH config file.

‼️ Important: Remember that SSH automatic authentication must be set up for both sshpyk_bastion and sshpyk_internal_server, either via SSH private/public key-based authentication or password authentication, as described in Authentication via Private/Public Key and Authentication via Password, respectively.
💡 Tip: You can of course have as many bastion hosts between you and the remote server as you want.

Launching Remote Kernels from Command Line

The sshpyk-kernel command is a command-line utility to launch remote kernels and manage their lifecycle. It uses the same provisioning system as the SSHKernelProvisioner but can be invoked directly to support use cases outside of Jupyter.

$ sshpyk-kernel --help

When running in an interactive terminal, you can use Ctrl+D to show a menu to shutdown, interrupt, restart, or leave the command without shutting down the kernel. More information will be printed in the logs when running the command.

Kernel Persistence

The sshpyk-kernel command supports kernel persistence through the following options:

--persistent: If True, the remote kernel will be left running on shutdown so you can reconnect to it later.
--persistent-file: Path to save persistence info. If provided, --persistent is overridden to True. A default path will be used if not provided.
--existing: Connect to an existing kernel using a previously saved persistence info file.
--leave: Launch the kernel and exit command right away.

Example of creating a persistent kernel:

# Create a persistent kernel
sshpyk-kernel --kernel=demo_remote --persistent

Later, reconnect to the same kernel (the path will be printed in the logs of the previous command):

sshpyk-kernel --kernel=demo_remote --existing=sshpyk-kernel-1c9ce85b-f722-41e5-970a-13cfdd44fbfb.json

ℹ️ Note: --existing here is a path to a persistence file created by sshpyk-kernel, NOT the typical jupyter connection file!

You can interact with the kernel using e.g. jupyter-console (a jupyter client launches an ipython shell):

pip install jupyter-console # if not already installed
jupyter-console --existing=kernel-a3b70f44-6b9a-4f82-a6b8-dd736f04b888.json

ℹ️ Note: --existing here is a path to the local connection file, in the typical jupyter connection file format. It is NOT the persistence file created by sshpyk-kernel. Similarly, this path is printed in the logs of the sshpyk-kernel command.
💡 Tip: You can press Ctrl+D in the jupyter-console to leave the application without shutting down the kernel. Calling exit()/quit() in the ipython shell or a notebook will still shutdown the kernel. This is expected behavior. The remote SSHKernelApp python script will detect this and shutdown itself.

Interactive Controls

When running in an interactive terminal, you can use:

Ctrl+D: Shows a menu to interrupt, shutdown, restart, or leave the command without shutting down the kernel
Ctrl+C: Interrupts the kernel
Ctrl+\ (backslash): Leaves the application without shutting down the kernel

If you invoke sshpyk-kernel from a non-interactive shell, you can use signals to control the kernel:

SIGTERM: Shuts down the kernel, unless --persistent or --persistent-file have been passed
SIGHUP: Shuts down the kernel, unless --persistent or --persistent-file have been passed
SIGINT: Interrupts the kernel
SIGUSR1: Restarts the kernel
SIGUSR2: Shuts down the remote kernel, ignoring --persistent or --persistent-file
SIGQUIT: Leaves the application without shutting down the kernel
SIGKILL: this signal cannot be caught, it will kill the local command without any local nor remote cleanup. Not recommended. Use only as last resort.

Integration with Jupyter

The command is designed to work with Jupyter's kernel specification system. When you add a remote kernel using sshpyk add, the command is automatically configured in the kernel spec file (kernel.json). This allows applications external to Jupyter the jupyter ecosystem to launch the remote kernel and connect to it.

Example kernel.json created by sshpyk add:

{
  "argv": [
    "/opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/g/bin/python",
    "/opt/homebrew/anaconda3/envs/g/bin/sshpyk-kernel",
    "--SSHKernelApp.kernel_name=demo_remote",
    "--KernelManager.connection_file='{connection_file}'"
  ],
  "display_name": "Python 3.9 (Remote Demo)",
  "language": "python",
  "interrupt_mode": "message",
  "metadata": {
    "kernel_provisioner": {
      "provisioner_name": "sshpyk-provisioner",
      "config": {
        "ssh": null,
        "ssh_host_alias": "sshpyk_mba",
        "remote_python": "/usr/local/anaconda3/envs/f39/bin/python",
        "remote_kernel_name": "python3"
      }
    }
  }
}

Programmatic Usage in Python

The demo.py in the repository provides a complete example of how to use sshpyk programmatically:

Launch a (persistent) remote kernel
Execute interactive code on it
Reconnect to the same kernel later
Clean up resources

For more information on interacting with the kernel programmatically, see the jupyter_client documentation or consult the provisioning.py source code for some inspiration.

Development

In a Python 3.8+ environment:

pip install -e ".[dev]" # installs the python package in editable mode
Reload your shell, e.g. open the terminal again.
pre-commit install
Make your changes to the files and test them.
git commit -m "your message", this will run the pre-commit hooks defined in .pre-commit-config.yaml. If your code has problems it won't let you commit.

Run git hooks manually

To auto-format code, apply other small fixes (e.g. trailing whitespace) and to lint all the code:

pre-commit run --all-files

Troubleshooting

If you are running into issues, try first to restart your system(s) if possible 😉. Debugging SSH connections can be tricky.

Running the sshpyk list by default will check the remote kernels and the corresponding SSH connections (you can use --no-check to skip the remote kernel checks). Its output might already pinpoint the issue. You can pass a verbose sshpyk list -vvv flag to get more detailed logs (or just -v or -vv).

Make sure you can ssh -o BatchMode=no -vvv remote_server_sshpyk "echo CONNECTED" into your remote host without password prompts, before attempting to launch the sshpyk kernel.

To debug problems during kernel launch/shutdown/restart/etc., you can launch the sshpyk kernel manually with verbose logging. Along with it, you can pass --ssh-verbose=vvv to get most verbose logging from the ssh commands that sshpyk invokes.

sshpyk-kernel --kernel ssh_remote_python3 --debug --ssh-verbose=vvv

Read the logs, it will contain commands and output from the local/remote processes. You can open a new GitHub issue and share the output if you need help.

Implementation Details

sshpyk integrates with Jupyter Client through the kernel provisioning API introduced in jupyter_client 7.0. It implements a custom KernelProvisionerBase subclass called SSHKernelProvisioner that:

Establishes SSH connections to remote hosts
Copies the sshpyk-kernel launcher script to the remote (by default into $HOME/.ssh/sshpyk/, shell variables are expanded)
Launches kernels on remote systems
Sets up port forwarding for kernel communication channels using ssh -O forward -L ... control master commands
Manages the lifecycle of the remote kernel

The provisioner is registered as an entry point in pyproject.toml, making it available to any Jupyter application that uses jupyter_client.

Historical Note

The design of this package was initially inspired upon SSH Kernel which in turn is based upon remote_ikernel. This implementation was created to adapt to recent changes to jupyter_client (which broke ssh_ipykernel) and to support Python 3.10+. Later it was reimplemented to integrate with jupyter_client's provisioning system.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 167 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
dangerous		dangerous
sshpyk		sshpyk
.gitignore		.gitignore
.pre-commit-config.yaml		.pre-commit-config.yaml
CONTRIBUTOR_LICENSING_AGREEMENT.txt		CONTRIBUTOR_LICENSING_AGREEMENT.txt
LICENSE.txt		LICENSE.txt
README.rst		README.rst
demo.py		demo.py
pyproject.toml		pyproject.toml

License

casangi/sshpyk

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Remote Jupyter Kernels via SSH

Table of Contents

Quick Start

Installation

Managing SSH Jupyter Kernels Specifications

Listing Available Kernels

Adding a Remote Kernel

Editing an Existing Kernel

Deleting a Kernel

SSH Configuration

Understanding SSH Host Aliases

Recommended SSH Config

Authentication via Private/Public Key

Common Reasons for Private Key Authentication Failure

Alternatives to Private/Public Key Authentication

Authentication via Password

Persistent Authenticated Control Socket

A Note on Automated Password Input as Last Resort

Using Bastion/Jump Hosts

Launching Remote Kernels from Command Line

Kernel Persistence

Interactive Controls

Integration with Jupyter

Programmatic Usage in Python

Development

Run git hooks manually

Troubleshooting

Implementation Details

Historical Note

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