Start : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified

Question

I installed wsl(Windows Subsystem for Linux) with ubuntu and jupyter notebook on it. When I run my jupyternote book, I get this error message. Could you give me some advice? Many thanks in advance!

Start : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified. At line:1 char:1

Start "file:///home/purit/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/nbserver-26-op ...

  + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-Process], InvalidOperationException
  + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand

Start : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified. At line:1 char:1 + Start "file:///home/purit/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/nbserver-26-op ... + ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ + CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Start-Process], InvalidOperationException + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvalidOperationException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.StartProcessCommand — Cheolsoon Im, Jul 09 '20 at 11:40
When using `start`, you can't use the `file:///` protocol. You need the actual path to the file only. `file:///` is only for use in a web browser's address bar. `start` is also a Windows command. — Ken White, Jul 09 '20 at 12:14
Thanks so much. Then, could you kindly tell me how I should fix it? — Cheolsoon Im, Jul 09 '20 at 12:33
Also, if you move your comment into the answer, I will accept it. :) — Cheolsoon Im, Jul 09 '20 at 12:35
I followed this tutorial when I install "jupyter notebook." on Ubuntu. https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-set-up-jupyter-notebook-with-python-3-on-ubuntu-18-04 — Cheolsoon Im, Jul 10 '20 at 00:58
This also occurs with `jupyter lab` and the answer from @Maiteya Verma (specifying --no-browser) also works for this. — Dave, Jun 20 '22 at 08:09

score 51 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 14 '20 at 13:45

51

This one worked for me.

jupyter notebook --port=8889 --no-browser

You can also checkout this thread if any other solutions work out for you.

answered Jul 14 '20 at 13:45

Maitreya Verma

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Thanks so much for your answer. I will try it and get back to you. – Cheolsoon Im Jul 15 '20 at 06:59
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Yea this seems to be the trick: jupyter notebook --no-browser or jupyter lab --no-browser. (I guess that a browser cannot be opened in WSL which is throwing this error) – Martin Alexandersson Nov 20 '20 at 09:27

score 38 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 19 '20 at 12:12

38

Here's a nice walkthrough that explains how to set up jupyter notebook to run with WSL and launch your browser in Windows without this error:

https://towardsdatascience.com/running-jupyter-notebook-on-wsl-while-using-firefox-on-windows-5a47ebfae4c1?gi=fc70b24c75bf

There are two important steps:

Run jupyter notebook --generate-config to generate the file ~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py then change the following line:

c.NotebookApp.use_redirect_file = False

Add your browser to ~/.bashrc E.g.

export BROWSER='/mnt/c/Program Files (x86)/Google/Chrome/Application/chrome.exe'

Don't forget to source bashrc:

source ~/.bashrc

That should fix the error without having to run jupyter notebook --no-browser.

edited Sep 19 '20 at 12:12

Marek Příhoda

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answered Aug 28 '20 at 17:59

j_d_b

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I did that and the error went away. But when it opens the browser I get: Your file couldn’t be accessedIt may have been moved, edited or deleted. ERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND – Homero Esmeraldo Dec 04 '20 at 18:16
2

Found my mistake. The line should stay as `c.NotebookApp.use_redirect_file = False`. So I only had to uncomment it, not change it. – Homero Esmeraldo Dec 04 '20 at 18:34
1

In my case i didn't add browser settings to bashrc – Rinshan Kolayil Jul 07 '21 at 06:46

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 14 '20 at 03:34

9

Apparently the problem occurs because the Jupyter notebook tries to open the browser after it is started. To disable this, follow these steps:

$ jupyter notebook --generate-config
$ cd /home/YourUser/.jupyter/
$ nano jupyter_notebook_config.py

Now you need scroll down and find "NotebookApp.open_browserBool", remove the # and set it to False. Save your config file and start jupyter notebook again.

answered Jul 14 '20 at 03:34

Raul Oliveira

91
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Thanks so much for your answer. I will try it and get back to you. – Cheolsoon Im Jul 15 '20 at 06:59

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 13 '20 at 07:46

3

This is interesting. I actually get the same error. I am currently using ubuntu 20.04 but never had a problem with an older version. My question is, does the jupyter notebook you're setting up still work? Because for me, the links it gives actually do still work and I can run everything perfectly. So it might be worth it to just try the links.

answered Jul 13 '20 at 07:46

Schalky

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Yep. the links works fine like you said. Thanks so much. Still, I want to know why we got the error message, though. :) – Cheolsoon Im Jul 13 '20 at 20:50
Also, I want to know how I can get rid of it. – Cheolsoon Im Jul 13 '20 at 20:53

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 07 '21 at 08:18

I have done following steps,

Run jupyter notebook --generate-config
Run sudo nano /home/{username}/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py
Removed # from => c.NotebookApp.use_redirect_file = True (I changed True to False)
And also i added windows path as default notebook_dir c.NotebookApp.notebook_dir = '/mnt/d/Jupyter/'

Start : This command cannot be run due to the error: The system cannot find the file specified

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