# Explain JupyterLab to my admin

**URL:** <https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/explain-jupyterlab-to-my-admin/15096>\
**Category:** JupyterLab\
**Created:** [July 26, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/explain-jupyterlab-to-my-admin/15096 "2022-07-26T18:36:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![buhtz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/47e85d/32.png) [@buhtz](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/buhtz)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/explain-jupyterlab-to-my-admin/15096/1 "2022-07-26T18:36:15Z")

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I’m not the admin on my machine. I am able to “install” `jupyterlab` via `pip`.  
But I am not able to do `jupyter-lab` because of an admins restriction (“Gruppenrichtline” in German).

When I now ask my admin for permission he will ask me not only what JuypterLab is and why I need it. Most important is what is technical behind it. What processes and servers are running? Isn’t there a server which is accessed by a web browser? What is it’s default config? Does it answer only on local connections?

What should an admin also know about JuypterLab?

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**Author:** ![bollwyvl](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/bollwyvl/32/904_2.png) [@bollwyvl](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/bollwyvl)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 1:45pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/explain-jupyterlab-to-my-admin/15096/2 "2022-07-27T13:45:05Z")

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This is a lot to ask on a forum post.

JupyterLab is a client/server web application that allows a web browser client to edit, run, and see the results of **arbitrary** code on the server.

> What processes and servers are running?

The actual process running will be `python`, the implementation language of the server stack. Once a web user requests a “kernel,” the smallest unit of interactive computing, the server will start another process as the same user. Additionally, by default, users can launch shell terminals, also served to the browser, where each is its own process.

> Isn’t there a server which is accessed by a web browser?

JupyterLab is a configuration the [`jupyter_server`](https://github.com/jupyter-server/jupyter_server), which in turn delegates actual HTTP serving to [`tornado`](https://www.tornadoweb.org/en/stable/).

> What is it’s default config?

This is rather vague: for the most part, as it is extensible, this depends entirely on the packages installed.

> Does it answer only on local connections?

By default, a browser needs to be running on the same computer where it is hosted, but it can be configured to allow other hosts.