the-littlest-jupyterhub/docs/howto/admin/admin-users.md

(howto-admin-admin-users)=

Add / Remove admin users

Admin users in TLJH have the following powers:

1. Full root access to the server with passwordless sudo. This lets them do literally whatever they want in the server
2. Access servers / home directories of all other users
3. Install new packages for everyone with conda, pip or apt
4. Change configuration of TLJH

This is a lot of power, so make sure you know who you are giving it to. Admin users should have decent passwords / secure login mechanisms, so attackers can not easily gain control of the system.

:::{important} You should make sure an admin user is present when you install TLJH the very first time. It is recommended that you also set a password for the admin at this step. The [--admin] (/topic/customizing-installer/admin) flag passed to the installer does this. If you had forgotten to do so, the easiest way to fix this is to run the installer again. :::

Adding admin users from the JupyterHub interface

There are two primary user interfaces for doing work on your JupyterHub. By default, this is the Notebook Interface, and will be used in this section. If you are using JupyterLab, you can access the Notebook Interface by replacing /lab with /tree in your URL.

1. First, navigate to the Jupyter Notebook interface home page. You can do this by going to the URL <my-hub-url>/user/<my-username>/tree.

2. Open the Control Panel by clicking the control panel button on the top right of your JupyterHub.

   :alt: Control panel button in notebook, top right
   

3. In the control panel, open the Admin link in the top left.

   :alt: Admin button in control panel, top left
   

   This opens up the JupyterHub admin page, where you can add / delete users, start / stop peoples' servers and see who is online.

4. Click the Add Users button.

   :alt: Add Users button in the admin page
   

   A Add Users dialog box opens up.

5. Type the names of users you want to add to this JupyterHub in the dialog box, one per line. Make sure to tick the Admin checkbox.

   :alt: Adding users with add users dialog
   

6. Click the Add Users button in the dialog box. Your users are now added to the JupyterHub with administrator privileges!

Adding admin users from the command line

Sometimes it is easier to add or remove admin users from the command line (for example, if you forgot to add an admin user when first setting up your JupyterHub).

Adding new admin users

New admin users can be added by executing the following commands on an admin terminal:

sudo tljh-config add-item users.admin <username>
sudo tljh-config reload

If the user is already using the JupyterHub, they might have to stop and start their server from the control panel to gain new powers.

Removing admin users

You can remove an existing admin user by executing the following commands in an admin terminal:

sudo tljh-config remove-item users.admin <username>
sudo tljh-config reload

If the user is already using the JupyterHub, they will continue to have some of their admin powers until their server is stopped. Another admin can force their server to stop by clicking 'Stop Server' in the admin panel.