How to import a python file at the start of ipython notebook

Question

I want to lunch my iPython notebook kernel remotely and have it import a setup.py file automatically at startup. I have tried

python notebook --no-browser

one of the output message is:

Using existing profile dir: u'/path/to/profile_default'

such directory contains a startup folder which contains my setup.py file. Unfortunately the content of the file is not imported as expected.

I am looking for the notebook equivalent of the -c option for the standard shell.

In case is relevant, this is still on Python 2.7.

Answer 1

Create a new ipython profile,

$ ipython profile create foo

Edit the ipython_config.py file it generates, you can locate it with:

$ ipython locate profile foo

After

c = get_confg()

Add

c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines = ['import setup']

Then start the notebook with the --profile argument,

$ ipython notebook --no-browser --profile=foo

If you don't want to create a profile, then you can add this via command-line by using --ClassName.attribute=...

$ ipython notebook --no-browser --InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines="['import setup']"

More information on ipython profiles: http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/stable/config/intro.html

• meto: That's interesting, but since I need to create a make file to start this process up, I am trying to minimize the amount of manual work. Is there a way to pass the code directly via command line at start up time?
• Aldehir: If you're wanting to distribute this, then you can distribute the profile alongside your Makefile.
• meto: So I guess is not possible to pass arbitrary code via the command line?
• Aldehir: @meto Turns out you can pass in any configuration option through the command-line by using --ClassName.attribute=.... I have updated my answer to give an example.