You may have noticed that you cannot install JupyterLab extensions on a user level (no root) out of the box on Linux/Unix systems.
After reading and trying different suggestions I recommend the next steps:
JUPYTERLAB_DIR=.jupyter/lab jupyter-lab build
Set the path you want/need, notice that you can run 'jupyter lab' instead of 'jupyter-lab.
2. Now you are ready to launch JupyterLab specifying the working directory and work with extensions:
on GUI
JUPYTERLAB_DIR=.jupyter/lab jupyter-lab
on Terminal
JUPYTERLAB_DIR=.jupyter/lab jupyter labextension install extension_name
for Bash
echo "export JUPYTERLAB_DIR=~/.jupyter/lab" >> .bashrc
Now you can run JupyterLab from your terminal and list, install/uninstall, update, enable/disable, etc., extensions via GUI and also manage them with the extensions package manager:
jupyter labextension <install/uninstall/enable/disable/update> extension_name
If you want to launch JupyterLab without using the terminal with your set working directory you need to generate and edit your user config file.
jupyter-lab --generate-config
c.LabApp.app_dir = '/home/your_username/.jupyter/lab'