diff --git a/cesnet-central/deployments/fullhub.yaml b/cesnet-central/deployments/fullhub.yaml
index 4c933fc05335e8366ac45f5d09e53ad9e2b09fc6..0d1c88ee93a48919c0a3e711707e9f378047493c 100644
--- a/cesnet-central/deployments/fullhub.yaml
+++ b/cesnet-central/deployments/fullhub.yaml
@@ -102,7 +102,10 @@ singleuser:
 
         cd .
 
-        exec jupyterhub-singleuser "$@"
+        exec jupyterhub-singleuser \
+          --FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints' \
+          --LabApp.news_url=None \
+          "$@"
 
 hub:
   services:
@@ -144,6 +147,8 @@ hub:
       authenticate_prometheus: false
       authenticator_class: egi_notebooks_hub.egiauthenticator.EOSCNodeAuthenticator
       # spawner_class: (in egi-notebooks-b2drop)
+    LabApp:
+      check_for_updates_class: jupyterlab.NeverCheckForUpdate
   extraConfig:
     egi-notebooks-welcome: |-
       from egi_notebooks_hub.welcome import WelcomeHandler
@@ -326,7 +331,6 @@ hub:
 
       c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = WebDavOIDCSpawner
       c.B2DropSpawner.http_timeout = 90
-      c.B2DropSpawner.args = ["--FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints'"]
       c.B2DropSpawner.profile_form_template = """
         <style>
             /*
diff --git a/staging1/deployments/hub.yaml b/staging1/deployments/hub.yaml
index 8a3a9d597aa66b7b363312ee86e0bcb9d9431821..2b751ea01a6305e3172ae2def892b27a9f56c5f8 100644
--- a/staging1/deployments/hub.yaml
+++ b/staging1/deployments/hub.yaml
@@ -120,7 +120,10 @@ singleuser:
 
         cd .
 
-        exec jupyterhub-singleuser "$@"
+        exec jupyterhub-singleuser \
+          --FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints' \
+          --LabApp.news_url=None \
+          "$@"
 
 hub:
   services:
@@ -162,6 +165,8 @@ hub:
       authenticate_prometheus: false
       authenticator_class: egi_notebooks_hub.egiauthenticator.EOSCNodeAuthenticator
       # spawner_class: (in egi-notebooks-b2drop)
+    LabApp:
+      check_for_updates_class: jupyterlab.NeverCheckForUpdate
   extraConfig:
     egi-notebooks-welcome: |-
       from egi_notebooks_hub.welcome import WelcomeHandler
@@ -345,7 +350,6 @@ hub:
       # c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = WebDavOIDCSpawner
       c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = B2DropSpawner
       c.B2DropSpawner.http_timeout = 90
-      c.B2DropSpawner.args = ["--FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints'"]
       c.B2DropSpawner.profile_form_template = """
         <style>
             /*
diff --git a/testing/deployments/hub.yaml b/testing/deployments/hub.yaml
index 360111874037d46c79d3270701ca35899668cf21..03ebecdaf5576724229513d94bcb9fd4271fa2e2 100644
--- a/testing/deployments/hub.yaml
+++ b/testing/deployments/hub.yaml
@@ -121,7 +121,10 @@ singleuser:
 
         cd .
 
-        exec jupyterhub-singleuser "$@"
+        exec jupyterhub-singleuser \
+          --FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints' \
+          --LabApp.news_url=None \
+          "$@"
 
 hub:
   services:
@@ -163,6 +166,8 @@ hub:
       authenticate_prometheus: false
       authenticator_class: egi_notebooks_hub.egiauthenticator.EOSCNodeAuthenticator
       # spawner_class: (in egi-notebooks-b2drop)
+    LabApp:
+      check_for_updates_class: jupyterlab.NeverCheckForUpdate
   extraConfig:
     egi-notebooks-welcome: |-
       from egi_notebooks_hub.welcome import WelcomeHandler
@@ -345,7 +350,6 @@ hub:
 
       c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = WebDavOIDCSpawner
       c.B2DropSpawner.http_timeout = 90
-      c.B2DropSpawner.args = ["--FileCheckpoints.checkpoint_dir='/home/jovyan/.notebookCheckpoints'"]
       c.B2DropSpawner.profile_form_template = """
         <style>
             /*