How to install less on CentOS / RHEL / Fedora

Searching for less package

Open the terminal application or ssh session and then type the following dnf command/yum command to find out less package name on your version of CentOS or RHEL system:
$ sudo yum whatprovides '*bin/less'

Last metadata expiration check: 1:25:50 ago on Sun Aug 23 10:15:44 2020.
less-530-1.el8.x86_64 : A text file browser similar to more, but better
Repo        : BaseOS
Matched from:
Other       : *bin/less

Getting information about less package on RHEL or CentOS

Again use the following command:
$ sudo yum info less

Last metadata expiration check: 1:27:35 ago on Sun Aug 23 10:15:44 2020.
Available Packages
Name         : less
Version      : 530
Release      : 1.el8
Architecture : x86_64
Size         : 164 k
Source       : less-530-1.el8.src.rpm
Repository   : BaseOS
Summary      : A text file browser similar to more, but better
URL          : http://www.greenwoodsoftware.com/less/
License      : GPLv3+ or BSD
Description  : The less utility is a text file browser that resembles more, but has
             : more capabilities.  Less allows you to move backwards in the file as
             : well as forwards.  Since less doesn't have to read the entire input file
             : before it starts, less starts up more quickly than text editors (for
             : example, vi).
             : 
             : You should install less because it is a basic utility for viewing text
             : files, and you'll use it frequently.

Installing less on CentOS / RHEL

So far, we figured how to package name that can install less utility on our CentOS or RHEL cloud server. Now all you have to do is type the following command to install the same:
$ sudo yum update
$ sudo yum install less

A note about Fedora Linux cloud user

Use the dnf command as follows:
$ sudo dnf update
$ sudo dnf install less

Install less with Docker or Podman container

Create project dir using the mkdir command and cd into it using the cd command:
$ mkdir apache2
$ cd apache2
$ echo 'Podman/Docker apache2 demo by nixCraft' > index.html
$ vim Dockerfile
Here is a sample Dockerfile:

FROM centos:8
 
MAINTAINER nixCraft
LABEL Remarks="CentOS 8 test image for installing less along with Apache2"
 
# Install apache2 with less
RUN yum -y update && \
yum -y install httpd less && \
yum clean all
 
# Sample index.html for test 
COPY index.html /var/www/html/index.html
 
# Port and set entry point for container 
EXPOSE 80
ENTRYPOINT /usr/sbin/httpd -DFOREGROUND

Build it as follows either using the podman command/docker command:
$ sudo docker build --tag centos:apache2 -f ./Dockerfile
## OR use podman ##
$ sudo podman build --tag centos:apache2 -f ./Dockerfile

Linux container installing less utility

Test our container

Conclusion

And there you have it, and you learned how to install less on CentOS or RHEL 7 or 8 including Fedora Linux using CLI and Docker/Podman Linux container.