Query results with many columns are difficult to read when the width surpasses the size of your screen and the lines wrap and stack under each other. A common solution to this issue is the use of a pager, like Less or More, but the Docker MySQL image does not come with a pager, nor does it come with the command line tools to install a pager.
I've tried to install the pagers less and more using a variety of package installers, and none of them have worked on the command line:
bash-4.4# yum install less
bash: yum: command not found
bash-4.4# apt-get install less
bash: apt-get: command not found
bash-4.4# dnf install less
bash: dnf: command not found
Is there a way to install Less with the official Docker MySQL image, or at least get a package manager so I can install it myself?
If we look at the image with podman inspect (or docker inspect or any other container image inspection) we see:
"Labels": null,
"Annotations": {
"com.docker.official-images.bashbrew.arch": "amd64",
"org.opencontainers.image.base.digest": "sha256:94e5211ff5e083086ab82506121da739752da964a8d7a1ba98624dc7ac68c76f",
"org.opencontainers.image.base.name": "oraclelinux:9-slim",
....
{
"created": "2024-07-22T22:36:10Z",
"created_by": "RUN /bin/sh -c set -eux; \tmicrodnf install -y \"mysql-community-server-minimal-$MYSQL_VERSION\";
So oraclelinux:9-slim is the base and microdnf is the package installer.
Is it possible to install less with it?
$ podman run --rm mysql microdnf install less
Downloading metadata...
Downloading metadata...
Downloading metadata...
Downloading metadata...
Package Repository Size
Installing:
less-590-4.el9_4.x86_64 ol9_baseos_latest 179.3 kB
Transaction Summary:
Installing: 1 packages
Reinstalling: 0 packages
Upgrading: 0 packages
Obsoleting: 0 packages
Removing: 0 packages
Downgrading: 0 packages
Downloading packages...
Running transaction test...
Installing: less;590-4.el9_4;x86_64;ol9_baseos_latest
Complete.
Yes it is.