Install Gedit on RHEL8 or CentOS8

Install Gedit on RHEL8

In this article, we will review how to install Gedit on RHEL8 or CentOS8. Whether you’re a developer, writer, or simply someone who frequently works with text files on RHEL8, installing gedit can be a game-changer. Find out how this popular and customizable text editor can improve your productivity and simplify your tasks.

Introduction

Gedit is a popular text editor for Linux operating systems that provides a simple and intuitive interface for creating and editing text files. It was originally developed by Paolo Maggi in 1998 as a part of the GNOME desktop environment and has since become a widely used text editor in the Linux community. In this article, we will guide you on how to install Gedit on RHEL 8 or CentOS 8.

Table of Contents

Popular features of Gedit

Gedit is a feature-rich text editor that provides a wide range of capabilities for editing text files. Some of the popular features of Gedit include:

  1. Syntax highlighting: Gedit provides syntax highlighting for a wide range of programming languages, making it easy to read and edit code.
  2. Code folding: Gedit allows you to collapse and expand code blocks, which makes it easy to navigate and edit large files.
  3. Plugins: Gedit supports a variety of plugins that extend its functionality, such as code completion, version control integration, and more.
  4. Multiple tabs: Gedit allows you to open multiple files in tabs, which makes it easy to switch between files and work on multiple files at the same time.
  5. Autocompletion: Gedit provides autocompletion for a variety of programming languages, which can save time and reduce errors while typing code.

Pre-Install Checks

  • To get started with this tutorial, it is assumed that you have already installed and are running RHEL 8 or CentOS 8, and that you have a user account with sudo privileges that will allow you to become the root user.
  • If you are running a server instance of RHEL 8 or CentOS 8, it is important to note that you will need to have the xorg-x11 packages installed to enable X11 forwarding and graphical display on your machine.
  • This is crucial for the successful launch of the gedit application, which will fail without X display enabled. However, if you are running a desktop instance or a server with a graphical user interface (GUI), you may skip this section and proceed with the installation.

Install X11 packages

To install xorg-x11-fonts and xorg-x11-xauth on your machine, run the following command:

				
					sudo dnf install xorg-x11-fonts* xorg-x11-xauth -y
				
			

Installation of Gedit on RHEL 8 or CentOS 8

In a previous article, we reviewed the Gedit installation on CentOS7. Similarly, Gedit is not installed by default on RHEL 8 or CentOS 8. However, it can be easily installed using the following steps:

Step 1: Update your machine

Open the terminal and update the package list using the following command:

				
					$ sudo dnf update -y
				
			

Step 2: Install Gedit on RHEL8

Install Gedit using the following command (CentOS8 uses the exact same command):

				
					$ sudo dnf install gedit -y
				
			
Install Gedit on RHEL8

Photo by admingeek from Infotechys

Step 3: Launch Gedit

Once the installation is complete, you can launch Gedit from the terminal using the following command:

				
					$ gedit
				
			
Install Gedit on RHEL8

Photo by admingeek from Infotechys

X11 Forwarding Review

If the gedit application does not launch successfully, a likely reason is you do not have X11 forwarded or enabled. Here’s an example of how to SSH into host1.dev.example.com with X11 forwarding:

				
					$ ssh -XY user@localhost
				
			

The Breakdown

If the gedit application does not launch successfully, a likely reason is you do not have X11 forwarded or enabled. Here’s an example of how to SSH into a localhost with X11 forwarding:

  • ssh is a command-line tool used to establish a secure encrypted connection between two hosts over an unsecured network.
  • -XY are command-line options for ssh that enable X11 forwarding. -X option is used to forward X11 (GUI) applications from the remote host to the local host, while -Y option is used to forward X11 applications securely.
  • user is the username you want to use to log in to the remote host.
  • localhost is the hostname or you can use the IP address of the remote host you want to connect to.
  • So, when you run the ssh -XY user@localhost command, you are establishing a secure SSH connection to the remote host localhost as the user user, with X11 forwarding enabled.

Basic usage examples

After successfully launching the Gedit application, let’s explore some fundamental features to enhance our experience. Here are some examples to guide us in navigating the interface:

  • Creating a new file: To create a new file in Gedit, click on File > New. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + N. You can then start typing in the new file.
  • Opening an existing file: To open an existing file in Gedit, click on File > Open. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O. Navigate to the location of the file and click Open.
  • Saving a file: To save a file in Gedit, click on File > Save. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + S. If it’s a new file, you will be prompted to name it and choose a location to save it. If it’s an existing file, the changes will be saved to the same file.
  • Closing a file: To close a file in Gedit, click on File > Close. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + W. If the file has unsaved changes, you will be prompted to save them before closing.

Conclusion

Gedit is a powerful and easy-to-use text editor that can make text editing tasks easier and more efficient. In this article, we have provided a step-by-step guide on how to install Gedit on RHEL 8 or CentOS 8 and highlighted some of its popular features.

We have also provided some basic usage examples to get you started with using Gedit. By following these instructions, you can easily install Gedit on your Linux system and start editing text files with ease. Was this article helpful to you? If so, leave us a comment below and share!

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