Provided by: perl-doc_5.30.0-9ubuntu0.5_all 
NAME
perlmodinstall - Installing CPAN Modules
DESCRIPTION
You can think of a module as the fundamental unit of reusable Perl code; see perlmod for
details. Whenever anyone creates a chunk of Perl code that they think will be useful to
the world, they register as a Perl developer at <http://www.cpan.org/modules/04pause.html>
so that they can then upload their code to the CPAN. The CPAN is the Comprehensive Perl
Archive Network and can be accessed at <http://www.cpan.org/> , and searched at
<http://search.cpan.org/> .
This documentation is for people who want to download CPAN modules and install them on
their own computer.
PREAMBLE
First, are you sure that the module isn't already on your system? Try "perl -MFoo -e 1".
(Replace "Foo" with the name of the module; for instance, "perl -MCGI::Carp -e 1".)
If you don't see an error message, you have the module. (If you do see an error message,
it's still possible you have the module, but that it's not in your path, which you can
display with "perl -e "print qq(@INC)"".) For the remainder of this document, we'll
assume that you really honestly truly lack an installed module, but have found it on the
CPAN.
So now you have a file ending in .tar.gz (or, less often, .zip). You know there's a tasty
module inside. There are four steps you must now take:
DECOMPRESS the file
UNPACK the file into a directory
BUILD the module (sometimes unnecessary)
INSTALL the module.
Here's how to perform each step for each operating system. This is <not> a substitute for
reading the README and INSTALL files that might have come with your module!
Also note that these instructions are tailored for installing the module into your
system's repository of Perl modules, but you can install modules into any directory you
wish. For instance, where I say "perl Makefile.PL", you can substitute "perl Makefile.PL
PREFIX=/my/perl_directory" to install the modules into /my/perl_directory. Then you can
use the modules from your Perl programs with "use lib "/my/perl_directory/lib/site_perl";"
or sometimes just "use "/my/perl_directory";". If you're on a system that requires
superuser/root access to install modules into the directories you see when you type "perl
-e "print qq(@INC)"", you'll want to install them into a local directory (such as your
home directory) and use this approach.
• If you're on a Unix or Unix-like system,
You can use Andreas Koenig's CPAN module (
<http://www.cpan.org/modules/by-module/CPAN> ) to automate the following steps, from
DECOMPRESS through INSTALL.
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with "gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz"
You can get gzip from <ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/>
Or, you can combine this step with the next to save disk space:
gzip -dc yourmodule.tar.gz | tar -xof -
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with "tar -xof yourmodule.tar"
C. BUILD
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
make test
or
perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/my/perl_directory
to install it locally. (Remember that if you do this, you'll have to put "use lib
"/my/perl_directory";" near the top of the program that is to use this module.
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
make install
Make sure you have the appropriate permissions to install the module in your Perl 5
library directory. Often, you'll need to be root.
That's all you need to do on Unix systems with dynamic linking. Most Unix systems
have dynamic linking. If yours doesn't, or if for another reason you have a
statically-linked perl, and the module requires compilation, you'll need to build a
new Perl binary that includes the module. Again, you'll probably need to be root.
• If you're running ActivePerl (Win95/98/2K/NT/XP, Linux, Solaris),
First, type "ppm" from a shell and see whether ActiveState's PPM repository has your
module. If so, you can install it with "ppm" and you won't have to bother with any of
the other steps here. You might be able to use the CPAN instructions from the "Unix
or Linux" section above as well; give it a try. Otherwise, you'll have to follow the
steps below.
A. DECOMPRESS
You can use the shareware Winzip ( <http://www.winzip.com> ) to decompress and unpack
modules.
B. UNPACK
If you used WinZip, this was already done for you.
C. BUILD
You'll need the "nmake" utility, available at
<http://download.microsoft.com/download/vc15/Patch/1.52/W95/EN-US/nmake15.exe> or
dmake, available on CPAN. <http://search.cpan.org/dist/dmake/>
Does the module require compilation (i.e. does it have files that end in .xs, .c, .h,
.y, .cc, .cxx, or .C)? If it does, life is now officially tough for you, because you
have to compile the module yourself (no easy feat on Windows). You'll need a compiler
such as Visual C++. Alternatively, you can download a pre-built PPM package from
ActiveState. <http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Downloads/ActivePerl/PPM/>
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
nmake test
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
nmake install
• If you're on the DJGPP port of DOS,
A. DECOMPRESS
djtarx ( <ftp://ftp.delorie.com/pub/djgpp/current/v2/> ) will both uncompress and
unpack.
B. UNPACK
See above.
C. BUILD
Go into the newly-created directory and type:
perl Makefile.PL
make test
You will need the packages mentioned in README.dos in the Perl distribution.
D. INSTALL
While still in that directory, type:
make install
You will need the packages mentioned in README.dos in the Perl distribution.
• If you're on OS/2,
Get the EMX development suite and gzip/tar, from either Hobbes (
<http://hobbes.nmsu.edu> ) or Leo ( <http://www.leo.org> ), and then follow the
instructions for Unix.
• If you're on VMS,
When downloading from CPAN, save your file with a ".tgz" extension instead of
".tar.gz". All other periods in the filename should be replaced with underscores.
For example, "Your-Module-1.33.tar.gz" should be downloaded as "Your-Module-1_33.tgz".
A. DECOMPRESS
Type
gzip -d Your-Module.tgz
or, for zipped modules, type
unzip Your-Module.zip
Executables for gzip, zip, and VMStar:
http://www.hp.com/go/openvms/freeware/
and their source code:
http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html
Note that GNU's gzip/gunzip is not the same as Info-ZIP's zip/unzip package. The
former is a simple compression tool; the latter permits creation of multi-file
archives.
B. UNPACK
If you're using VMStar:
VMStar xf Your-Module.tar
Or, if you're fond of VMS command syntax:
tar/extract/verbose Your_Module.tar
C. BUILD
Make sure you have MMS (from Digital) or the freeware MMK ( available from MadGoat at
<http://www.madgoat.com> ). Then type this to create the DESCRIP.MMS for the module:
perl Makefile.PL
Now you're ready to build:
mms test
Substitute "mmk" for "mms" above if you're using MMK.
D. INSTALL
Type
mms install
Substitute "mmk" for "mms" above if you're using MMK.
• If you're on MVS,
Introduce the .tar.gz file into an HFS as binary; don't translate from ASCII to
EBCDIC.
A. DECOMPRESS
Decompress the file with "gzip -d yourmodule.tar.gz"
You can get gzip from <http://www.s390.ibm.com/products/oe/bpxqp1.html>
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with
pax -o to=IBM-1047,from=ISO8859-1 -r < yourmodule.tar
The BUILD and INSTALL steps are identical to those for Unix. Some modules generate
Makefiles that work better with GNU make, which is available from
<http://www.mks.com/s390/gnu/>
PORTABILITY
Note that not all modules will work with on all platforms. See perlport for more
information on portability issues. Read the documentation to see if the module will work
on your system. There are basically three categories of modules that will not work "out
of the box" with all platforms (with some possibility of overlap):
• Those that should, but don't. These need to be fixed; consider contacting the author
and possibly writing a patch.
• Those that need to be compiled, where the target platform doesn't have compilers
readily available. (These modules contain .xs or .c files, usually.) You might be
able to find existing binaries on the CPAN or elsewhere, or you might want to try
getting compilers and building it yourself, and then release the binary for other poor
souls to use.
• Those that are targeted at a specific platform. (Such as the Win32:: modules.) If
the module is targeted specifically at a platform other than yours, you're out of
luck, most likely.
Check the CPAN Testers if a module should work with your platform but it doesn't behave as
you'd expect, or you aren't sure whether or not a module will work under your platform.
If the module you want isn't listed there, you can test it yourself and let CPAN Testers
know, you can join CPAN Testers, or you can request it be tested.
http://testers.cpan.org/
HEY
If you have any suggested changes for this page, let me know. Please don't send me mail
asking for help on how to install your modules. There are too many modules, and too few
Orwants, for me to be able to answer or even acknowledge all your questions. Contact the
module author instead, ask someone familiar with Perl on your operating system, or if all
else fails, file a ticket at <http://rt.cpan.org/>.
AUTHOR
Jon Orwant
orwant@medita.mit.edu
with invaluable help from Chris Nandor, and valuable help from Brandon Allbery, Charles
Bailey, Graham Barr, Dominic Dunlop, Jarkko Hietaniemi, Ben Holzman, Tom Horsley, Nick
Ing-Simmons, Tuomas J. Lukka, Laszlo Molnar, Alan Olsen, Peter Prymmer, Gurusamy Sarathy,
Christoph Spalinger, Dan Sugalski, Larry Virden, and Ilya Zakharevich.
First version July 22, 1998; last revised November 21, 2001.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1998, 2002, 2003 Jon Orwant. All Rights Reserved.
This document may be distributed under the same terms as Perl itself.