Provided by: perl-doc_5.26.1-6ubuntu0.7_all 
NAME
CPAN::FirstTime - Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization
SYNOPSIS
CPAN::FirstTime::init()
DESCRIPTION
The init routine asks a few questions and writes a CPAN/Config.pm or CPAN/MyConfig.pm file
(depending on what it is currently using).
In the following all questions and explanations regarding config variables are collected.
auto_commit
Normally CPAN.pm keeps config variables in memory and changes need to be saved in a
separate 'o conf commit' command to make them permanent between sessions. If you set the
'auto_commit' option to true, changes to a config variable are always automatically
committed to disk.
Always commit changes to config variables to disk?
build_cache
CPAN.pm can limit the size of the disk area for keeping the build directories with all
the intermediate files.
Cache size for build directory (in MB)?
build_dir
Directory where the build process takes place?
build_dir_reuse
Until version 1.88 CPAN.pm never trusted the contents of the build_dir directory between
sessions. Since 1.88_58 CPAN.pm has a YAML-based mechanism that makes it possible to
share the contents of the build_dir/ directory between different sessions with the same
version of perl. People who prefer to test things several days before installing will
like this feature because it saves a lot of time.
If you say yes to the following question, CPAN will try to store enough information
about the build process so that it can pick up in future sessions at the same state of
affairs as it left a previous session.
Store and re-use state information about distributions between CPAN.pm sessions?
build_requires_install_policy
When a module declares another one as a 'build_requires' prerequisite this means that
the other module is only needed for building or testing the module but need not be
installed permanently. In this case you may wish to install that other module
nonetheless or just keep it in the 'build_dir' directory to have it available only
temporarily. Installing saves time on future installations but makes the perl
installation bigger.
You can choose if you want to always install (yes), never install (no) or be always
asked. In the latter case you can set the default answer for the question to yes
(ask/yes) or no (ask/no).
Policy on installing 'build_requires' modules (yes, no, ask/yes, ask/no)?
cache_metadata
To considerably speed up the initial CPAN shell startup, it is possible to use Storable
to create a cache of metadata. If Storable is not available, the normal index mechanism
will be used.
Note: this mechanism is not used when use_sqlite is on and SQLLite is running.
Cache metadata (yes/no)?
check_sigs
CPAN packages can be digitally signed by authors and thus verified with the security
provided by strong cryptography. The exact mechanism is defined in the Module::Signature
module. While this is generally considered a good thing, it is not always convenient to
the end user to install modules that are signed incorrectly or where the key of the
author is not available or where some prerequisite for Module::Signature has a bug and
so on.
With the check_sigs parameter you can turn signature checking on and off. The default is
off for now because the whole tool chain for the functionality is not yet considered
mature by some. The author of CPAN.pm would recommend setting it to true most of the
time and turning it off only if it turns out to be annoying.
Note that if you do not have Module::Signature installed, no signature checks will be
performed at all.
Always try to check and verify signatures if a SIGNATURE file is in the package and
Module::Signature is installed (yes/no)?
cleanup_after_install
Users who install modules and do not intend to look back, can free occupied disk space
quickly by letting CPAN.pm cleanup each build directory immediately after a successful
install.
Remove build directory after a successful install? (yes/no)?
colorize_output
When you have Term::ANSIColor installed, you can turn on colorized output to have some
visual differences between normal CPAN.pm output, warnings, debugging output, and the
output of the modules being installed. Set your favorite colors after some experimenting
with the Term::ANSIColor module.
Please note that on Windows platforms colorized output also requires the
Win32::Console::ANSI module.
Do you want to turn on colored output?
colorize_print
Color for normal output?
colorize_warn
Color for warnings?
colorize_debug
Color for debugging messages?
commandnumber_in_prompt
The prompt of the cpan shell can contain the current command number for easier tracking
of the session or be a plain string.
Do you want the command number in the prompt (yes/no)?
connect_to_internet_ok
If you have never defined your own "urllist" in your configuration then "CPAN.pm" will
be hesitant to use the built in default sites for downloading. It will ask you once per
session if a connection to the internet is OK and only if you say yes, it will try to
connect. But to avoid this question, you can choose your favorite download sites once
and get away with it. Or, if you have no favorite download sites answer yes to the
following question.
If no urllist has been chosen yet, would you prefer CPAN.pm to connect to the built-in
default sites without asking? (yes/no)?
ftp_passive
Shall we always set the FTP_PASSIVE environment variable when dealing with ftp download
(yes/no)?
ftpstats_period
Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period simultaneously.
How many days shall we keep statistics about downloads?
ftpstats_size
Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period simultaneously.
How many items shall we keep in the statistics about downloads?
getcwd
CPAN.pm changes the current working directory often and needs to determine its own
current working directory. Per default it uses Cwd::cwd but if this doesn't work on your
system for some reason, alternatives can be configured according to the following table:
cwd Cwd::cwd
getcwd Cwd::getcwd
fastcwd Cwd::fastcwd
getdcwd Cwd::getdcwd
backtickcwd external command cwd
Preferred method for determining the current working directory?
halt_on_failure
Normally, CPAN.pm continues processing the full list of targets and dependencies, even
if one of them fails. However, you can specify that CPAN should halt after the first
failure. (Note that optional recommended or suggested modules that fail will not cause
a halt.)
Do you want to halt on failure (yes/no)?
histfile
If you have one of the readline packages (Term::ReadLine::Perl, Term::ReadLine::Gnu,
possibly others) installed, the interactive CPAN shell will have history support. The
next two questions deal with the filename of the history file and with its size. If you
do not want to set this variable, please hit SPACE ENTER to the following question.
File to save your history?
histsize
Number of lines to save?
inactivity_timeout
Sometimes you may wish to leave the processes run by CPAN alone without caring about
them. Because the Makefile.PL or the Build.PL sometimes contains question you're
expected to answer, you can set a timer that will kill a 'perl Makefile.PL' process
after the specified time in seconds.
If you set this value to 0, these processes will wait forever. This is the default and
recommended setting.
Timeout for inactivity during {Makefile,Build}.PL?
index_expire
The CPAN indexes are usually rebuilt once or twice per hour, but the typical CPAN mirror
mirrors only once or twice per day. Depending on the quality of your mirror and your
desire to be on the bleeding edge, you may want to set the following value to more or
less than one day (which is the default). It determines after how many days CPAN.pm
downloads new indexes.
Let the index expire after how many days?
inhibit_startup_message
When the CPAN shell is started it normally displays a greeting message that contains the
running version and the status of readline support.
Do you want to turn this message off?
keep_source_where
Unless you are accessing the CPAN on your filesystem via a file: URL, CPAN.pm needs to
keep the source files it downloads somewhere. Please supply a directory where the
downloaded files are to be kept.
Download target directory?
load_module_verbosity
When CPAN.pm loads a module it needs for some optional feature, it usually reports about
module name and version. Choose 'v' to get this message, 'none' to suppress it.
Verbosity level for loading modules (none or v)?
makepl_arg
Every Makefile.PL is run by perl in a separate process. Likewise we run 'make' and 'make
install' in separate processes. If you have any parameters (e.g. PREFIX, UNINST or the
like) you want to pass to the calls, please specify them here.
If you don't understand this question, just press ENTER.
Typical frequently used settings:
PREFIX=~/perl # non-root users (please see manual for more hints)
Parameters for the 'perl Makefile.PL' command?
make_arg
Parameters for the 'make' command? Typical frequently used setting:
-j3 # dual processor system (on GNU make)
Your choice:
make_install_arg
Parameters for the 'make install' command? Typical frequently used setting:
UNINST=1 # to always uninstall potentially conflicting files
# (but do NOT use with local::lib or INSTALL_BASE)
Your choice:
make_install_make_command
Do you want to use a different make command for 'make install'? Cautious people will
probably prefer:
su root -c make
or
sudo make
or
/path1/to/sudo -u admin_account /path2/to/make
or some such. Your choice:
mbuildpl_arg
A Build.PL is run by perl in a separate process. Likewise we run './Build' and './Build
install' in separate processes. If you have any parameters you want to pass to the
calls, please specify them here.
Typical frequently used settings:
--install_base /home/xxx # different installation directory
Parameters for the 'perl Build.PL' command?
mbuild_arg
Parameters for the './Build' command? Setting might be:
--extra_linker_flags -L/usr/foo/lib # non-standard library location
Your choice:
mbuild_install_arg
Parameters for the './Build install' command? Typical frequently used setting:
--uninst 1 # uninstall conflicting files
# (but do NOT use with local::lib or INSTALL_BASE)
Your choice:
mbuild_install_build_command
Do you want to use a different command for './Build install'? Sudo users will probably
prefer:
su root -c ./Build
or
sudo ./Build
or
/path1/to/sudo -u admin_account ./Build
or some such. Your choice:
pager
What is your favorite pager program?
prefer_installer
When you have Module::Build installed and a module comes with both a Makefile.PL and a
Build.PL, which shall have precedence?
The main two standard installer modules are the old and well established
ExtUtils::MakeMaker (for short: EUMM) which uses the Makefile.PL. And the next
generation installer Module::Build (MB) which works with the Build.PL (and often comes
with a Makefile.PL too). If a module comes only with one of the two we will use that one
but if both are supplied then a decision must be made between EUMM and MB. See also
http://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=29235 for a discussion about the right
default.
Or, as a third option you can choose RAND which will make a random decision (something
regular CPAN testers will enjoy).
In case you can choose between running a Makefile.PL or a Build.PL, which installer
would you prefer (EUMM or MB or RAND)?
prefs_dir
CPAN.pm can store customized build environments based on regular expressions for
distribution names. These are YAML files where the default options for CPAN.pm and the
environment can be overridden and dialog sequences can be stored that can later be
executed by an Expect.pm object. The CPAN.pm distribution comes with some prefab YAML
files that cover sample distributions that can be used as blueprints to store your own
prefs. Please check out the distroprefs/ directory of the CPAN.pm distribution to get a
quick start into the prefs system.
Directory where to store default options/environment/dialogs for building modules that
need some customization?
prerequisites_policy
The CPAN module can detect when a module which you are trying to build depends on
prerequisites. If this happens, it can build the prerequisites for you automatically
('follow'), ask you for confirmation ('ask'), or just ignore them ('ignore'). Choosing
'follow' also sets PERL_AUTOINSTALL and PERL_EXTUTILS_AUTOINSTALL for "--defaultdeps" if
not already set.
Please set your policy to one of the three values.
Policy on building prerequisites (follow, ask or ignore)?
randomize_urllist
CPAN.pm can introduce some randomness when using hosts for download that are configured
in the urllist parameter. Enter a numeric value between 0 and 1 to indicate how often
you want to let CPAN.pm try a random host from the urllist. A value of one specifies to
always use a random host as the first try. A value of zero means no randomness at all.
Anything in between specifies how often, on average, a random host should be tried
first.
Randomize parameter
recommends_policy
(Experimental feature!) Some CPAN modules recommend additional, optional dependencies.
These should generally be installed except in resource constrained environments. When
this policy is true, recommended modules will be included with required modules.
Included recommended modules?
scan_cache
By default, each time the CPAN module is started, cache scanning is performed to keep
the cache size in sync ('atstart'). Alternatively, scanning and cleanup can happen when
CPAN exits ('atexit'). To prevent any cache cleanup, answer 'never'.
Perform cache scanning ('atstart', 'atexit' or 'never')?
shell
What is your favorite shell?
show_unparsable_versions
During the 'r' command CPAN.pm finds modules without version number. When the command
finishes, it prints a report about this. If you want this report to be very verbose, say
yes to the following variable.
Show all individual modules that have no $VERSION?
show_upload_date
The 'd' and the 'm' command normally only show you information they have in their in-
memory database and thus will never connect to the internet. If you set the
'show_upload_date' variable to true, 'm' and 'd' will additionally show you the upload
date of the module or distribution. Per default this feature is off because it may
require a net connection to get at the upload date.
Always try to show upload date with 'd' and 'm' command (yes/no)?
show_zero_versions
During the 'r' command CPAN.pm finds modules with a version number of zero. When the
command finishes, it prints a report about this. If you want this report to be very
verbose, say yes to the following variable.
Show all individual modules that have a $VERSION of zero?
suggests_policy
(Experimental feature!) Some CPAN modules suggest additional, optional dependencies.
These 'suggest' dependencies provide enhanced operation. When this policy is true,
suggested modules will be included with required modules.
Included suggested modules?
tar_verbosity
When CPAN.pm uses the tar command, which switch for the verbosity shall be used? Choose
'none' for quiet operation, 'v' for file name listing, 'vv' for full listing.
Tar command verbosity level (none or v or vv)?
term_is_latin
The next option deals with the charset (a.k.a. character set) your terminal supports. In
general, CPAN is English speaking territory, so the charset does not matter much but
some CPAN have names that are outside the ASCII range. If your terminal supports UTF-8,
you should say no to the next question. If it expects ISO-8859-1 (also known as LATIN1)
then you should say yes. If it supports neither, your answer does not matter because you
will not be able to read the names of some authors anyway. If you answer no, names will
be output in UTF-8.
Your terminal expects ISO-8859-1 (yes/no)?
term_ornaments
When using Term::ReadLine, you can turn ornaments on so that your input stands out
against the output from CPAN.pm.
Do you want to turn ornaments on?
test_report
The goal of the CPAN Testers project (http://testers.cpan.org/) is to test as many CPAN
packages as possible on as many platforms as possible. This provides valuable feedback
to module authors and potential users to identify bugs or platform compatibility issues
and improves the overall quality and value of CPAN.
One way you can contribute is to send test results for each module that you install. If
you install the CPAN::Reporter module, you have the option to automatically generate and
deliver test reports to CPAN Testers whenever you run tests on a CPAN package.
See the CPAN::Reporter documentation for additional details and configuration settings.
If your firewall blocks outgoing traffic, you may need to configure CPAN::Reporter
before sending reports.
Generate test reports if CPAN::Reporter is installed (yes/no)?
perl5lib_verbosity
When CPAN.pm extends @INC via PERL5LIB, it prints a list of directories added (or a
summary of how many directories are added). Choose 'v' to get this message, 'none' to
suppress it.
Verbosity level for PERL5LIB changes (none or v)?
prefer_external_tar
Per default all untar operations are done with the perl module Archive::Tar; by setting
this variable to true the external tar command is used if available; on Unix this is
usually preferred because they have a reliable and fast gnutar implementation.
Use the external tar program instead of Archive::Tar?
trust_test_report_history
When a distribution has already been tested by CPAN::Reporter on this machine, CPAN can
skip the test phase and just rely on the test report history instead.
Note that this will not apply to distributions that failed tests because of missing
dependencies. Also, tests can be run regardless of the history using "force".
Do you want to rely on the test report history (yes/no)?
use_prompt_default
When this is true, CPAN will set PERL_MM_USE_DEFAULT to a true value. This causes
ExtUtils::MakeMaker (and compatible) prompts to use default values instead of stopping
to prompt you to answer questions. It also sets NONINTERACTIVE_TESTING to a true value
to signal more generally that distributions should not try to interact with you.
Do you want to use prompt defaults (yes/no)?
use_sqlite
CPAN::SQLite is a layer between the index files that are downloaded from the CPAN and
CPAN.pm that speeds up metadata queries and reduces memory consumption of CPAN.pm
considerably.
Use CPAN::SQLite if available? (yes/no)?
version_timeout
This timeout prevents CPAN from hanging when trying to parse a pathologically coded
$VERSION from a module.
The default is 15 seconds. If you set this value to 0, no timeout will occur, but this
is not recommended.
Timeout for parsing module versions?
yaml_load_code
Both YAML.pm and YAML::Syck are capable of deserialising code. As this requires a string
eval, which might be a security risk, you can use this option to enable or disable the
deserialisation of code via CPAN::DeferredCode. (Note: This does not work under perl
5.6)
Do you want to enable code deserialisation (yes/no)?
yaml_module
At the time of this writing (2009-03) there are three YAML implementations working:
YAML, YAML::Syck, and YAML::XS. The latter two are faster but need a C compiler
installed on your system. There may be more alternative YAML conforming modules. When I
tried two other players, YAML::Tiny and YAML::Perl, they seemed not powerful enough to
work with CPAN.pm. This may have changed in the meantime.
Which YAML implementation would you prefer?
LICENSE
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same
terms as Perl itself.