PERLMODINSTALL(1)Perl Programmers Reference GuidPERLMODINSTALL(1)
perlmodinstall - Installing CPAN Modules
You can think of a module as the fundamental unit of reus-
able 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 instal-
ling 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
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"/my/perl_directory";". If you're on a system that requires
superuser/root access to install modules into the direc-
tories 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 -xf -
B. UNPACK
Unpack the result with "tar -xf 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.
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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 compila-
tion, 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:
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nmake install
+ If you're using a Macintosh with "Classic" MacOS and
MacPerl,
A. DECOMPRESS
First, make sure you have the latest cpan-mac distribu-
tion ( http://www.cpan.org/authors/id/CNANDOR/ ), which
has utilities for doing all of the steps. Read the
cpan-mac directions carefully and install it. If you
choose not to use cpan-mac for some reason, there are
alternatives listed here.
After installing cpan-mac, drop the module archive on
the untarzipme droplet, which will decompress and unpack
for you.
Or, you can either use the shareware StuffIt Expander
program ( http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/ ) in com-
bination with DropStuff with Expander Enhancer (
http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/ ) or the freeware
MacGzip program (
http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/general/gente/spd/gzip/gzip.html
).
B. UNPACK
If you're using untarzipme or StuffIt, the archive
should be extracted now. Or, you can use the freeware
suntar or Tar (
http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Archive/cmp/
).
C. BUILD
Check the contents of the distribution. Read the
module's documentation, looking for reasons why you
might have trouble using it with MacPerl. Look for .xs
and .c files, which normally denote that the distribu-
tion must be compiled, and you cannot install it "out of
the box." (See "PORTABILITY".)
If a module does not work on MacPerl but should, or
needs to be compiled, see if the module exists already
as a port on the MacPerl Module Porters site (
http://pudge.net/mmp/ ). For more information on doing
XS with MacPerl yourself, see Arved Sandstrom's XS
tutorial ( http://macperl.com/depts/Tutorials/ ), and
then consider uploading your binary to the CPAN and
registering it on the MMP site.
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D. INSTALL
If you are using cpan-mac, just drop the folder on the
installme droplet, and use the module.
Or, if you aren't using cpan-mac, do some manual labor.
Make sure the newlines for the modules are in Mac for-
mat, not Unix format. If they are not then you might
have decompressed them incorrectly. Check your
decompression and unpacking utilities settings to make
sure they are translating text files properly.
As a last resort, you can use the perl one-liner:
perl -i.bak -pe 's/(?:\015)?\012/\015/g' <filenames>
on the source files.
Then move the files (probably just the .pm files, though
there may be some additional ones, too; check the module
documentation) to their final destination: This will
most likely be in "$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:" (i.e.,
"HD:MacPerl folder:site_lib:"). You can add new paths
to the default @INC in the Preferences menu item in the
MacPerl application ("$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:" is added
automagically). Create whatever directory structures
are required (i.e., for "Some::Module", create
"$ENV{MACPERL}site_lib:Some:" and put "Module.pm" in
that directory).
Then run the following script (or something like it):
#!perl -w
use AutoSplit;
my $dir = "${MACPERL}site_perl";
autosplit("$dir:Some:Module.pm", "$dir:auto", 0, 1, 1);
+ If you're on the DJGPP port of DOS,
A. DECOMPRESS
djtarx (
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/gnu/djgpp/v2/ ) will
both uncompress and unpack.
B. UNPACK
See above.
C. BUILD
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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.openvms.digital.com/freeware/
http://www.crinoid.com/utils/
and their source code:
http://www.fsf.org/order/ftp.html
Note that GNU's gzip/gunzip is not the same as
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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
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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/
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 plat-
forms (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 plat-
form 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 specif-
ically 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/
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, or
post to comp.lang.perl.modules, or ask someone familiar with
Perl on your operating system.
Jon Orwant
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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 (C) 1998, 2002, 2003 Jon Orwant. All Rights
Reserved.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies
of this documentation provided the copyright notice and this
permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified ver-
sions of this documentation under the conditions for verba-
tim copying, provided also that they are marked clearly as
modified versions, that the authors' names and title are
unchanged (though subtitles and additional authors' names
may be added), and that the entire resulting derived work is
distributed under the terms of a permission notice identical
to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of
this documentation into another language, under the above
conditions for modified versions.
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