


PERLMODINSTALL(1)Perl Programmers Reference GuidPERLMODINSTALL(1)


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



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       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.

       o   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.

           That's all you need to do on Unix systems with dynamic



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           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.

       o   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

       o   If you're using a Macintosh with "Classic" MacOS and
           MacPerl,

           A. DECOMPRESS

           First, make sure you have the latest cpan-mac
           distribution ( 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
           combination 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
           distribution 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.

           D. INSTALL




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           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
           format, 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);

       o   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

           Go into the newly-created directory and type:




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                 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.

       o   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.

       o   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 Info-
           ZIP's zip/unzip package.  The former is a simple
           compression tool; the latter permits creation of
           multi-file archives.




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           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.

       o   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



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           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):

       o   Those that should, but don't.  These need to be fixed;
           consider contacting the author and possibly writing a
           patch.

       o   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.

       o   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, or post to comp.lang.perl.modules, or ask someone
       familiar with Perl on your operating system.

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,



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       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.

       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
       versions of this documentation under the conditions for
       verbatim 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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