perlmodinstall - Installing CPAN Modules


DESCRIPTION

       You can think of a module as the fundamental unit of
       reusable Perl code; See the perlmod manpage 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.perl.com/CPAN/modules/04pause.html
       so that they can then upload their code to CPAN.  CPAN is
       the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network and can be accessed
       at http://www.perl.com/CPAN/, or searched via
       http://cpan.perl.com/ and http://theory.uwin­
       nipeg.ca/mod_perl/cpan-search.pl .

       This documentation is for people who want to download CPAN
       modules and install them on their own computer.

       PREAMBLE

       You have a file ending in .tar.gz (or, less often, .zip).
       You know there's a tasty module inside.  You must now take
       four steps:

       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 direc­
       tory you wish.  For instance, where I say `perl Make­
       file.PL', you can substitute `perl Makefile.PL PRE­
       FIX=/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_direc­
       tory/lib/site_perl"' or sometimes just `use
       "/my/perl_directory"'.

       ·   If you're on Unix,

           You can use Andreas Koenig's CPAN module (which comes
           standard with Perl, or can itself be downloaded from
           http://www.perl.com/CPAN/modules/by-module/CPAN) to
           automate the following steps, from DECOMPRESS through
           INSTALL.


           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
                 make test

           D. INSTALL

           While still in that directory, type:

                 make install

           Make sure you have appropriate permissions to install
           the module in your Perl 5 library directory.  Often,
           you'll need to be root.

           Perl maintains a record of all module installations.
           To look at this list, simply type:

                 perldoc perllocal

           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 compi­
           lation, 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 Windows 95 or NT with the ActiveS­
           tate port of Perl

              A. DECOMPRESS

           You can use the shareware Winzip program (
           http://www.winzip.com ) to decompress and unpack mod­
           ules.


           If you used WinZip, this was already done for you.

              C. BUILD

           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, you're on your own.  You can try compiling
           it yourself if you have a C compiler.  If you're suc­
           cessful, consider uploading the resulting binary to
           CPAN for others to use.  If it doesn't, go to INSTALL.

              D. INSTALL

           Copy the module into your Perl's lib directory.
           That'll be one of the directories you see when you
           type

              perl -e 'print "@INC"'

       ·   If you're running Windows 95 or NT with the core Win­
           dows distribution of Perl,

              A. DECOMPRESS

           When you download the module, make sure it ends in
           either .tar.gz or .zip.  Windows browsers sometimes
           download `.tar.gz' files as `_tar.tar', because early
           versions of Windows prohibited more than one dot in a
           filename.

           You can use the shareware WinZip program (
           http://www.winzip.com ) to decompress and unpack mod­
           ules.

           Or, you can use InfoZip's `unzip' utility (
           http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/ ) to uncompress
           `.zip' files; type `unzip yourmodule.zip' in your
           shell.

           Or, if you have a working `tar' and `gzip', you can
           type

              gzip -cd yourmodule.tar.gz | tar xvf -

           in the shell to decompress `yourmodule.tar.gz'.  This
           will UNPACK your module as well.

              B. UNPACK

           The methods in DECOMPRESS will have done this for you.


           Go into the newly-created directory and type:

                 perl Makefile.PL
                 dmake
                 dmake test

           Depending on your perl configuration, `dmake' might
           not be available.  You might have to substitute what­
           ever `perl -V:make' says. (Usually, that will be
           `nmake' or `make'.)

              D. INSTALL

           While still in that directory, type:

                 dmake install

       ·   If you're using a Macintosh,

           A. DECOMPRESS

           In general, all Macintosh decompression utilities men­
           tioned here can be found in the Info-Mac Hyperarchive
           ( http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive.html ).
           Specificly the "Commpress & Translate" listing (
           http://hyperarchive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperAr­
           chive/Abstracts/cmp/HyperArchive.html ).

           You can either use the shareware StuffIt Expander pro­
           gram ( http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/ ) in combi­
           nation with DropStuff with Expander Enhancer (
           http://www.aladdinsys.com/dropstuff/ ) or the freeware
           MacGzip program ( http://persephone.cps.unizar.es/gen­
           eral/gente/spd/gzip/gzip.html ).

           B. UNPACK

           If you're using DropStuff or Stuffit, you can just
           extract the tar archive.  Otherwise, you can use the
           freeware suntar or Tar ( http://hyperar­
           chive.lcs.mit.edu/HyperArchive/Archive/cmp/ ).

           C. BUILD

           Does the module require compilation?

           1. If it does,

           Overview: You need MPW and a combination of new and
           old CodeWarrior compilers for MPW and libraries.
           Makefiles created for building under MPW use

           build without other compilers, but it has not been
           done successfully, to our knowledge.  Read the docu­
           mentation in MacPerl: Power and Ease (
           http://www.ptf.com/macperl/ ) on porting/building
           extensions, or find an existing precompiled binary, or
           hire someone to build it for you.

           Or, ask someone on the mac-perl mailing list (mac-
           perl@iis.ee.ethz.ch) to build it for you.  To sub­
           scribe to the mac-perl mailing list, send mail to mac-
           perl-request@iis.ee.ethz.ch.

           2. If the module doesn't require compilation, go to
           INSTALL.

           D. INSTALL

           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 decom­
           pression 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.

           Move the files manually into the correct folders.

           Move the files 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 `Mod­
           ule.pm' in that directory).

           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);

           Eventually there should be a way to automate the
           installation process; some solutions exist, but none
           are ready for the general public yet.


              A. DECOMPRESS

           djtarx ( ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtel­
           net/gnu/djgpp/v2/ ) will both uncompress and unpack.

              B. UNPACK

           See above.

              C. BUILD

           Go into the newly-created directory and type:

                 perl Makefile.PL
                 make
                 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 down­
           loaded as `Your-Module-1_33.tgz'.

           A. DECOMPRESS

           Type

               gzip -d Your-Module.tgz

           or, for zipped modules, type


           Executables for gzip, zip, and VMStar ( Alphas:
           http://www.openvms.digital.com/free­
           ware/000TOOLS/ALPHA/ and Vaxen: http://www.open­
           vms.digital.com/freeware/000TOOLS/VAX/ ).

           gzip and tar are also available at ftp://ftp.digi­
           tal.com/pub/VMS.

           Note that GNU's gzip/gunzip is not the same as Info-
           ZIP's zip/unzip package.  The former is a simple com­
           pression 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.mad­
           goat.com ).  Then type this to create the DESCRIP.MMS
           for the module:

               perl Makefile.PL

           Now you're ready to build:

               mms
               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.


                 Decompress the file with C<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 bet­
           ter with GNU make, which is available from
           http://www.mks.com/s390/gnu/index.htm.


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 acknowl­
       edge 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@tpj.com

       The Perl Journal, http://tpj.com

       with invaluable help from Brandon Allbery, Charles Bailey,
       Graham Barr, Dominic Dunlop, Jarkko Hietaniemi, Ben Holz­
       man, Tom Horsley, Nick Ing-Simmons, Tuomas J. Lukka, Las­
       zlo Molnar, Chris Nandor, Alan Olsen, Peter Prymmer,
       Gurusamy Sarathy, Christoph Spalinger, Dan Sugalski, Larry
       Virden, and Ilya Zakharevich.

       July 22, 1998


COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 1998 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 ver­
       batim copying, provided also that they are marked clearly
       as modified versions, that the authors' names and title

       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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