man > perlmodinstall(1)

PERLMODINSTALL(1)                 Perl Programmers Reference Guide                 PERLMODINSTALL(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 <https://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 <https://www.cpan.org/> , and searched at
       <https://metacpan.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  (  <https://metacpan.org/release/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 open source 7-zip ( <https://www.7-zip.org/> ) or the shareware Winzip  (
           <https://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 either "nmake" or "gmake".

           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 OS/2,

           Get     the     EMX     development     suite     and     gzip/tar    from    Hobbes    (
           <http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/h-browse.php?dir=/pub/os2/dev/emx/v0.9d> ), 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.

           https://cpantesters.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 <https://rt.cpan.org/>.

AUTHOR
       Jon Orwant

       orwant AT medita.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.

perl v5.38.2                                 2026-06-12                            PERLMODINSTALL(1)