Perl Module FAQ¶

Frequently asked questions common to the Perl packages here.

How do I get the X package?¶

There are 3 ways to get the Perl packages, the "cpan" command, a manual download and make, or for some of the packages here at veripool.org, a git pull and make. Details for each of these are described under each tool's individual "download" page.

What do I do when I don't have permission to install?¶

A common warning when doing "make install" is:

"Warning: You do not have permission to install..."

You have several alternatives:

1. If you have root privileges, run the install as root.

2. Install into your home directory (or group project's directory) instead of globally:

mkdir -p ~/lib
perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=~/lib LIB=~/lib
make
make test
make install

You're half done; the other half is to modify your Perl search path to search in this local area before the global areas:

export PERL5LIB=~/lib:$PERL5LIB

Use "perl -V" to see the entire search path.

3. (Experts only) Build the package locally on-the-fly just before it is required by the application. This is the most complicated to set up, but allows you to add the package's sources to a source control system, allows each checkout of the source tree to potentially have a different version of the package, and you can edit the sources as you wish and never need to type "make". See the Module::LocalBuild package for details.

Where do I go for more help?¶

Most problems with Perl packages are not specific to the packages here at veripool.org. A Google search for "perl package" and the problem should be helpful.