Question

It may be necessary to install perl module to get an add on to work. For the novice perl person, me in this case, can be confusing.

Environment

-- BradTaylor - 04 Feb 2005

Answer

1. I first found I needed the perl module Archive::Zip. So I went to http://search.cpan.org and entered Archive::Zip in the search box, found the module and downloaded it to my pc. In this case it was Archive-Zip-1.13.tar.gz which I will use in the description below. * On that same page there is a link CPAN Frequently Asked Questions from which you can find How do I install Perl modules? which is a generic description of the install process. I had to follow another link to one that was more specific to unix perlmodinstall
   • This is the actual path I used, CPAN Frequently Asked Questions --> perlmodinstall (keep in mind this may deteriorate in time).
2. My perl home is in /usr/lib/perl5/5.8.6
3. I created a new directory for this and all subsequent downloaded perl modules, called installed
4. I uploaded it to the installed directory
5. I followed the directions on how to install from the faq above
   • The part that confused my was they did not say where, in the file system, I should place the downloaded module, which is after some experimentation, why I created the installed directory under PERL_HOME
   1. DECOMPRESS the file
      • gzip -d Archive-Zip-1.13.tar.gz
      • this creates the file Archive-Zip-1.13.tar
   2. UNPACK the file into a directory
      • tar -xof Archive-Zip-1.13.tar
      • the created a directory Archive-Zip-1.13
   3. BUILD the module (sometimes unnecessary)
      • Change to new directory by entering:
        • cd Archive-Zip-1.13
      • enter: perl Makefile.PL
      • enter: make test
   4. INSTALL the module.
      • still in the Archive-Zip-1.13 directory
      • enter make install * This requires write access to the perl libraries, in my case root

-- BradTaylor - 04 Feb 2005

Thanks Brad for sharing. I set the to status to answered.

This is exactly the reason why we have a relatively low TWikiSystemRequirements for the core TWiki. Not all folks have root access (I know there are ways to install Perl modules without root, but these are extra steps that can be avoided)

-- PeterThoeny - 04 Feb 2005