Table of Contents
Why you may need perlbrew ?
Perlbrew gives you the ability to maintain multiple perl versions, each having different set of install perl modules. The concept is not any new, we have already seen such things in Python (virtualenv) or Ruby (rvm).
Basically you get the following benefits (as state in the perlbrew site also):
- No need to use ‘sudo’ in order to install packages from cpan
- You could have as much versions as you like
- Easily switch between perl versions or version with custom module sets
- Getting out from the DIstro-shipped perl version
- Setup seamless environment for all of your perl scripts running on different distro versions (for example if you have multiple Centos 5, 6,7 servers)
Installing perlbrew in custom directory
Installing of perlbrew is straight forward and easy. I prefer using user-defined custom directory for my perlbrew installation.
By default it will be installed in ~/perl5/perlbrew , which I don’t want.
For the current example, I’m going to install perlbrew in /usr/local/perlbrew .
root@server [/usr/src]# curl -k -L https://install.perlbrew.pl > perlbrew_install.sh
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed 100 1247 100 1247 0 0 1026 0 0:00:01 0:00:01 --:--:-- 1026
root@server [/usr/src]# chmod u+x perlbrew_install.sh root@server [/usr/src]# export PERLBREW_ROOT="/usr/local/perlbrew" root@server [/usr/src]# ./perlbrew_install.sh
## Download the latest perlbrew
## Installing perlbrew
perlbrew is installed: /usr/local/perlbrew/bin/perlbrew
perlbrew root (/usr/local/perlbrew) is initialized.
Append the following piece of code to the end of your ~/.bash_profile and start a
new shell, perlbrew should be up and fully functional from there:
source /usr/local/perlbrew/etc/bashrc
Simply run `perlbrew` for usage details.
Happy brewing!
## Installing patchperl
## Done.
Install custom perl version (5.24.0) under perlbrew
Now, as we already have perlbrew, we must go on and install alternative version. In the current example, I will install version “5.24.0”, but you could install any other version.
1| Activate the perlbrew environment
root@server [/usr/src]# source /usr/local/perlbrew/etc/bashrc
2| Install perl 5.24.0
Installing the custom version is as easy as executing the following:
perlbrew install 5.24.0
If you want to speed up the process (in my case about 5x times), you could disable testing and use multi-thread compilation .
This is the faster way to install your custom perl version:
perlbrew -n -j4 install 5.24.0
-n - Stays for "not doing tests"
-j4 - Use 4 cores for parallel compilation
3| Install some custom modules
I prefer installing custom modules by using “cpanm”.
First you need to install cpanm:
perlbrew install-cpanm
Then you can easy install some custom module, for example “LWP::Protocol”
cpanm LWP::Protocol
Using the newly installed perl
Here is example of how to use the newly installed version:
root@server [~]# perl -v
This is perl, v5.8.8 built for x86_64-linux Copyright 1987-2006, Larry Wall Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License or the GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5 source kit. Complete documentation for Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on this system using "man perl" or "perldoc perl". If you have access to the Internet, point your browser at http://www.perl.org/, the Perl Home Page.
root@manvps [~]# perlbrew list
* perl-5.24.0
root@server [~]# source /usr/local/perlbrew/etc/bashrc
root@server [~]# perlbrew switch perl-5.24.0
root@server [~]# perl -v
This is perl 5, version 24, subversion 0 (v5.24.0) built for x86_64-linux (with 1 registered patch, see perl -V for more detail) Copyright 1987-2016, Larry Wall Perl may be copied only under the terms of either the Artistic License or the GNU General Public License, which may be found in the Perl 5 source kit. Complete documentation for Perl, including FAQ lists, should be found on this system using "man perl" or "perldoc perl". If you have access to the Internet, point your browser at http://www.perl.org/, the Perl Home Page.
Using perlbrew perl in cron
You may need to setup some cron scripts, where you want to use your newly installed alternative perl version. One easy way to do this is by using: “perlbrew-cron”, which could be found here: