The following article will show you how to install Perl modules on the (gs) Grid-Service. You can find many perl modules by visiting http://search.cpan.org.

Find the module you want to install, We will use Acme::Tiny as a example because it doesn't have any dependencies and is easy to test: http://search.cpan.org/~dmuey/Acme-Tiny-0.4/lib/Acme/Tiny.pod

1. Create a directory for your new module(s), We suggest creating the following directory: /home/#####/data/modules :
   
   

   cd ~/data
   mkdir modules
   cd modules 

2. Download your module using wget:
   
   

   wget http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/D/DM/DMUEY/Acme-Tiny-0.4.tar.gz 

3. Now use the tar command to extract the module:
   
   

   tar -xzf Acme-Tiny-0.4.tar.gz 

4. Change into the directory:
   
   

   cd Acme-Tiny-0.4 

5. Compile the module, making sure to use the directory created in Step 1:
   
   
   

   perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=/home/######/data/modules/ 

   Writing Makefile for Acme::Tiny 

6. Run Make:
   
   
   

   make 

   cp lib/Acme/Tiny.pm blib/lib/Acme/Tiny.pm
   cp lib/Acme/Tiny.pod blib/lib/Acme/Tiny.pod
   Manifying blib/man3/Acme::Tiny.3pm 

7. Run Make Install:
   
   
   

   make install 

   Installing /home/#####/data/modules/share/perl/5.8.4/Acme/Tiny.pm
   Installing /home/#####/data/modules/share/perl/5.8.4/Acme/Tiny.pod
   Installing /home/#####/data/modules/man/man3/Acme::Tiny.3pm
   Writing /home/#####/data/modules//lib/perl/5.8.4/auto/Acme/Tiny/.packlist
   Appending installation info to /home/#####/data/modules//lib/perl/5.8.4/perllocal.pod 

8. Take note of where the installer placed the .pm file!!! In this case it is /home/#####/data/modules/share/perl/5.8.4. You do not need the Acme directory since that is module specific.

9. Test the module by creating the following script:
   
   
   

   vi tinytest.pl 

   #!/usr/bin/perl
   
   use lib qw(/home/#####/data/modules/share/perl/5.8.4);
   use Acme::Tiny
   
   print Acme::Tiny->VERSION(), "\n";

NOTE:


Note the "use lib" line. This line tells perl to include that directory when searching for modules you have included in your script. It must be placed before you try to use any modules.

10. Give executable permissions to the test script and run it:
    
    

    
    chmod +x tinytest.pl
    ./tinytest.pl 
    0.4 

11. It worked! If it did not you would receive an error message similar to this:
    
    
    

    Can't locate Acme/Tiny.pm in @INC (@INC contains: /etc/perl /usr/local/lib/perl/5.8.4 /usr/local/share/perl/5.8.4 /usr/lib/perl5 /usr/share/perl5 /usr/lib/perl/5.8 /usr/share/perl/5.8 /usr/local/lib/site_perl .) at ./tinytest.pl line 3.
    BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at ./tinytest.pl line 3. 

Notes/Supplemental Resources:

• (gs) What is my Site Number?
• Installed Perl Modules
• http://search.cpan.org/
  

Revisions:

2009-04-21: Article Creation