Regarding Perl DBD::Oracle installation in local directory - perl

Question

I want to connect with the oracle database from a perl script in solaris servier. Able to see DBI is installed but not DBD::Oracle in the current perl version 5.8.4. I dont have root acess and working on my home user id. Download the DBD-Oracle-1.50 and unzipped in the local directory where my perl script exists. I want to copy the DBD Oracle library files into a custom directory and run the script since i dont have root acess. When i read the install script in the DBD-Oracle-1.50 it's says for manuall install i need to run the below scripts . Since i dont have root access i want to copy the library modules into the local directory. Not sure how to tell these scripts to install it in the local directory where my perl script exists.
Does installing DBI and DBD in a custom directory under my user id makes it work properly. Do those modules require root access to work properly? To use DBD::Oracle does oracle needs to be installed in server. My Understanding Oracle driver DBD::Oracle should take care of it.
perl Makefile.PL
make && make test
make install
> ls -tlr /usr/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.4/sun4-solaris-64int total 956
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 15161 Mar 26 2005 Roadmap.pod
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 1048 Sep 5 2006 TASKS.pod
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 289343 Jun 26 2007 DBI.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 4608 Jun 12 2008 goferperf.pl
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 1356 Jun 12 2008 dbixs_rev.pl
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 58386 Apr 3 2010 SNMP.pm drwxr-xr-x 3 root bin 7 Oct 13 2010 NetSNMP
> drwxr-xr-x 2 root bin 3 Oct 13 2010 Win32 drwxr-xr-x
> 8 root bin 19 Oct 13 2010 DBI drwxr-xr-x 2 root
> bin 4 Oct 13 2010 Bundle drwxr-xr-x 6 root other
> 6 Oct 13 2010 auto drwxr-xr-x 3 root bin 11 Oct 13
> 2010 DBD
>
> ls -ltr /usr/perl5/vendor_perl/5.8.4/sun4-solaris-64int/DBD total 543
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 111586 May 6 2006 Pg.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 28785 Sep 27 2006 Proxy.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 7937 Jan 25 2007 Sponge.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 42836 Feb 6 2007 DBM.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 19882 Mar 28 2007 File.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 12051 May 10 2007 ExampleP.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 43586 May 14 2007 Gofer.pm
> -rwxr-xr-x 1 root bin 3761 Jun 15 2007 NullP.pm drwxr-xr-x 4 root bin 4 Oct 13 2010 Gofer

Answer 1

If DBI is already installed, you should only need to install DBD::Oracle, though you might want to install a later version of DBI. You can install DBD::Oracle under your home directory, then set the PERL5LIB environment variable to that directory (or to include that directory). The long way to install is:
perl Makefile.PL PREFIX=~/perl #Or whatever sub-directory you like
make
make test
make install
Then include at least "~/perl/lib;~/perl/lib/site_perl" in PERL5LIB before running your programs (or include a 'use lib" in your programs).
You can also set certain environment variables like PERL_MM_OPT and PERL_MB_OPT so that you don't have to specify the PREFIX= on the command line (see docs for ExtUtils::MakeMaker and Module::Build). I also recommend cpanm and setting PERL_CPANM_HOME to something under your home directory.

Answer 2

Perl modules can be very well installed in a custom directory. This situation usually arises when you don't have root access to install the PM. Once you have installed DBI and DBD in your custom folder there are several different ways to make sure that perl is aware of this installation.
1. Set the environment variable PERL5LIB
Perl will look for modules in the directories specified in PERL5LIB environment variable before looking in the standard library and current directory, so you can set this variable to locate your modules.
The syntax is the same you use for the PATH environment variables, so you separate the directories with colons on unix and with a semicolon on Windows.
Example:
# unix, bourne shell
PERL5LIB=/home/path/lib:/usr/another/path/lib; export PERL5LIB
Be aware that scripts running with -T option (taint checks) do not use that variable, so in those cases this option won't work.
2. Use '-I' command line parameter
The syntax should be something like:
perl -I /home/path/lib -I /usr/another/lib script.pl
3. Add the library path in your script
The command for including the path in your script is: use lib "path".
Notice that this statement prepends "path" to the #INC array, so it's basically the same as unshift #INC, "path"
Example:
#!/usr/bin/perl
use lib "/home/path/lib";
use lib "/usr/another/lib";