cpan fails with this weird error as follows
Error: Unable to locate installed Perl libraries or Perl source code.
It is recommended that you install perl in a standard location before
building extensions. Some precompiled versions of perl do not contain
these header files, so you cannot build extensions. In such a case,
please build and install your perl from a fresh perl distribution. It
usually solves this kind of problem.
(You get this message, because MakeMaker could not find "D:\fbl_esc_bcd_tb\tools\perl\lib\CORE\perl.h")
Running make test
Make had some problems, maybe interrupted? Won't test
Running make install
Make had some problems, maybe interrupted? Won't install
Problem is I can't install new active perl versions in this environment and the tool I want to coverage on does not run outside this environment.
Short answer: The ActiveState PPM repository has a precompiled version of Devel::Cover you should be able to install.
Long answer: That's not a normal message from MakeMaker so I'm willing to guess its an ActiveState addition, but its probably true. The problem is exactly what the error message says; your distribution is missing some important files, specifically the C header files for Perl, so it cannot compile C code necessary for modules like Devel::Cover. This is often the result of an overzealous sysadmin or packager looking to save a few dozen K of disk space. You could probably take the header files from the 5.8.7 source, copy them into the CORE directory and it will probably work. It won't make anything worse.
I agree with Evan that, assuming this is a Windows machine, you should switch to Strawberry Perl which plays much better with the rest of the Perl community than ActivePerl.
Otherwise, ActiveState is a commercial company and they have paid Perl support. Give them a ring.
Active Perl does not use CPAN. If you want to use CPAN use Strawberry Perl. Active Perl uses binary distribution through its ppm system. There are a few third party repos for it if the official one doesn't have Devel::Cover -- though the official probably has Devel::Cover.
Most people these days are moving to Strawberry and away from AS. In my opinion, it is far more stable and CPAN-friendly, and surely less proprietary. Also, expect to be able to get stable versions of most everything - AS has been known to lag years in many occasions in the official repos. strawberry also comes with its own compiler and build environment so you can even get ::XS versions working with ease.
Related
I've done some research and it seems like ActivePerl had issues with earlier releases of it's product with certain CPAN modules not installing properly. However, I'm running the 5.14.x version and I've not had any problems.
According to some quotes I've seen:
ActivePerl is 100% compatible with the reference distribution of Perl.
Code tested with ActivePerl will run on any Perl installation that has the appropriate extensions installed.
I assume that the first statement refers to the standard modules you get with the Perl installation and for the second, I'm not sure what they are saying?
In any event, is there any way to find out how compatible ActivePerl is with the current CPAN modules or is that something that isn't known? I just don't want to spend time with it, only to have to switch to something like Strawberry Perl next month to avoid CPAN module build failures for the more common modules.
If ActivePerl is compatible with say 80% or higher with the CPAN modules I would feel more comfortable about using it, but I couldn't find any information on this.
I doubt a generic statistic will be that useful. In general I would expect all "pure perl" modules should work more or less out of the box. Keep in mind however that certain perl modules really are interfaces to lower level linux/unix style shared libraries (dlls in Windows terms), where availability is less certain. In my experience (having written a few perl applications being hosted on Windows, against my advice) most things will work, and/or are fairly easy to work around, and both ActiveState and Strawberryperl seem to have decent support for most common modules.
The first statement doesn't refer to modules at all. It says that ActivePerl is not based on Perl, it is Perl. As such, anything that will run on Perl will also run on ActivePerl.
This also means that all modules on CPAN are compatible with ActivePerl since ActivePerl is Perl.
Whether a module is compatible with Windows is an entirely different question, and it can only be answered on a module-by-module basis.
The second statement points out that if you had a script or module that runs on a pristine ActivePerl, it might not necessarily run on a pristine Perl because ActiveState includes modules in its distribution that aren't core modules (e.g. LWP). But all you'd need to do to make the script or module run on the other distribution is to install those modules.
You can check on the availability of PPM modules at http://code.activestate.com/ppm/. For example, one module that doesn't work well through PPM is PAR::Packer.
I've written any number of perl modules in the past, and more than a few stand-alone perl programs, but I've never released a multi-file perl program into the wild before.
I have a perl program that is almost at the beta stage and is going to be released open source. It requires a number of data files, as well as some external perl modules -- some I've written myself, and some from CPAN -- that I'll have to bundle with it so as to ensure that someone can just download my program and install it without worrying about hunting for obscure modules.
So, it sounds to me like I need to write an installer to copy all the files to standard locations so that a user can easily install everything. The trouble is, I have no idea what the standard practice would be for this. I have found lots of tutorials on perl module standards, but none on perl program standards.
Does anyone have any pointers to standard paths, installation proceedures, etc, for perl programs? This is going to be complicated by the fact that the program is multi-platform. I've been testing it in Linux, but its designed to work equally well in Windows.
Take a look at PAR and PAR::Packer. You can bundle all of your requirements (even non-Perl requirements) into one file. With PAR::Packer, the user doesn't even need to have Perl installed for it to work.
You might also look at how the various App::* distributions are setup.
The standard installers for modules (ExtUtils::MakeMaker, Module::Build, Module::Install) also work the same way for scripts.
Using such a standard Perl tool will help you to:
distribute your application on the
CPAN (and you'll benefit from
automated tests on various platforms
by CPAN Testers), and so your app
will be installable (with all its dependencies) from the CPAN
shell
help packagers of Linux/BSD distributions to make packages for your product
I'm trying to setup a Perl development environment on my Mac laptop and have been having a really hard time getting it working. I thought I had everything configured correctly but when I try to run a sample script it is reporting errors with the DBI module and can't access the DB.
Here is what is reported in the Apache error logs:
[Fri Apr 30 23:11:33 2010] [error] [client 127.0.0.1] Can't locate DBI.pm in #INC (#INC contains: /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/Updates/5.10.0 /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /Network/Library/Perl/5.10.0 /Network/Library/Perl /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0/darwin-thread-multi-2level /System/Library/Perl/Extras/5.10.0 .) at main.pm line 5.
I downloaded and installed both modules manually to work with MAMP using the following commands as specified in this forum post:
For DBI
1. cd /Library/Perl/DBI-1.611
2. sudo Perl Makefile.PL
3. sudo make
4. sudo make install
For DBD
1. cd /Library/Perl/DBD-mysql-4.014
2. sudo Perl Makefile.PL --mysql_config=/Applications/MAMP/Library/bin/mysql_config
3. sudo make
4. sudo make install
What I noticed while running the above commands is that the files seems to be getting installed in the '/opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/' directory which doesn't seem to be one of the search directories that Apache mentions in the error at the beginning of this post. Here is what I'm seeing during the install:
$ sudo make install
Files found in blib/arch: installing files in blib/lib into architecture dependent library tree
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/DBI.bundle
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/dbipport.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/DBIXS.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/dbixs_rev.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/Driver.xst
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/Driver_xst.h
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/TASKS.pod
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/DBM.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/File.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBD/Gofer.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/Changes.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/DBD.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/Profile.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/ProxyServer.pm
Installing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/DBI/PurePerl.pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::DBM.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::File.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBD::Gofer.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::DBD.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::Profile.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::ProxyServer.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/DBI::PurePerl.3pm
Installing /opt/local/share/man/man3/TASKS.3pm
Installing /opt/local/bin/dbiprof
Installing /opt/local/bin/dbiproxy
Writing /opt/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.8.9/darwin-2level/auto/DBI/.packlist
Appending installation info to /opt/local/lib/perl5/5.8.9/darwin-2level/perllocal.pod
My question is, what am I doing wrong and how can I either 1) Get Apache to look in the right directory where the DBD & DBI modules are installed or 2) Update the way I'm installing the module to install them into one of the search directories. I honestly don't know what option makes more sense and could use guidance on that as well.
As you can probably tell I'm pretty lost at the moment. Please help!!! Thanks in advance.
It looks like you've already installed another Perl via macports (/opt/local is where all macports installations go), and /opt/local/bin is earlier in your $PATH than the system Perl in /usr/bin. That's fine, if you are happy running Perl 5.8.9 rather than Perl 5.10.0 (hint: if you aren't sure of the differences, then the differences don't matter).
It's usually advised to not make extra installations to the system Perl. Apple may upgrade components through regular system updates, which could interfere with any modifications you have made, and if you make a mistake with an installation, it's difficult to remedy it without doing a full system reinstallation or having some serious understanding of the operating system guts. So, since you've already got another Perl installation ready, I would strongly encourage you to stick with that one.
However, you probably shouldn't be manually installing libraries if there is already a distribution available on macports. I used port search dbi and port search dbd to find them: the distributions are named p5-dbi and p5-dbd-mysql. You can install those like any other macports module: with sudo port install <distroname>. (You may need to install mod_perl itself, too.)
After that, you simply need to tell Apache/mod_perl to use that Perl installation rather than the system perl. I've never done that, so I can't advise on the best way to do it. However, quick searches on http://superuser.com suggest that the macports version of apache will run by default (via the same $PATH ordering), so I'd just Try It And See :).
Great answer, Ether. Having done this far too many times to count, I can give you a few pieces of advice:
Note: I am apparently limited to a single link in the post, so I had to remove all of my annotations. Thankfully, there is Delicious where I've stored them all with a stackoverflowmacports tag. Any place below where I removed a link to fit under Stack Overflow's ridiculous anti-spam measure, I've marked it with (*).
If having a reliably-working development environment at all times is important to you, rely on as LITTLE Mac OS X bundled software as possible. I love Apple but they have absolutely no qualms about breaking custom setups of their software as often as possible.
If #1 sounds like what you need to do, Macports is an EXCELLENT choice. I used to use Fink but they got left in the dust ages ago in terms of ease of use and spectrum of available software. The easiest route to installing macports is via the binary package install method (*)
As Ether mentions, when you have everything set up correctly, the Macports-provided MySQL, PHP and Apache all work together well without the system-installed analogs interfering. Most of that has to do with your PATH setting but all of those details are handled by the package installers post-flight script (*)
Once you're on the Macports train, it should become the very first place you look for any software. port search and port info are constant companions. They've got 6863 ports (*) currently which covers MOST of your bases.
When you do need to go outside of the Macports realm to find something, install it in /usr/local. That part of the file system hierarchy is yours to play with. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security and think that because Macports doesn't have what you're installing, it's okay to put it in /opt/local because invariably that software will install some dependency that will ALSO be a dependency for some piece of Macports software down the line and Macports will not allow a port to be installed if any one of its files would overwrite an existing file not managed by Macports (unless you force it which is always bad manners)
If you do any work with Perl and you use Macports' version, you will absolutely find yourself in a situation Macports doesn't have the one CPAN module you're looking for. (And, really, given that there are two and a half billion CPAN modules, who can blame them?). This will happen often enough that you will most likely tire of the manual installation method (*) (perl Makefile.PL; make; make test; sudo make install; cha; cha; cha) and long for the ease of use you've grown accustomed to with Macports.
If so, you can absolutely use the cpan (*) utility, CPANPLUS (*) or cpanminus (*) for all of your installing needs. Just make sure to make the necessary adjustments in the configuration of your tool of choice to instruct it to install your modules into /usr/local/lib/perl5, ignoring /opt/local/bin/perl's insistence that modules go into /opt/local/lib/perl5. You can set the PERL5LIB environment variable in your shell's init scripts to additionally look in /usr/local/lib/perl5 for modules. Just grab the #INC output from perl -V and tack it on the end...
And finally... Leveraging the system's daily init scripts or third-party software like Anacron (*) or MacPorts Notifier (*) (both available through MacPorts), make sure to update your software frequently. You don't have Mother Apple protecting you with Software Updates for the Macports installed software which have just as many bugs and security exploits as the very same software Apple bundles.
By updating frequently, you'll stay ahead of the baddies and by automating it, the upgrades will actually happen and you won't end up as I have in the past with a full weekend blown because you had a mountain of outdated ports to upgrade. Note: Macports stages its updates and if it fails at any point, your current version continues to work. Apple could learn a thing or two from them, I tell ya...
So, that's all I can think of a the moment. Hopefully the lessons above will get you going quickly and save all of the time, effort and stress I've experienced in past years in learning it. I would argue it's still far better than the alternative: Hating Apple because they break all of your nice things... :-)
I had a similar problem with Apache using the wrong Perl. I fixed it by appending the following lines to my httpd.conf file:
SetEnv PATH [colon-separated list of directories]
SetEnv PERL5LIB [colon-sep'd list of directories]
In my case, it looked like this:
SetEnv PATH /opt/local/bin:/opt/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH
SetEnv PERL5LIB /opt/local/lib:/usr/local/lib
This is a follow-up to my previous question about developing Perl applications. Let’s say I develop an application as a CPAN module using Module::Install. Now I upload the code to the production server, say using a git push, and I would like to install the application dependencies listed in Makefile.PL. If I simply run cpan ., the thing tries to install the application like a regular Perl module, ie. starts to copy the modules and documentation to standard Perl directories all over the system.
Is this the way it’s supposed to be? Do you install the application into the standard Perl directories? I am used to having my Perl applications in one directory with separate lib. Otherwise it seems I’d have to manage a lot of other things, like installing the resources somewhere on path etc. If I just want to install the deps declared in Makefile.PL and run the application tests to make sure everything works, what should I do?
(Is this documented somewhere? I mean, is there something like best practice for deploying and updating non-trivial Perl applications? Or is everybody doing this his own way?)
I might be misunderstanding, but I think what you're looking for is
perl Makefile.PL
make installdeps
If you are using Module::Install, you're really using ExtUtils::MakeMaker behind the scenes. You can use all of the MakeMaker features and the targets it provides. Although the documentation doesn't show every feature, there are some valuable things to be found in the generated Makefile.
However, MakeMaker is old news and most everyone has asked Santa Claus for it to disappear. If you want better control, including creating your own targets and process, Module::Build is orders of magnitude easier to work with as well as cross-platform (even if that just means not using a different make, gmake, or whatever on the same OS on different boxes). If you deviate from the normal, consumer-grade installation process, you're life will be easier without MakeMaker.
Some people appreciate the brevity of the Module::Install build file, but once constructed, you don't spend a lot of time messing with your build file so it's not that much of a real benefit. When the little benefit you get locks you into MakeMaker, it's not a win at all.
A 2014 update: Module::Build has now fallen out of favor and needs a maintainer. It never quite got to the point where people could use it to build and distribute XS modules. It was deprecated in Perl v5.19 although you can still get it from CPAN.
You could look at Module::ScanDeps to generate a list of dependent modules for installing. Or Par::Packer for packaging up the whole thing as an "app".
I want to use Apple's or RedHat's built-in Apache but I want to use Perl 5.10 and mod_perl. What's the least intrusive way to accomplish this? I want the advantage of free security patching for the vendor's Apache, dav, php, etc., but I care a lot about which version of Perl I use and what's in my #INC path. I don't mind compiling my own mod_perl.
Build your version of Perl 5.10 following any special instructions from the mod_perl documentation. Tell Perl configurator to install in some non-standard place, like /usr/local/perl/5.10.0
Use the instructions to build a shared library (or dynamic, or .so) mod_perl against your distribution's Apache, but make sure you run the Makefile.PL using your version of perl:
/usr/local/perl/5.10.0/bin/perl Makefile.PL APXS=/usr/bin/apxs
Install and configure mod_perl like normal.
It may be helpful, after step one, to change your path so you don't accidentially get confused about which version of Perl you're using:
export PATH=/usr/local/perl/5.10.0/bin:$PATH
You'll want to look into mod_so
I've done this before. It wasn't pretty, but it worked, especially since vendor perl's are usually 2-3 years old.
I started with making my own perl RPM that installed perl into a different location, like /opt/. This was pretty straight forward. I mostly started with this because I didn't want the system utilities that used perl to break when I upgraded/installed new modules. I had to modify all my scripts to specify #!/opt/bin/perl at the top and sometimes I even played with the path to make sure my perl came first.
Next, I grabbed a mod_perl source RPM and modified it to use my /opt/bin/perl instead of /usr/bin/perl. I don't have access to the changes I made, since it was at a different gig. It took me a bit of playing around to get it.
It did work, but I'm not an RPM wizard, so dependency checking didn't work out so well. For example, I could uninstall my custom RPM and break everything. It wasn't a big deal for me, so I moved on.
I was also mixing RPM's with CPAN installs of modules (did I mention we built our own custom CPAN mirror with our own code?). This was a bit fragile too. Again, I didn't have the resources (ie, time) to figure out how to bend cpan2rpm to use my perl and not cause RPM conflicts.
If I had it all to do again, I would make a custom 5.10 perl RPM and just replace the system perl. Then I would use cpan2rpm to create the RPM packages I needed for my software and compile my own mod_perl RPM.