How do I install Perl libraries in Cygwin?

Question

I\'m a C/C++/Java/Unix geek by trade, but now I have to write a Perl program in Windows. So I\'ve got Cygwin, Eclipse with EPIC installed, and simple test programs run. I do

Answer 1

Despite Cygwin's "problems," I use it regularly whenever I have to use Windows. I would recommend first installing a separate installation of Perl using perlbrew so that you won't interfere with Cygwin's copy of Perl in case something bad happens since Cygwin does not enforce root-user policy. In cygwin shell, type

\curl -L http://install.perlbrew.pl | bash

This should walk through the installation for perlbrew and set it up in one of your executable path. Next type

perlbrew init
perlbrew install --force stable
perlbrew switch stable

Wait a bit while a mint Perl is compiled. For unknown reason, Perl can only pass 99.23% of the core module tests on Cygwin (at least on my machine),hence the --force flag). My experience is that it mostly have something to do with handling of device files, like ports and pipes. I am unaware of people trying to resolve the issue as it seems like a Cygwin problem. Although it has not presented much problem for me with general system and web programming tasks. The module testing routines will fail if any problem exists so I am not fretting over it.

Next step is to install cpanm (cpanminus), type

perlbrew install-cpanm

From here on out, to install any library from CPAN, just type

cpanm [library::name1] [library::name2]

cpanm makes it trivial to install any Perl modules. You can even install from your local directory instead of CPAN.