How do I tell CPAN to install all dependencies?

Question

How do I tell CPAN to install all dependencies?

I tried setting these in cpan:

cpan> o conf prerequisites_policy follow
cpan> o co         


        

Answer 1

Here is the one-liner making these changes permanent including automatic first-time CPAN configuration:

perl -MCPAN -e 'my $c = "CPAN::HandleConfig"; $c->load(doit => 1, autoconfig => 1); $c->edit(prerequisites_policy => "follow"); $c->edit(build_requires_install_policy => "yes"); $c->commit'

Or combine it with local::lib module for non-privileged users:

perl -MCPAN -Mlocal::lib=~/perl5 -e 'my $c = "CPAN::HandleConfig"; $c->load(doit => 1, autoconfig => 1); $c->edit(prerequisites_policy => "follow"); $c->edit(build_requires_install_policy => "yes"); $c->commit'

Run it before using the CPAN shell or whatever.

Answer 2

Personally I have only tried a couple of times to modify the settings in that way and have actually found it easier to drop into the CPAN.pm shell by giving cpan no arguments, then configuring CPAN.pm from the interactive prompt:

$ cpan
cpan> o conf init

This will initiate the CPAN.pm interfaces configuration utility. Simply run through it and specify "follow" where you need to (I forget the question offhand), and you should be good to go.

Answer 3

The latest and greatest answer to this question is to use cpanm instead (also referred to as App::cpanminus or cpanminus)!

DESCRIPTION

cpanminus is a script to get, unpack, build and install modules from CPAN and does nothing else.

It's dependency free (can bootstrap itself), requires zero configuration, and stands alone. When running, it requires only 10MB of RAM.

To bootstrap install it:

curl -L http://cpanmin.us | perl - --sudo App::cpanminus

or if you are using perlbrew simply

perlbrew install-cpanm

or from cpan itself:

cpan install App::cpanminus

From then on install modules by executing (as root if necessary)

cpanm Foo::Bar

Answer 4

Here's what I'm pretty sure you're looking for:

cpan> o conf prerequisites_policy follow
cpan> o conf commit