1CPAN::FirstTime(3pm)   Perl Programmers Reference Guide   CPAN::FirstTime(3pm)
2
3
4

NAME

6       CPAN::FirstTime - Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization
7

SYNOPSIS

9       CPAN::FirstTime::init()
10

DESCRIPTION

12       The init routine asks a few questions and writes a CPAN/Config.pm or
13       CPAN/MyConfig.pm file (depending on what it is currently using).
14
15       In the following all questions and explanations regarding config
16       variables are collected.
17
18       auto_commit
19         Normally CPAN.pm keeps config variables in memory and changes need to
20         be saved in a separate 'o conf commit' command to make them permanent
21         between sessions. If you set the 'auto_commit' option to true,
22         changes to a config variable are always automatically committed to
23         disk.
24
25         Always commit changes to config variables to disk?
26
27       build_cache
28         CPAN.pm can limit the size of the disk area for keeping the build
29         directories with all the intermediate files.
30
31         Cache size for build directory (in MB)?
32
33       build_dir
34         Directory where the build process takes place?
35
36       build_dir_reuse
37         Until version 1.88 CPAN.pm never trusted the contents of the
38         build_dir directory between sessions. Since 1.88_58 CPAN.pm has a
39         YAML-based mechanism that makes it possible to share the contents of
40         the build_dir/ directory between different sessions with the same
41         version of perl. People who prefer to test things several days before
42         installing will like this feature because it safes a lot of time.
43
44         If you say yes to the following question, CPAN will try to store
45         enough information about the build process so that it can pick up in
46         future sessions at the same state of affairs as it left a previous
47         session.
48
49         Store and re-use state information about distributions between
50         CPAN.pm sessions?
51
52       build_requires_install_policy
53         When a module declares another one as a 'build_requires' prerequisite
54         this means that the other module is only needed for building or
55         testing the module but need not be installed permanently. In this
56         case you may wish to install that other module nonetheless or just
57         keep it in the 'build_dir' directory to have it available only
58         temporarily.  Installing saves time on future installations but makes
59         the perl installation bigger.
60
61         You can choose if you want to always install (yes), never install
62         (no) or be always asked. In the latter case you can set the default
63         answer for the question to yes (ask/yes) or no (ask/no).
64
65         Policy on installing 'build_requires' modules (yes, no, ask/yes,
66         ask/no)?
67
68       cache_metadata
69         To considerably speed up the initial CPAN shell startup, it is
70         possible to use Storable to create a cache of metadata. If Storable
71         is not available, the normal index mechanism will be used.
72
73         Note: this mechanism is not used when use_sqlite is on and SQLLite is
74         running.
75
76         Cache metadata (yes/no)?
77
78       check_sigs
79         CPAN packages can be digitally signed by authors and thus verified
80         with the security provided by strong cryptography. The exact
81         mechanism is defined in the Module::Signature module. While this is
82         generally considered a good thing, it is not always convenient to the
83         end user to install modules that are signed incorrectly or where the
84         key of the author is not available or where some prerequisite for
85         Module::Signature has a bug and so on.
86
87         With the check_sigs parameter you can turn signature checking on and
88         off. The default is off for now because the whole tool chain for the
89         functionality is not yet considered mature by some. The author of
90         CPAN.pm would recommend setting it to true most of the time and
91         turning it off only if it turns out to be annoying.
92
93         Note that if you do not have Module::Signature installed, no
94         signature checks will be performed at all.
95
96         Always try to check and verify signatures if a SIGNATURE file is in
97         the package and Module::Signature is installed (yes/no)?
98
99       colorize_output
100         When you have Term::ANSIColor installed, you can turn on colorized
101         output to have some visual differences between normal CPAN.pm output,
102         warnings, debugging output, and the output of the modules being
103         installed. Set your favorite colors after some experimenting with the
104         Term::ANSIColor module.
105
106         Do you want to turn on colored output?
107
108       colorize_print
109         Color for normal output?
110
111       colorize_warn
112         Color for warnings?
113
114       colorize_debug
115         Color for debugging messages?
116
117       commandnumber_in_prompt
118         The prompt of the cpan shell can contain the current command number
119         for easier tracking of the session or be a plain string.
120
121         Do you want the command number in the prompt (yes/no)?
122
123       connect_to_internet_ok
124         If you have never defined your own "urllist" in your configuration
125         then "CPAN.pm" will be hesitant to use the built in default sites for
126         downloading. It will ask you once per session if a connection to the
127         internet is OK and only if you say yes, it will try to connect. But
128         to avoid this question, you can choose your favorite download sites
129         once and get away with it. Or, if you have no favorite download sites
130         answer yes to the following question.
131
132         If no urllist has been chosen yet, would you prefer CPAN.pm to
133         connect to the built-in default sites without asking? (yes/no)?
134
135       ftp_passive
136         Shall we always set the FTP_PASSIVE environment variable when dealing
137         with ftp download (yes/no)?
138
139       ftpstats_period
140         Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period
141         simultaneously.
142
143         How many days shall we keep statistics about downloads?
144
145       ftpstats_size
146         Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period
147         simultaneously.
148
149         How many items shall we keep in the statistics about downloads?
150
151       getcwd
152         CPAN.pm changes the current working directory often and needs to
153         determine its own current working directory. Per default it uses
154         Cwd::cwd but if this doesn't work on your system for some reason,
155         alternatives can be configured according to the following table:
156
157             cwd         Cwd::cwd
158             getcwd      Cwd::getcwd
159             fastcwd     Cwd::fastcwd
160             backtickcwd external command cwd
161
162         Preferred method for determining the current working directory?
163
164       halt_on_failure
165         Normaly, CPAN.pm continues processing the full list of targets and
166         dependencies, even if one of them fails.  However, you can specify
167         that CPAN should halt after the first failure.
168
169         Do you want to halt on failure (yes/no)?
170
171       histfile
172         If you have one of the readline packages (Term::ReadLine::Perl,
173         Term::ReadLine::Gnu, possibly others) installed, the interactive CPAN
174         shell will have history support. The next two questions deal with the
175         filename of the history file and with its size. If you do not want to
176         set this variable, please hit SPACE RETURN to the following question.
177
178         File to save your history?
179
180       histsize
181         Number of lines to save?
182
183       inactivity_timeout
184         Sometimes you may wish to leave the processes run by CPAN alone
185         without caring about them. Because the Makefile.PL or the Build.PL
186         sometimes contains question you're expected to answer, you can set a
187         timer that will kill a 'perl Makefile.PL' process after the specified
188         time in seconds.
189
190         If you set this value to 0, these processes will wait forever. This
191         is the default and recommended setting.
192
193         Timeout for inactivity during {Makefile,Build}.PL?
194
195       index_expire
196         The CPAN indexes are usually rebuilt once or twice per hour, but the
197         typical CPAN mirror mirrors only once or twice per day. Depending on
198         the quality of your mirror and your desire to be on the bleeding
199         edge, you may want to set the following value to more or less than
200         one day (which is the default). It determines after how many days
201         CPAN.pm downloads new indexes.
202
203         Let the index expire after how many days?
204
205       inhibit_startup_message
206         When the CPAN shell is started it normally displays a greeting
207         message that contains the running version and the status of readline
208         support.
209
210         Do you want to turn this message off?
211
212       keep_source_where
213         Unless you are accessing the CPAN on your filesystem via a file: URL,
214         CPAN.pm needs to keep the source files it downloads somewhere. Please
215         supply a directory where the downloaded files are to be kept.
216
217         Download target directory?
218
219       load_module_verbosity
220         When CPAN.pm loads a module it needs for some optional feature, it
221         usually reports about module name and version. Choose 'v' to get this
222         message, 'none' to suppress it.
223
224         Verbosity level for loading modules (none or v)?
225
226       makepl_arg
227         Every Makefile.PL is run by perl in a separate process. Likewise we
228         run 'make' and 'make install' in separate processes. If you have any
229         parameters (e.g. PREFIX, UNINST or the like) you want to pass to the
230         calls, please specify them here.
231
232         If you don't understand this question, just press ENTER.
233
234         Typical frequently used settings:
235
236             PREFIX=~/perl    # non-root users (please see manual for more hints)
237
238         Parameters for the 'perl Makefile.PL' command?
239
240       make_arg
241         Parameters for the 'make' command? Typical frequently used setting:
242
243             -j3              # dual processor system (on GNU make)
244
245         Your choice:
246
247       make_install_arg
248         Parameters for the 'make install' command?  Typical frequently used
249         setting:
250
251             UNINST=1         # to always uninstall potentially conflicting files
252
253         Your choice:
254
255       make_install_make_command
256         Do you want to use a different make command for 'make install'?
257         Cautious people will probably prefer:
258
259             su root -c make
260          or
261             sudo make
262          or
263             /path1/to/sudo -u admin_account /path2/to/make
264
265         or some such. Your choice:
266
267       mbuildpl_arg
268         A Build.PL is run by perl in a separate process. Likewise we run
269         './Build' and './Build install' in separate processes. If you have
270         any parameters you want to pass to the calls, please specify them
271         here.
272
273         Typical frequently used settings:
274
275             --install_base /home/xxx             # different installation directory
276
277         Parameters for the 'perl Build.PL' command?
278
279       mbuild_arg
280         Parameters for the './Build' command? Setting might be:
281
282             --extra_linker_flags -L/usr/foo/lib  # non-standard library location
283
284         Your choice:
285
286       mbuild_install_arg
287         Parameters for the './Build install' command? Typical frequently used
288         setting:
289
290             --uninst 1                           # uninstall conflicting files
291
292         Your choice:
293
294       mbuild_install_build_command
295         Do you want to use a different command for './Build install'? Sudo
296         users will probably prefer:
297
298             su root -c ./Build
299          or
300             sudo ./Build
301          or
302             /path1/to/sudo -u admin_account ./Build
303
304         or some such. Your choice:
305
306       pager
307         What is your favorite pager program?
308
309       prefer_installer
310         When you have Module::Build installed and a module comes with both a
311         Makefile.PL and a Build.PL, which shall have precedence?
312
313         The main two standard installer modules are the old and well
314         established ExtUtils::MakeMaker (for short: EUMM) which uses the
315         Makefile.PL. And the next generation installer Module::Build (MB)
316         which works with the Build.PL (and often comes with a Makefile.PL
317         too). If a module comes only with one of the two we will use that one
318         but if both are supplied then a decision must be made between EUMM
319         and MB. See also http://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=29235 for
320         a discussion about the right default.
321
322         Or, as a third option you can choose RAND which will make a random
323         decision (something regular CPAN testers will enjoy).
324
325         In case you can choose between running a Makefile.PL or a Build.PL,
326         which installer would you prefer (EUMM or MB or RAND)?
327
328       prefs_dir
329         CPAN.pm can store customized build environments based on regular
330         expressions for distribution names. These are YAML files where the
331         default options for CPAN.pm and the environment can be overridden and
332         dialog sequences can be stored that can later be executed by an
333         Expect.pm object. The CPAN.pm distribution comes with some prefab
334         YAML files that cover sample distributions that can be used as
335         blueprints to store one own prefs. Please check out the distroprefs/
336         directory of the CPAN.pm distribution to get a quick start into the
337         prefs system.
338
339         Directory where to store default options/environment/dialogs for
340         building modules that need some customization?
341
342       prerequisites_policy
343         The CPAN module can detect when a module which you are trying to
344         build depends on prerequisites. If this happens, it can build the
345         prerequisites for you automatically ('follow'), ask you for
346         confirmation ('ask'), or just ignore them ('ignore').  Choosing
347         'follow' also sets PERL_AUTOINSTALL and PERL_EXTUTILS_AUTOINSTALL for
348         "--defaultdeps" if not already set.
349
350         Please set your policy to one of the three values.
351
352         Policy on building prerequisites (follow, ask or ignore)?
353
354       randomize_urllist
355         CPAN.pm can introduce some randomness when using hosts for download
356         that are configured in the urllist parameter. Enter a numeric value
357         between 0 and 1 to indicate how often you want to let CPAN.pm try a
358         random host from the urllist. A value of one specifies to always use
359         a random host as the first try. A value of zero means no randomness
360         at all. Anything in between specifies how often, on average, a random
361         host should be tried first.
362
363         Randomize parameter
364
365       scan_cache
366         By default, each time the CPAN module is started, cache scanning is
367         performed to keep the cache size in sync. To prevent this, answer
368         'never'.
369
370         Perform cache scanning (atstart or never)?
371
372       shell
373         What is your favorite shell?
374
375       show_unparsable_versions
376         During the 'r' command CPAN.pm finds modules without version number.
377         When the command finishes, it prints a report about this. If you want
378         this report to be very verbose, say yes to the following variable.
379
380         Show all individual modules that have no $VERSION?
381
382       show_upload_date
383         The 'd' and the 'm' command normally only show you information they
384         have in their in-memory database and thus will never connect to the
385         internet. If you set the 'show_upload_date' variable to true, 'm' and
386         'd' will additionally show you the upload date of the module or
387         distribution. Per default this feature is off because it may require
388         a net connection to get at the upload date.
389
390         Always try to show upload date with 'd' and 'm' command (yes/no)?
391
392       show_zero_versions
393         During the 'r' command CPAN.pm finds modules with a version number of
394         zero. When the command finishes, it prints a report about this. If
395         you want this report to be very verbose, say yes to the following
396         variable.
397
398         Show all individual modules that have a $VERSION of zero?
399
400       tar_verbosity
401         When CPAN.pm uses the tar command, which switch for the verbosity
402         shall be used? Choose 'none' for quiet operation, 'v' for file name
403         listing, 'vv' for full listing.
404
405         Tar command verbosity level (none or v or vv)?
406
407       term_is_latin
408         The next option deals with the charset (aka character set) your
409         terminal supports. In general, CPAN is English speaking territory, so
410         the charset does not matter much but some CPAN have names that are
411         outside the ASCII range. If your terminal supports UTF-8, you should
412         say no to the next question. If it expects ISO-8859-1 (also known as
413         LATIN1) then you should say yes. If it supports neither, your answer
414         does not matter because you will not be able to read the names of
415         some authors anyway. If you answer no, names will be output in UTF-8.
416
417         Your terminal expects ISO-8859-1 (yes/no)?
418
419       term_ornaments
420         When using Term::ReadLine, you can turn ornaments on so that your
421         input stands out against the output from CPAN.pm.
422
423         Do you want to turn ornaments on?
424
425       test_report
426         The goal of the CPAN Testers project (http://testers.cpan.org/) is to
427         test as many CPAN packages as possible on as many platforms as
428         possible.  This provides valuable feedback to module authors and
429         potential users to identify bugs or platform compatibility issues and
430         improves the overall quality and value of CPAN.
431
432         One way you can contribute is to send test results for each module
433         that you install.  If you install the CPAN::Reporter module, you have
434         the option to automatically generate and email test reports to CPAN
435         Testers whenever you run tests on a CPAN package.
436
437         See the CPAN::Reporter documentation for additional details and
438         configuration settings.  If your firewall blocks outgoing email, you
439         will need to configure CPAN::Reporter before sending reports.
440
441         Email test reports if CPAN::Reporter is installed (yes/no)?
442
443       perl5lib_verbosity
444         When CPAN.pm extends @INC via PERL5LIB, it prints a list of
445         directories added (or a summary of how many directories are added).
446         Choose 'v' to get this message, 'none' to suppress it.
447
448         Verbosity level for PERL5LIB changes (none or v)?
449
450       trust_test_report_history
451         When a distribution has already been tested by CPAN::Reporter on this
452         machine, CPAN can skip the test phase and just rely on the test
453         report history instead.
454
455         Note that this will not apply to distributions that failed tests
456         because of missing dependencies.  Also, tests can be run regardless
457         of the history using "force".
458
459         Do you want to rely on the test report history (yes/no)?
460
461       use_sqlite
462         CPAN::SQLite is a layer between the index files that are downloaded
463         from the CPAN and CPAN.pm that speeds up metadata queries and reduces
464         memory consumption of CPAN.pm considerably.
465
466         Use CPAN::SQLite if available? (yes/no)?
467
468       version_timeout
469         This timeout prevents CPAN from hanging when trying to parse a
470         pathologically coded $VERSION from a module.
471
472         The default is 15 seconds.  If you set this value to 0, no timeout
473         will occur, but this is not recommended.
474
475         Timeout for parsing module versions?
476
477       yaml_load_code
478         Both YAML.pm and YAML::Syck are capable of deserialising code. As
479         this requires a string eval, which might be a security risk, you can
480         use this option to enable or disable the deserialisation of code via
481         CPAN::DeferredCode. (Note: This does not work under perl 5.6)
482
483         Do you want to enable code deserialisation (yes/no)?
484
485       yaml_module
486         At the time of this writing (2009-03) there are three YAML
487         implementations working: YAML, YAML::Syck, and YAML::XS. The latter
488         two are faster but need a C compiler installed on your system. There
489         may be more alternative YAML conforming modules. When I tried two
490         other players, YAML::Tiny and YAML::Perl, they seemed not powerful
491         enough to work with CPAN.pm. This may have changed in the meantime.
492
493         Which YAML implementation would you prefer?
494

LICENSE

496       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
497       under the same terms as Perl itself.
498
499
500
501perl v5.12.4                      2011-06-07              CPAN::FirstTime(3pm)
Impressum