1CPAN::FirstTime(3pm) Perl Programmers Reference Guide CPAN::FirstTime(3pm)
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6 CPAN::FirstTime - Utility for CPAN::Config file Initialization
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9 CPAN::FirstTime::init()
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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 In the following all questions and explanations regarding config
16 variables are collected.
17 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 Always commit changes to config variables to disk?
26 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 Cache size for build directory (in MB)?
32 build_dir
34 Directory where the build process takes place?
35 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 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 Store and re-use state information about distributions between
50 CPAN.pm sessions?
51 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 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 Policy on installing 'build_requires' modules (yes, no, ask/yes,
66 ask/no)?
67 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 Note: this mechanism is not used when use_sqlite is on and SQLLite is
74 running.
75 Cache metadata (yes/no)?
77 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 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 Note that if you do not have Module::Signature installed, no
94 signature checks will be performed at all.
95 Always try to check and verify signatures if a SIGNATURE file is in
97 the package and Module::Signature is installed (yes/no)?
98 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 Do you want to turn on colored output?
107 colorize_print
109 Color for normal output?
110 colorize_warn
112 Color for warnings?
113 colorize_debug
115 Color for debugging messages?
116 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 Do you want the command number in the prompt (yes/no)?
122 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 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 ftp_passive
136 Shall we always set the FTP_PASSIVE environment variable when dealing
137 with ftp download (yes/no)?
138 ftpstats_period
140 Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period
141 simultaneously.
142 How many days shall we keep statistics about downloads?
144 ftpstats_size
146 Statistics about downloads are truncated by size and period
147 simultaneously.
148 How many items shall we keep in the statistics about downloads?
150 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 cwd Cwd::cwd
158 getcwd Cwd::getcwd
159 fastcwd Cwd::fastcwd
160 backtickcwd external command cwd
161 Preferred method for determining the current working directory?
163 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 Do you want to halt on failure (yes/no)?
170 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 File to save your history?
179 histsize
181 Number of lines to save?
182 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 If you set this value to 0, these processes will wait forever. This
191 is the default and recommended setting.
192 Timeout for inactivity during {Makefile,Build}.PL?
194 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 Let the index expire after how many days?
204 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 Do you want to turn this message off?
211 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 Download target directory?
218 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 Verbosity level for loading modules (none or v)?
225 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 If you don't understand this question, just press ENTER.
233 Typical frequently used settings:
235 PREFIX=~/perl # non-root users (please see manual for more hints)
237 Parameters for the 'perl Makefile.PL' command?
239 make_arg
241 Parameters for the 'make' command? Typical frequently used setting:
242 -j3 # dual processor system (on GNU make)
244 Your choice:
246 make_install_arg
248 Parameters for the 'make install' command? Typical frequently used
249 setting:
250 UNINST=1 # to always uninstall potentially conflicting files
252 Your choice:
254 make_install_make_command
256 Do you want to use a different make command for 'make install'?
257 Cautious people will probably prefer:
258 su root -c make
260 or
261 sudo make
262 or
263 /path1/to/sudo -u admin_account /path2/to/make
264 or some such. Your choice:
266 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 Typical frequently used settings:
274 --install_base /home/xxx # different installation directory
276 Parameters for the 'perl Build.PL' command?
278 mbuild_arg
280 Parameters for the './Build' command? Setting might be:
281 --extra_linker_flags -L/usr/foo/lib # non-standard library location
283 Your choice:
285 mbuild_install_arg
287 Parameters for the './Build install' command? Typical frequently used
288 setting:
289 --uninst 1 # uninstall conflicting files
291 Your choice:
293 mbuild_install_build_command
295 Do you want to use a different command for './Build install'? Sudo
296 users will probably prefer:
297 su root -c ./Build
299 or
300 sudo ./Build
301 or
302 /path1/to/sudo -u admin_account ./Build
303 or some such. Your choice:
305 pager
307 What is your favorite pager program?
308 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 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 Or, as a third option you can choose RAND which will make a random
323 decision (something regular CPAN testers will enjoy).
324 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 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 Directory where to store default options/environment/dialogs for
340 building modules that need some customization?
341 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 Please set your policy to one of the three values.
351 Policy on building prerequisites (follow, ask or ignore)?
353 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 Randomize parameter
364 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 Perform cache scanning (atstart or never)?
371 shell
373 What is your favorite shell?
374 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 Show all individual modules that have no $VERSION?
381 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 Always try to show upload date with 'd' and 'm' command (yes/no)?
391 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 Show all individual modules that have a $VERSION of zero?
399 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 Tar command verbosity level (none or v or vv)?
406 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 Your terminal expects ISO-8859-1 (yes/no)?
418 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 Do you want to turn ornaments on?
424 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 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 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 Email test reports if CPAN::Reporter is installed (yes/no)?
442 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 Verbosity level for PERL5LIB changes (none or v)?
449 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 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 Do you want to rely on the test report history (yes/no)?
460 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 Use CPAN::SQLite if available? (yes/no)?
467 version_timeout
469 This timeout prevents CPAN from hanging when trying to parse a
470 pathologically coded $VERSION from a module.
471 The default is 15 seconds. If you set this value to 0, no timeout
473 will occur, but this is not recommended.
474 Timeout for parsing module versions?
476 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 Do you want to enable code deserialisation (yes/no)?
484 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 Which YAML implementation would you prefer?
494
496 This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
497 under the same terms as Perl itself.
498perl v5.12.4 2011-06-07 CPAN::FirstTime(3pm)