I downloaded 2791797 Sep 30 14:50:15 2003 openssl-0.9.7c.tar.gz LATEST from http://www.openssl.org/source/ and followed the instructions in INSTALL.W32 to compile it (Using Visual Studio .NET). This took about 10 minutes of compile time - this is pretty big!.

The compile process generated the 2 dll's in the out32dll directory, which I then tested as recommended in the INSTALL.W32 file. All tests were successful.

I then copied these dll's into the G:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Crypt\SSLeay directory, and ran the test program - it ran correctly !.

2 remaining questions for posterity :
- Is there a way/location to post my binaries for other monks to use ?
- It seems to me that the CPAN distribution of this module needs to be fixed - I'd like some consensus/direction on this issue before attempting to whine to CPAN and the author(s).

Is there a way/location to post my binaries for other monks to use ?

There is no need. Grab yourself a copy of PPM::Repositories and add some repositories to your ppm configuration.

E:\>ppm3-bin
PPM - Programmer's Package Manager version 3.0.1.
Copyright (c) 2001 ActiveState SRL. All Rights Reserved.

Entering interactive shell. Using Term::ReadLine::Stub as readline lib
+rary.

Profile tracking is not enabled. If you save and restore profiles manu
+ally,
your profile may be out of sync with your computer. See 'help profile'
+ for
more information.

Type 'help' to get started.

ppm> rep
Repositories:
[1] ppm
[2] crazy
[3] jenda
[4] theory
ppm> s *SSLea*
Searching in Active Repositories
  1. Crypt-SSLeay  [0.51]
  2. Crypt-SSLeay  [0.51] OpenSSL glue that provides LWP https support
  3. Net_SSLeay.pm [1.25] Perl extension for using OpenSSL
ppm> desc 1
====================
Package 1:
    Name: Crypt-SSLeay
 Version: 0.51
  Author:
   Title: Crypt-SSLeay
Abstract:
Location: crazy
Available Platforms:
       1. MSWin32-x86-multi-thread-5.8
====================
ppm> desc 2
====================
Package 2:
    Name: Crypt-SSLeay
 Version: 0.51
  Author: Joshua Chamas <josh (at) chamas dot com>
   Title: Crypt-SSLeay
Abstract: OpenSSL glue that provides LWP https support
Location: theory
Available Platforms:
       1. MSWin32-x86-multi-thread-5.8
====================
ppm> desc --dump 1
====================
Package 1:
<SOFTPKG NAME="Crypt-SSLeay" VERSION="0,51,0,0">
    <TITLE>Crypt-SSLeay</TITLE>
    <ABSTRACT></ABSTRACT>
    <AUTHOR></AUTHOR>
    <IMPLEMENTATION>
        <OS NAME="MSWin32" />
        <ARCHITECTURE NAME="MSWin32-x86-multi-thread-5.8" />
        <INSTALL EXEC="PPM_PERL"
HREF="http://crazyinsomniac.perlmonk.org/perl/ppm/scripts/install_ssl"
+>install_ssl</INSTALL>
        <CODEBASE HREF="Crypt-SSLeay-0.51.tar.gz" />
    </IMPLEMENTATION>
</SOFTPKG>
====================
ppm> desc --dump 2
====================
Package 2:
<SOFTPKG NAME="Crypt-SSLeay" VERSION="0,51,0,0">
        <TITLE>Crypt-SSLeay</TITLE>
        <ABSTRACT>OpenSSL glue that provides LWP https support</ABSTRA
+CT>
        <AUTHOR>Joshua Chamas &lt;josh (at) chamas dot com&gt;</AUTHOR
+>
        <IMPLEMENTATION>
                <OS NAME="MSWin32" />
                <ARCHITECTURE NAME="MSWin32-x86-multi-thread-5.8" />
                <CODEBASE HREF="http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/x86/
+Crypt-SSLeay.tar.gz" />
        </IMPLEMENTATION>
</SOFTPKG>
====================
ppm> install 1
Package 1:
Note: Package 'Crypt-SSLeay' is already installed.
====================
Install 'Crypt-SSLeay' version 0.51 in ActivePerl 5.8.0.804.
====================
Downloaded 20558 bytes.
Extracting 26/26: blib/lib/Net/SSL.pm
Files found in blib\arch: installing files in blib\lib into architectu
+re dependent library tree
Writing G:\Perl\site\lib\auto\Crypt\SSLeay\.packlist

A copy of the needed library libeay32.dll was found in your PATH
environment variable, under G:\perl\bin. If this is
compatible with the version (0.9.7a) used to compile the
Perl module, no further action is needed to complete the installation.

Fetch libeay32.dll? [no]
Aborting download of libeay32.dll.

A copy of the needed library ssleay32.dll was found in your PATH
environment variable, under G:\perl\bin. If this is
compatible with the version (0.9.7a) used to compile the
Perl module, no further action is needed to complete the installation.

Fetch ssleay32.dll? [no]
Aborting download of ssleay32.dll.
Successfully installed Crypt-SSLeay version 0.51 in ActivePerl 5.8.0.8
+04.
ppm>
ppm> rep desc theory
Describing Active Repository 4:
    Name: theory
Location: http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/cgi-bin/ppmserver?urn:/PPMServe
+r58
    Type: PPMServer 2.0
ppm> rep desc crazy
Describing Active Repository 2:
    Name: crazy
Location: http://crazyinsomniac.perlmonk.org/perl/ppm/5.8
    Type: Webpage
ppm>
ppm>q
[download]

So it appears that Randy Kobes (theory guy), mispackaged his latest release of Crypt-SSLeay (namely he forgot about http://theoryx5.uwinnipeg.ca/ppms/scripts/install_ssl).

update: I've emailed him and he's fixed it (you should see something similar to what you see when installing from my repository).

- It seems to me that the CPAN distribution of this module needs to be fixed - I'd like some consensus/direction on this issue before attempting to whine to CPAN and the author(s).

How so (i don't recall anything being broken)?

MJD says "you can't just make shit up and expect the computer to know what you mean, retardo!"

I run a Win32 PPM repository for perl 5.6.x and 5.8.x -- I take requests (README).

** The third rule of perl club is a statement of fact: pod is sexy.

Thanks PodMaster (++) - visibility is slowly improving in my foggy understanding of ppm.

I have verified that I did, in fact, get SSLey from theoryx, so thanks for getting Randy to fix that distribution.

No CPAN bug, so no fix required.

I have installed PPM::Repositories, and added Crazy's site to the repositories.

Life is good. Monks Rock!

Application popup: perl.exe - Ordinal Not Found : The ordinal 99 could not be located in the dynamic link library LIBEAY32.dll.

After extracting and copying LIBEAY32.dll, I get the same popup, except it is looking for ordinal 115.

It looks like these dll's are not compatible with my version of SSLeay.

I looked at http://www.bacus.pt/Net_SSLeay/, which says that SSLeay is obsolete/unsupported - go look at http://www.openssl.org/. Now I'm getting lost and confused - what module(s) should I be using to get https pages under win32? Sample code, anyone ?