cpan has started failing for me on the command line on my production machine. When I run "cpan X" it downloads the X tar file, generates an empty Makefile.PL and then complains that everything is missing.

However I have deeper problems. When I tried to install DBD::SQLite it ran out of memory during compilation. Not so much of a problem as that module is not required for production purposes but it does mean I cannot run any test script depending on DBD::SQLite.

But it gets worse. My production machine is a ubuntu hardy running perl 5.8. My test machine is a debian running perl 5.10. For a long time I tried to hold back the perl version on the test machine to keep it in sync with production. However in the end that just got to be more and more of a handicap as things refused to install. Upgrading the production machine is out of the question (just checked with the service provider). Changing the test machine to ubuntu on the current hardware in a big bang is also out of the question. I know I am going to have to get another test machine and move across gradually. But does anybody have any suggestions in the meantime?

Edit: I have just tried manually upgrading CPAN. The test scripts run fine but the wider issues remain.

In reply to perl module installs getting really mesed up by SilasTheMonk

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