Look into the MySQL LOAD command, it is the best way to get CSV into MySQL. That said, if you want to use a pure perl module (which can be easily installed without root permissions or compiling), then consider DBD::AnyData which will let you treat the CSV file in the same way you treat the MySQL database - with DBI and SQL so there's little extra to learn. If you can compile and install (again without root permissions), then use DBD::CSV.