in reply to What does module installation really do?

When going through the "make; make test; make install;" commands during normal module installation, there are various things that may or may not happen. Many modules are not pure perl, and have inline c functions or link to external functions/modules/code. During the make period, I believe that inline c compliation will happen, as well as checking that things that inline c touches (c headers) will be checked for their existence.

During "make test", the tests included with the module will be run, ensuring that interaction between the code in the module and the system modules/perl is acting as expected (in the eyes of the module writer). Without this step, there maybe unexpected results when running code using these modules.

make install simply moves the modules to the proper places on the system, which is what you are doing with your ftp'ing.

I'd suggest doing the full module installation procedure whenever possible. It may save you some headaches later on in debugging.

Also, always use SSH not Telnet. Telnet passes your info in plaintext (user/pass) and SSH is a fully secure connection.

  • Comment on Re: What does module installation really do?

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Re^2: What does module installation really do?
by bradcathey (Prior) on Dec 07, 2005 at 03:52 UTC

    Thanks hubb0r, that makes sense. I just don't understand why I get so many errors and failed installs.

    Here's what Pair has me doing:

    ssh myusername@servername.pair.com.

enter password

/usr/local/bin/perl -MCPAN -e shell

cpan> o conf makepl_arg LIB=/usr/home/myusername/modules
cpan> install CPAN::Modulename

[look for -- OK] (rare)
q
exit

    [download]

    Oh, and it looks like I'm using SSH.


    —Brad
    "The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men." George Eliot
[reply]
[d/l]
      What kinds of errors/failed installations are you getting?
[reply]

        I just now successfully installed CGI::Application::Plugin::ValidateRM and CGI::Application::Plugin::FillInForm, but when I tried to install CGI::Application::Plugin::DBH I got a failed install. Below is the text that echoed to my terminal:

        Read more... (21 kB)

        Here's the last bit of it for those who don't want to see all the bloody details:

        Failed Test      Stat Wstat Total Fail  Failed  List of Failed
----------------------------------------------------------------------
+-------------------------------------------------
t/auto_config.t   255 65280     1    0   0.00%  ??
t/basic.t         255 65280     1    0   0.00%  ??
t/existing_dbh.t  255 65280     1    0   0.00%  ??
t/multi_handle.t  255 65280     1    0   0.00%  ??
Failed 4/5 test scripts, 20.00% okay. 0/5 subtests failed, 100.00% oka
+y.
*** Error code 2

Stop in /usr/home/dsoft/.cpan/build/CGI-Application-Plugin-DBH-4.00.
  /usr/bin/make test -- NOT OK
Running make install
  make test had returned bad status, won't install without force

        [download]

        Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

        Update: fixed incorrect module name.


        —Brad
        "The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men." George Eliot
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