Splinter has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I am really stupid and new to this. I have an account with virtualave.net where I have perl access, but am really anoyed with having to upload me files to test them. Can I install perl on me computer(win2000) so that I can use my perl files offline? p.s. I am really, really stupid. I have downloaded perl a million times and have never managed to get it working. The readme files are all bla bla bla crappy crap crap to me. THANKS!
  • Comment on How do I install perl on win2000 so that I can use perl file offline?

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Re: How do I install perl on win2000 so that I can use perl file offline?
by footpad (Abbot) on Feb 12, 2001 at 01:50 UTC
    Try going here and downloading the Windows MSI item.

    This provides an MSI file that you can install from Explorer. Simply double-click the file and let it work its magic. You should restart your computer once it's finished.

    Once you've done that, you're set. For more information, go here.

    Update: Ah, now we get to the heart of the matter. The following added to cover the Splinter's reply:

    You haven't said whether you're trying to run utility scripts or CGI scripts. If the former, then check out ActiveState's FAQ on the subject.

    If the latter, you'll need to install a web server of some form, such as Microsoft's Personal Web Server (bleah) or Apache. If you're not already using PWS, there's a bundle including Perl and Apache called IndigoPerl. I have hear this spoken of favorably, though I have no direct experience with it myself.

    If you've checked these out, then please post a message outlining some more specific details such as the script you're running, how you're running it, and what it's doing/not doing right.

    --f
      but whenever I access a .pl file using Internet Explorer It brings up a download thing. Or a perl dos window appears and then goes away. Not html output or anything. I did the right content type statement but no success.

        Your webserver returns the wrong content-type header or your Perl scripts don't return content-type:text/html headers, most likely because you are not using the CGI.pm module.

        That a DOS window (in fact, it's just a console window, but the term DOS window is more common) opens, is natural, as Windows starts Perl.exe to open/execute the file that was downloaded as .pl file, and Perl is connected to the .pl file extension. So check that your MIME types in your webserver are correct and that your scripts are also generating the right content-type headers.

        And use CGI !

        Silly question: are you accessing Perl scripts through a webserver (that is, <samp>http://localhost/myscript.pl</samp>) or are you accessing them through Windows Explorer (<samp>C:\InetPub\wwwroot\myscript.pl</samp>)? It sounds like the latter.

        It makes a world of difference. Windows explorer runs the Perl scripts as if they were run from a command shell. Your webserver runs them with the appropriate environment values set and querie parameters sent, filters the output, and sends it to the web browser.

Re: How do I install perl on win2000 so that I can use perl file offline?
by Corion (Patriarch) on Feb 12, 2001 at 01:53 UTC

    There are two ways to go - one is ActivePerl from http://www.activestate.com. This one comes as a Microsoft Installer Package, and most likely requires administrative privileges to install. ActivePerl is good, ActiveState has many Win32 ports of Perl modules online.

    The other solution is IndigoPerl (http://www.indigostar.com/indigoperl.htm), which comes together with a built-in HTTP-Server, which could be suited more to what you want to use Perl for, Web development. IndigoPerl comes (last time I looked) as a plain .zip file with some small installer, that dosen't need administrative privileges.

    Both ports of Perl are equally valid, but IndigoPerl might be more suited to your needs. Both installations should be (other than maybe the administrative privileges and the reboot to update autoexec.bat (not really necessary)) relatively painless.

    This question could also already have been answered by visiting the Outside Links page, which should have been found by Super Search, but I don't know which would be the right keywords :-).

    Update: Contrary to other claims, the IndigoPerl link is still valid and the file can be downloaded at ftp://ftp.indigostar.com/pub/indigoperl-5.6.zip.

      it does now sorry. the link that is
      that ingigo link don't work, and you havn't noticed that I've said I'm really stupid. I don't know what you mean by "coz you're not using CGI.pm".
Re: How do I install perl on win2000 so that I can use perl file offline?
by chorg (Monk) on Feb 12, 2001 at 05:06 UTC
    Download ActiveState perl .msi file from the site

    make sure IIS 5.0 is installed (Windows add remove programs)

    doubleclick the installer

    make sure that you add Perl for ISAPI and PerlIS in the install

    run your cgi scripts.

    The problem that you had with IE doing the download thing is that the webserver does not know to use the Perl ISAPI filter to process that type of file. Read the docs on the ActiveState site
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