Hi Ian, I did get some messages that indicate that some folks are interested in this even if a bit "off topic".

One place for you to start with with PPM (the Perl Package Manager) for ActiveState. There is a GUI version that starts by default if you just type >PPM. Type >PPM help at command line to get some help.

I just did a <PPM list on my machine. This produces a listing of all installed pages, version and location on the machine (site, Perl), etc.

I have 223 installed packages (aside from what comes with the AS distribution). I suppose in theory if you have that list, you can automate the re-installation of these packages. There of course, some "gottchas". Examples

1. I had to do some manual steps to get SSLeay installed right (some DLL's had to be moved/copied around)
2. Other manual steps to do things like associate .pl,etc extension as "runnable" in Windows.
and the list goes on...and on...

A "solid" disaster recovery strategy will require a lot of work and testing. The most important part is the actual code that you have written! Great backup and OFF SITE backup of the data is critical if you want to survive fire, etc.

If you are "re-creating" a machine without a backup, this can take a LOT longer than you think!

I sometimes build custom machines for other folks. When I get the hardware all installed and working, then I start a .doc of the SW installation and config process. Somewhere about 100 steps is typical. Usually I can't get it "perfect" on the first attempt (for some complex hardware there are performance and feature trade offs even for low level drivers). So I modify my 6-8 page "installation" doc. Then wipe HD and run down checklist all over again. Usually this takes 10-12 hours to do all the steps, even with this exact script, experience of having done it before, etc. I test machine. Make a super disaster, set of DVD's. Then I wipe HD and use my custom recovery DVD's (takes like 30 min as an easy thing vs 10 hours of careful work). That's what happens just so I can make sure that I re-create the machine as delivered as "the last resort". I rely upon data backups to go from there to a "working system" in disasters.

I am saying not to underestimate the time that you've spent installing and configuring SW gizmo X! Lots of folks don't realize how long this takes in total as they do an hour here or there. Solve some frustration that took them 3-4 hours last year, etc. I would concentrate on getting reliable full backups of SW and critical data. You want to be in a 30 min situation instead of a 10 hour deal.

I would be curious as to how you do with the hint above that shows how to list installed packages.