CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem

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

I fail when trying to use CPAN to install into my home directory. The modules attempt to install into directories for which I don't have permission. (I see this failure on many modules that I've tried.)

I expect I've got something wrong in o conf, but I can't figure what.

I have variables set as:

$ perl -MCPAN -e shell
cpan[1]> o conf
...
    makepl_arg         [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuild_arg         [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuild_install_arg [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuildpl_arg       [--lib=/home/dthroop/lib/perl --installman1dir=
+/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man1 --installman3dir=/home/dthroop/lib/pe
+rl/man/man3 --installscript=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/bin --installbin=/
+home/dthroop/lib/perl/bin]

...
[download]

Or to show you all the switches

cpan[8]> o conf
$CPAN::Config options from /home/dthroop/.cpan/CPAN/MyConfig.pm:
    commit             [Commit changes to disk]
    defaults           [Reload defaults from disk]
    help               [Short help about 'o conf' usage]
    init               [Interactive setting of all options]

    applypatch         []
    auto_commit        [0]
    build_cache        [100]
    build_dir          [/home/dthroop/.cpan/build]
    build_dir_reuse    [1]
    build_requires_install_policy [yes]
    bzip2              [/usr/bin/bzip2]
    cache_metadata     [1]
    check_sigs         [0]
    colorize_debug     [black on_cyan]
    colorize_output    [1]
    colorize_print     [bold blue on_white]
    colorize_warn      [bold red on_white]
    commandnumber_in_prompt [1]
    commands_quote     undef
    connect_to_internet_ok [1]
    cpan_home          [/home/dthroop/.cpan]
    curl               [/usr/bin/curl]
    dontload_hash      undef
    dontload_list      undef
    ftp                [/usr/bin/ftp]
    ftp_passive        [0]
    ftp_proxy          []
    ftpstats_period    undef
    ftpstats_size      undef
    getcwd             [cwd]
    gpg                [/usr/bin/gpg]
    gzip               [/bin/gzip]
    halt_on_failure    [0]
    histfile           [/home/dthroop/.cpan/histfile]
    histsize           [100]
    http_proxy         []
    inactivity_timeout [0]
    index_expire       [1]
    inhibit_startup_message [0]
    keep_source_where  [/home/dthroop/.cpan/sources]
    load_module_verbosity [none]
    lynx               undef
    make               [/usr/bin/make]
    make_arg           [-j3]
    make_install_arg   [-j3]
    make_install_make_command [/usr/bin/make]
    makepl_arg         [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuild_arg         [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuild_install_arg [INSTALLMAN3DIR=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man3
+]
    mbuild_install_build_command [./Build]
  mbuildpl_arg       [--lib=/home/dthroop/lib/perl --installman1dir=/h
+ome/dthroop/lib/perl/man/man1 --installman3dir=/home/dthroop/lib/perl
+/man/man3 --installscript=/home/dthroop/lib/perl/bin --installbin=/ho
+me/dthroop/lib/perl/bin]
    ncftp              []
    ncftpget           [/usr/bin/ncftpget]
    no_proxy           []
    pager              [/usr/bin/less]
    password           undef
    patch              [/usr/bin/patch]
    patches_dir        undef
    perl5lib_verbosity [none]
    prefer_external_tar [1]
    prefer_installer   [MB]
    prefs_dir          [/home/dthroop/.cpan/prefs]
    prerequisites_policy [follow]
    proxy_pass         undef
    proxy_user         undef
    randomize_urllist  undef
    scan_cache         [atstart]
    shell              [/bin/tcsh]
    show_unparsable_versions [0]
    show_upload_date   [0]
    show_zero_versions [0]
    tar                [/bin/tar]
    tar_verbosity      [none]
    term_is_latin      [1]
    term_ornaments     [1]
    test_report        [0]
    trust_test_report_history [0]
    unzip              [/usr/bin/unzip]
    urllist           
        0 [http://cpan.dagolden.com/]
        1 [http://mirror.sit.wisc.edu/pub/CPAN/]
        2 [http://www.perl.com/CPAN/]
        3 [http://mirror.uoregon.edu/CPAN/]
        4 [http://mirror.datapipe.net/CPAN/]
        5 [http://cpan.cs.utah.edu/]
    use_sqlite         [1]
    username           undef
    version_timeout    [15]
    wait_list          undef
    wget               [/usr/bin/wget]
    yaml_load_code     [1]
    yaml_module        [YAML]
[download]

But when I try

cpan[1]> install Data::Table
...
Running make install
Appending installation info to /usr/lib/perl5/perllocal.pod
/bin/sh: /usr/lib/perl5/perllocal.pod: Permission denied
make: [doc_site_install] Error 1 (ignored)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+!!
ERROR: Can't create '/usr/local/share/man/man3'
Do not have write permissions on '/usr/local/share/man/man3'
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+!!
 at -e line 1
make: *** [pure_site_install] Error 13
  EZDB/Data-Table-1.60.tar.gz
  /usr/bin/make install -j3 -- NOT OK
[download]

Site policy says I can't have permanent permission to /usr/local/share/man/man3. But even when my sysadmin gives me temporary permission, I get

cpan[6]> force install Data::Table
...
Running make install
Appending installation info to /usr/lib/perl5/perllocal.pod
/bin/sh: /usr/lib/perl5/perllocal.pod: Permission denied
make: [doc_site_install] Error 1 (ignored)
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
+!!
ERROR: Can't create '/usr/local/share/perl5/Data'
mkdir /usr/local/share/perl5/Data: Permission denied at /usr/share/per
+l5/ExtUtils/Install.pm line 494
[download]

What am I doing wrong?

Comment on CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem Select or Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by zentara (Cardinal) on Apr 25, 2012 at 18:24 UTC
What am I doing wrong? You are not using local::lib :-) It's as easy as this: `How to use the local::lib module: Use the --bootstrap method to install local::lib according to its inst +allation instructions and then echo 'eval $(perl -I$HOME/perl5/lib/perl5 -Mlocal::lib)' >>~/.bashrc then run cpan shell this way perl -MCPAN -Mlocal::lib -e shell you may need to cpan> reload cpan cpan> o conf init connect_to_internet_ok urllist cpan> install Crypt::Rijndael # for example` [download] I'm not really a human, but I play one on earth. Old Perl Programmer Haiku ................... flash japh	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by throop (Chaplain) on Apr 25, 2012 at 20:22 UTC
Thanks! that worked wonderfully. BTW, something I found only through trial and error: I downloaded and untarred local::lib, and connected to the directory it created ( local-lib-1.008004). I created the makefile: `perl Makefile.PL --bootstrap=/home/dthroop` [download] and followed the directions. When all was said and done, this resulted in `$ cpan > install Data::Table` [download] placing its code in `/home/dthroop/perl5/lib/perl5/Data/Table.pm` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by Anonymous Monk on Apr 26, 2012 at 03:51 UTC
Re: My favorite pitfall: setting up CPAN perl -I/home/user/stuff/lib/perl5 -S myfoobar.pl perl -M lib=/home/user/stuff/lib/perl5 -S myfoobar.pl export PERLLIB=/home/user/stuff/lib/perl5 myfoobar.pl export PERL_MM_USE_DEFAULT=1 export PERL_MB_OPT=--install_base /home/user/stuff export PERL_MM_OPT=INSTALL_BASE=/home/user/stuff export AUTOMATED_TESTING=0 cpan -fi Module Module Module Module Module Module cpanp -i Module Module Module --allow_build_interactivity=0 --skiptest=0 --force --prereqs=1 --no_update=1	[reply]
Re: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by Anonymous Monk on Dec 25, 2018 at 08:36 UTC
Add sudo before running make install	[reply]
Re^2: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by marto (Cardinal) on Dec 25, 2018 at 09:28 UTC
This advice is wrong, OP wanted to install to their home directory. local::lib etc.	[reply]
Re^2: CPAN won't install into personal directory; probably an o conf problem by Corion (Patriarch) on Dec 25, 2018 at 09:27 UTC
Can you please explain how `sudo` is part of the solution if you're installing into a personal directory ? `sudo` is for using super user permissions, and installing into a personal directory is used to install CPAN modules without requiring super user permissions.	[reply] [d/l] [select]