Perlbrew fails to install perl but reports success

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

% perlbrew install -v perl-5.8.9
...
DB_File.xs:998:34: error: incompatible function pointer types assignin
+g to 'u_int32_t (*)(const void *, size_t)' (aka 'unsigned int (*)(con
+st void *, unsigned long)') from 'int (const void *, size_t)' (aka 'i
+nt (const void *, unsigned long)') [-Wincompatible-function-pointer-t
+ypes]
                info->db_HA_hash = hash_cb ;
                                 ^ ~~~~~~~
DB_File.xs:1041:36: error: incompatible function pointer types assigni
+ng to 'size_t (*)(const DBT *, const DBT *)' (aka 'unsigned long (*)(
+const DBT *, const DBT *)') from 'int (const DBT *, const DBT *)' [-W
+incompatible-function-pointer-types]
                info->db_BT_prefix = btree_prefix ;
                                   ^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
...
308 warnings and 2 errors generated.
make[1]: *** [DB_File.o] Error 1
make: *** [lib/auto/DB_File/DB_File.bundle] Error 2
perl-5.8.9 is successfully installed.

% perlbrew list
* perl-5.42.0                               
  perl-5.38.2   

% perlbrew install -v perl-5.24.4
...
# Failed test 25 - SHA for cpan/ExtUtils-MakeMaker/lib/ExtUtils/Liblis
+t/Kid.pm matches stashed SHA at porting/customized.t line 105
#      got "47d2fdf890d7913ccd0e32b5f98a98f75745d227"
# expected "bfd2aa00ca4ed251f342e1d1ad704abbaf5a615e"
porting/customized.t .............................................. 
Failed 1/181 subtests 
...
Test Summary Report
-------------------
porting/customized.t                                            (Wstat
+: 0 Tests: 181 Failed: 1)
  Failed test:  25
porting/libperl.t                                               (Wstat
+: 7424 Tests: 0 Failed: 0)
  Non-zero exit status: 29
  Parse errors: No plan found in TAP output
Files=2410, Tests=850611, 515 wallclock secs (11.99 usr  2.72 sys + 13
+4.39 cusr 16.64 csys = 165.74 CPU)
Result: FAIL
make: *** [test_harness] Error 1
perl-5.24.4 is successfully installed.

% perlbrew list                       
* perl-5.42.0                               
  perl-5.38.2
[download]

Summary of my perl5 (revision 5 version 42 subversion 0) configuration:
   
  Platform:
    osname=darwin
    osvers=23.3.0
    archname=darwin-2level
    gccversion='Apple LLVM 15.0.0 (clang-1500.3.9.4)'

    PERLBREW_PERL="perl-5.42.0"
    PERLBREW_SHELLRC_VERSION="1.02"
    PERLBREW_VERSION="1.02"

Comment on Perlbrew fails to install perl but reports success Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: Perlbrew fails to install perl but reports success by choroba (Cardinal) on Apr 14, 2026 at 19:06 UTC
You can report the issue to perlbrew's developer. `map{substr$_->[0],$_->[1]\|\|0,1}[\\|\|{},3],[[]],[ref qr-1,-,-1],[{}],[sub{}^ARGV,3]`	[reply] [d/l]
Re: Perlbrew fails to install perl but reports success by ikegami (Patriarch) on Apr 14, 2026 at 19:11 UTC
perlbrew always says it successfully installs. This isn't new.	[reply]
Re: Perlbrew fails to install perl but reports success by Anonymous Monk on May 08, 2026 at 02:53 UTC
I tried installing the old Perls until I found one that works. I don't think perlbrew is the problem (other than reporting failure as success lol). Is macos (sonoma+) incompatible with older versions of Perl? I have not tried --force yet, is that advisable? The errors are a bit cryptic to me but I think these are the reasons: perl-5.6.2 failed C compiler perl-5.8.9 failed DB_File.o perl-5.10.1 failed groups.t, locale.t perl-5.12.5 failed locale.t perl-5.14.4 failed locale.t perl-5.16.3 success! perlbrew install -v perl-5.6.2 Use which C compiler? cc Checking for GNU cc in disguise and/or its version number... gccvers.c:10:2: error: call to undeclared library function 'exit' with type 'void (int) __attribute__((noreturn))'; ISO C99 and later do not support implicit function declarations [-Wimplicit-function-declaration] exit(0); ^ gccvers.c:10:2: note: include the header <stdlib.h> or explicitly provide a declaration for 'exit' 1 error generated. * WHOA THERE!!! * Your C compiler "cc" doesn't seem to be working! You'd better start hunting for one and let me know about it. perlbrew install -v perl-5.8.9 DB_File.c:3003:5: warning: '}' and ')' tokens terminating statement expression appear in different macro expansion contexts [-Wcompound-token-split-by-macro] XSRETURN_YES; ^~~~~~~~~~~~ ../../XSUB.h:283:65: note: expanded from macro 'XSRETURN_YES' #define XSRETURN_YES STMT_START { XST_mYES(0); XSRETURN(1); } STMT_END ^ DB_File.c:3003:5: note: ')' token is here XSRETURN_YES; ^~~~~~~~~~~~ ../../XSUB.h:283:67: note: expanded from macro 'XSRETURN_YES' #define XSRETURN_YES STMT_START { XST_mYES(0); XSRETURN(1); } STMT_END ^~~~~~~~ ../../perl.h:357:21: note: expanded from macro 'STMT_END' # define STMT_END ) ^ 308 warnings and 2 errors generated. make1: * [DB_File.o] Error 1 make: * [lib/auto/DB_File/DB_File.bundle] Error 2 perlbrew install -v perl-5.10.1 Test Summary Report ------------------- op/groups.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 2 Failed: 1) Failed test: 1 ../ext/POSIX/t/posix.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 66 Failed: 0) TODO passed: 11 ../lib/locale.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 117 Failed: 1) Failed test: 99 Files=1711, Tests=227048, 325 wallclock secs ( 4.52 usr 1.67 sys + 96.01 cusr 15.00 csys = 117.20 CPU) Result: FAIL Failed 2/1711 test programs. 2/227048 subtests failed. make2: * [_test_tty] Error 255 make1: * [_test] Error 2 make: * [test_harness] Error 2 perlbrew install -v perl-5.12.5 Test Summary Report ------------------- ../ext/POSIX/t/posix.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 66 Failed: 0) TODO passed: 11 ../lib/locale.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 117 Failed: 1) Failed test: 99 Files=1806, Tests=349990, 351 wallclock secs ( 6.71 usr 2.00 sys + 113.55 cusr 17.93 csys = 140.19 CPU) Result: FAIL make: * [test_harness] Error 1 perlbrew install -v perl-5.14.4 Test Summary Report ------------------- ../ext/POSIX/t/posix.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 66 Failed: 0) TODO passed: 11 ../lib/locale.t (Wstat: 0 Tests: 117 Failed: 1) Failed test: 99 Files=2090, Tests=455882, 373 wallclock secs ( 8.16 usr 1.87 sys + 120.61 cusr 19.32 csys = 149.96 CPU) Result: FAIL make: *** [test_harness] Error 1 perl-5.16.3 is successfully installed.	[reply]