At times, we need to install Perl modules that are not found in the official repository of a distribution. In that case, we have to revert to using cpan. CPAN stands for Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. It is an archive of over 16,000 modules of software written in Perl, as well as documentation for it. This tutorial will show you how to install a module using CPAN.
First we need to launch cpan. Type cpan in a terminal. If it is not already configured, then it will start to ask a series of questions. Just press Enter all the way until it asks for your location. Specify the location by entering the number for that location in the list shown. Then it will ask about your country, go ahead and type the number appropriate for your country. At the end you will see the cpan prompt like so
cpan>
To install a module, for example, Cache::Static, type the following at cpan prompt
cpan>install Cache::Static
It will ask you some questions, just press Enter to accept the defaults which almost always work. The module with all its dependencies will be downloaded, compiled and installed.
When you get back the cpan prompt, the module is installed.
Type quit to get out of cpan
cpan>quit
To confirm that the module is installed successfully, run this command
perl -e "use Cache::Static"
If you get no output, it means the module is installed successfully.
If you see the error “/bin/sh: cc: command not found”, then gcc is not installed. Install it like this on Debian, Ubuntu
aptitude install gcc
On Red Hat, Centos, Fedore, the following will work
yum install gcc