Building Perl for UNIX

Bill Hess - bhess@techrg.com

Software Versions used in this Example

• Perl Version = 5.005_03
• OS Version = Solaris 2.6
• Compiler = gcc 2.8.1

Space Requirements

• Source Code for Building ~ 19.6 MB
• Installed after Build ~ 29.2 MB
• Total Space Required for Build and Install ~ 40 MB

Download the latest stable source of Perl from CPAN - www.perl.com

• stable.tar.gz - GNU ZIP

Put the source into a temporary directory, for example:

• /tmp/perl5.003_03

Reference the /tmp/perl5.003_03/README file for detailed information on compiling

Configure your environment for building

• Type 'sh Configure -Dcc=gcc -Dprefix=/usr/local/perl' while in the '/tmp/perl5.003_03' directory
• The 'cc' variable points to the compiler to use
• The 'prefix' variable points to the install directory. For this example '/usr/local/perl' will be used
• You will be asked if you want a link created from /usr/bin/perl to where you actually install it - accept this since most scripts refer to #!/usr/bin/perl in the first line
• While the Configure script runs, it will ask many questions - typicallyaccept the default which is done with a carriage return. Sometimes it will alert you that a directory does not exist for installation - in this case just answer 'Y' and continue on...
• If you want to accept all defaults you can type '& -d' at any prompt and the configuration script will run on its own

Compile the Perl source using the supplied makefile.

• Type 'make' while in the '/tmp/perl5.003_03' directory

Test the build

• Type 'make test' while in the '/tmp/perl5.003_03' directory
• Watch the tests run by and all should get an 'ok' except skipped tests
• When finished you should get an 'All tests successful' message

Install Perl

• Type 'make install' while in the '/tmp/perl5.003_03' directory
• This will copy all of the necessary files to the install directory determined from the 'prefix' variable
• This will also generate all of the online Perl documentation

Add the following Perl directories to your PATH environment variable:

• /usr/local/perl/bin

You are done - Perl is built and ready to use!!!