Upgrade all modules installed by local::lib

Question

I\'ve been using local::lib to handle the installation of Perl modules on a server so I can get the right versions for some development work without polluting the system install

Answer 1

Update: For some time now, INSTALL_BASE has been producing a better directory structure that avoids this problem for new installs.

And that's why the perl Makefile.PL INSTALL_BASE=... convention (and the corresponding one for Build.PL) used by install::lib sucks.

Removing (or renaming the directory so you have backup) is the easiest solution. You can find out what you had installed by looking for .pm files.

cd ~
mv perl5{,16}
cd perl516/lib/perl5
find -name '*.pm' | xargs perl -MConfig -E'
   for (@ARGV) {
      s!^\./!!;
      s!^5\.\d+\.\d+/!!;
      s!^x86_64-linux/!!;
      s!^auto/!!;
      s!\.pm\z!!;
      s!/!::!g;
      say;
   }
' | xargs cpan

(Do a dry run — one without the trailing | xargs cpan — first.)

Note that if you don't want to be at the mercy of your admin's upgrades, you can use perlbrew to easily install a whole build of Perl in your home dir.