How can I set library and include paths for Makefile.PL for a single installation?

Question

How can I tell CPAN to give Makefile.PL one specific argument in one specific installation?

Specifically. I want to install XML::LibXML, and

Answer 1

The Makefile.PL is looking for libxml2.so. That's usually a symlink to your actual libxml2 shared object, like libxml2.so.2.6.32. If for some reason this symlink isn't around because you deleted it, your vendor didn't ship it with its libxml2 header package (e.g. libxml2-dev on Debian/Ubuntu/etc), you will need to create it yourself.

You don't need to pass any specific argument to Makefile.PL here. It's already looking in the right places. The things it's looking for simply aren't there.