Perlbrew is a tool to manage multiple perl installations in your home directory. They are completely isolated perl installations. See the perlbrew homepage is at https://perlbrew.pl.
Run the following command to download and install perlbrew:
curl -L https://install.perlbrew.pl | bash
$ curl -L https://install.perlbrew.pl | bash
% Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
100 1410 100 1410 0 0 1284 0 0:00:01 0:00:01 --:--:-- 1284
Installing perlbrew
Using Perl </usr/bin/perl>
perlbrew is installed: ~/perl5/perlbrew/bin/perlbrew
perlbrew root (~/perl5/perlbrew) is initialized.
Append the following piece of code to the end of your `~/.bash_profile and start a
new shell, perlbrew should be up and fully functional from there:
source ~/perl5/perlbrew/etc/bashrc
Simply run `perlbrew` for usage details.
Happy brewing!
Done.
Now according to the install instructions you need to do a “once off”, perlbrew init.
$ perlbrew init
Perlbrew environment initiated, required directories are created under
~/perl5/perlbrew
Paste the following line(s) to the end of your ~/.bashrc and start a
new shell, perlbrew should be up and fully functional from there:
source ~/perl5/perlbrew/etc/bashrc
For further instructions, simply run `perlbrew` to see the help message.
Enjoy perlbrew at $HOME!
and as it suggested above add the source line to your ~/.bashrc file.
Note: If you install another local perl system like “Linux Brew” you probably do not want to have this source line in your ~/.bashrc.
List what perl instances are available. Note that odd numbered perl versions like perl-5.27.6 are development versions! You should use an even numbered version like perl-5.26.1.
$ perlbrew available
perl-5.27.6
perl-5.26.1
perl-5.24.3
perl-5.22.4
perl-5.20.3
perl-5.18.4
perl-5.16.3
perl-5.14.4
perl-5.12.5
perl-5.10.1
perl-5.8.9
perl-5.6.2
perl5.005_04
perl5.004_05
Lets install perl-5.26.1
The install instruction say to use perlbrew -v install perl-xx.yy.z but I found that the
install would fail. The suggestion to use force i.e. perlbrew --force install perl-5.26.1
also fails. Use --notest. See reference at end.
$ perlbrew install perl-5.26.1 --notest
Fetching perl-5.26.1 as /shared/homes/xxxxxx/perl5/perlbrew/dists/perl-5.26.1.tar.gz
Installing /shared/homes/xxxxxx/perl5/perlbrew/build/perl-5.26.1 into
~/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.26.1
......
This could take a while. You can run the following command on another shell to
track the status:
tail -f ~/perl5/perlbrew/build.log
Installed /shared/homes/xxxxxx/perl5/perlbrew/build/perl-5.26.1 as perl-5.26.1 successfully.
Run the following command to switch to it.
perlbrew switch perl-5.26.1
You can list what perls you have installed with:
$ perlbrew list
perl-5.16.3
perl-5.26.1
* /usr/bin/perl (5.10.1)
$
To use an installed perl just type perlbrew switch perl_version:
$ which perl
/usr/bin/perl
$ perlbrew switch perl-5.26.1
$ which perl
~/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.26.1/bin/perl
$
To return to your original perl use perlbrew off
$ perlbrew off
perlbrew is switched off. Please exit this shell and start a new one to make it effective.
To immediately make it effective, run this line in this terminal:
exec /bin/bash
$ which perl
/usr/bin/perl
$
If you just want to play with a version of Perl in the current shell, just use this command:
perlbrew use perl-5.26.1
Remember to get help just type: perlbrew help
We will need to install cpanm to manage your perl modules. Perlbrew comes with an
option to do that for us. This just installs perl5/perlbrew/bin/cpanm.
$ perlbrew install-cpanm
Set a useful Bash Prompt
In your .bashrc set your PS1 variable like this:
PS1="`perlbrew list | grep \* | sed s/'* '//`$ "
Now your bash prompt will show the version of Perl that is in effect.
perl-5.20.1$
Trouble Installing New Version of Perl Using Perlbrew
References for Perlbrew:
http://perlbrew.pl/ and https://metacpan.org/pod/distribution/App-perlbrew/bin/perlbrew
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25188575/switching-to-the-system-perl-using-perlbrew
http://blogs.perl.org/users/aevar_arnfjor_bjarmason/2010/06/how-i-setup-my-debian-server-to-run-perl-5131-with-perlbrew.html
Alternatives to Perl Brew: plenv