Force CPAN to download via HTTP (skipping proxy)

Prix's recommendations are pretty solid, you should attempt to build it outside of CPAN. CPAN modules can be quite tedious at times.

If you cannot fix the module yourself, you might benefit from trying an earlier version. It's not unusual to encounter a newer version that introduces build issues.

You could potentially force the install if make test fails but this is not generally advised, as the module will likely be in some form of broken state. However, if the test is attempting to access the Internet on a server that has outgoing traffic filtering, it might make sense.

I've actually decided to go with cpanminus over cpan, and am using:

# perl/manifests/init.pp

class perl {

  define installCPAN () {
    exec { "cpanLoad${title}":
      command => "cpanm $name",
      path    => "/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin",
      unless  => "perl -I.cpan -M$title -e 1",
      timeout => 600,
      require => Exec["initCPAN"],
    }
  }

  package { "perl": ensure => installed, require => Class["common"] }
  exec { "initCPAN":
    command =>  "wget -O - http://cpanmin.us | perl - --self-upgrade",
    path    => "/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin",
    creates  => "/bin/cpanm",
    require => [ Class["common"], Package["perl"] ],
  }
  # E.g.
  installCPAN { "JSON": }
  installCPAN { "JSON::XS": }
}