Perl – Installing PERL CPAN modules in local directory

Have you setup CPAN for that user to install into a directory you control?

If so, then you could be running in the differences amongst modules that use Extutils::MakeMaker (the oldest and most common build/install system), Module::Build, and Module::Install. They all have little quirks.

This is why local::lib was created. Once you have it installed and setup you shouldn't have to worry about it again (except for rogue modules that want to write things to specific places even though they have been told not to).

If you want to install the Perl distribution in the current directory, use the dot instead of a filename:

 cpan .

If you are using one of the latest versions of the cpan program (not the one that currently comes with CPAN.pm), you can use the -j switch to specify an alternate configuration file where you can set the --install_base or INSTALL_BASE directives, and also set values for options like connect_to_internet_ok.

 cpan -j /path/to/Config.pm Foo::Bar

If you want to modify your current config to make your alternate config file, use -J to get the file text:

 cpan -J

Ideally, instead for giving you superuser priveleges, that sysadmin would have created a group for Perl admins, would have specified a directory for module installations owned by that group, and added you to that group. You wouldn't need any special powers then.