Module::ConfigureRequires, version 0.01 (beta) A CPAN distribution's META.yml can contain a configure_requires entry, that lists modules needed for Makefile.PL or Build.PL to run. Tools such as CPAN.pm and CPANPLUS automatically read this file, and everything just works, *if* you have the latest version. The problem is that perl 5.10.1 and earlier do not ship with a suffic- iently recent version of CPAN.pm, and even the one that comes with 5.12.x has problems. This module attempts to solve this problem by using a different approach: The Makefile (or Build script) can be made to re-run Makefile.PL (or Build.PL), if it was generated without the necessary modules, and then re-run the make command. The Makefile.PL script will, of course, have to be able to generate at least a dummy Makefile if the configuration prerequisites are not present, in order for this to work. It must also list the configura- tion prerequisites along with the build- or run-time prerequisites. So, this is how it would work under an old CPAN shell with this setup: 1. User types ‘install Your::Module’ at the CPAN shell. 2. CPAN.pm downloads and unpacks Your::Module. 3. CPAN.pm runs Makefile.PL. 4. CPAN.pm installs the modules that Makefile.PL claims it needs, including Some::ConfigurePrereq. 5. CPAN.pm runs make. 6. The Makefile runs Makefile.PL, and then re-runs make. 7. CPAN.pm proceeds with the tests and installation. See the POD documentation in lib/Module/ConfigureRequires.pod (or use perldoc or man after installation) for more information. INSTALLATION The easiest way to install this module is to use the CPAN module or the cpan script: [sudo] perl -MCPAN -e "install Module::ConfigureRequires" [sudo] cpan Module::ConfigureRequires Or you can use the following: perl Makefile.PL make make test [sudo] make install PREREQUISITES This module requires perl 5 or higher. DOCUMENTATION After installing, you can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command. perldoc Module::ConfigureRequires Or try using man (it’s faster, in my experience): man Module::ConfigureRequires AUTHOR & COPYLEFT Copyright © 2010 Father Chrysostomos This program is free software; you may redistribute it, modify it, or both, under the same terms as perl.