CPM(1)

📦
version 0.998.3 · 8 versions
, in fedora 44

CPM(1) 💖 User Contributed Perl Documentation

okay so bestie, gather round 🫶 this is cpm, and it's literally the fast CPAN module installer. yes, like, actually fast. no cap. 💅 (also hi, it lives in the "User Contributed Perl Documentation" section of the manual, if you were wondering where we were at 📖✨)

✨ NAME ✨

cpm — a fast CPAN module installer 🔥👑

like. it installs CPAN modules. quickly. that's the whole vibe. slay.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

here's the tea, bestie — look how pretty these all are 🎀

# install modules into local/
> cpm install Module1 Module2 ...

# install modules from one of
#  * cpm.yml
#  * cpanfile
#  * META.json (with dynamic_config false)
#  * Build.PL
#  * Makefile.PL
> cpm install

# install module into current @INC instead of local/
> cpm install -g Module

# read modules from STDIN by specifying "-" as an argument
> cat module-list.txt | cpm install -

# prefer TRIAL release
> cpm install --dev Moose

# install modules as if version of your perl is 5.8.5
# so that modules which are not core in 5.8.5 will be installed
> cpm install --target-perl 5.8.5

# resolve distribution names from DARKPAN/modules/02packages.details.txt.gz
# and fetch distributions from DARKPAN/authors/id/...
> cpm install --resolver 02packages,http://example.com/darkpan Your::Module
> cpm install --resolver 02packages,file:///path/to/darkpan    Your::Module

# specify types/phases in cpmfile/cpanfile/metafile by "--with-*" and "--without-*" options
> cpm install --with-recommends --without-test

okay but the cat module-list.txt | cpm install - one?? iconic. piping your whole module list straight into it like it's nothing 🧚✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

every single flag, no skips, no shortcuts, we are NOT gatekeeping 🫶

  • -w, --workers=N — how many workers you want running. default is 5. more workers = more chaos = more speed, go off 💨
  • -L, --local-lib-contained=DIR — the directory your modules get installed into. default is local/ 🏠
  • -g, --global — install modules into your current @INC instead of local/. the "no containment, we're free" option 🌈
  • -v, --verbose — verbose mode; you can see what is going on 👀 like, all of it. the whole plot.
  • --prebuilt, --no-prebuilt — save builds for CPAN distributions, and later, install the prebuilts if available. default is on ✨ you can also set $ENV{PERL_CPM_PREBUILT} false to disable this option. warning bestie: using --test and/or --man-pages disables this option. no prebuilts for you then 💀
  • --target-perl=VERSION (EXPERIMENTAL) — install modules as if version is your perl is VERSION. yes it's experimental, tread lightly 🧪
  • --mirror=URL — base url for the CPAN mirror to use. cannot be used multiple times — use --resolver instead. default: https://cpan.metacpan.org 🪞
  • --pp, --pureperl-only — prefer pureperl only build 🍦
  • --static-install, --no-static-install — enable/disable the static install, default: enable 🗿
  • -r, --resolver=class,args (EXPERIMENTAL, will be removed or renamed) — specify resolvers, you can use --resolver multiple times. available classes: metadb/metacpan/02packages/snapshot 🕵️♀️ (heads up: experimental, it might get removed or renamed, so don't get too attached 😭)
  • --no-default-resolvers — even if you specify --resolver, cpm continues using the default resolvers. if you just want to use your resolvers specified by --resolver, you should specify --no-default-resolvers too. so basically: if you want only yours, you need this flag too, periodt 🚫
  • --reinstall — reinstall the distribution even if you already have the latest version installed. because sometimes you just gotta redo it, for the plot 🔁
  • --dev (EXPERIMENTAL) — resolve TRIAL distributions too 🧪👑
  • --color, --no-color — turn on/off color output, default: on 🌈 (keep it on, it's cute)
  • --test, --no-test — run test cases, default: no 🧪
  • --man-pages — generate man pages 📚
  • --retry, --no-retry — retry configure/build/test/install if fails, default: retry 🔁 (never give up, never surrender)
  • --show-build-log-on-failure — show build.log on failure, default: off 📄 (flip it on if you like receipts)
  • --configure-timeout=sec, --build-timeout=sec, --test-timeout=sec — specify configure/build/test timeout second, default: 60sec, 3600sec, 1800sec ⏰
  • --show-progress, --no-show-progress — show progress, default: on 📊 (we love a progress bar moment)
  • --cpmfile=path — specify cpmfile path, default: ./cpm.yml 📁
  • --cpanfile=path — specify cpanfile path, default: ./cpanfile 📁
  • --metafile=path — specify META file path, default: N/A 📁
  • --snapshot=path — specify cpanfile.snapshot path, default: ./cpanfile.snapshot 📁
  • -V, --version — show version 🔢
  • -h, --help — show this help 🆘
  • --feature=identifier — specify the feature to enable in cpmfile/cpanfile/metafile; you can use --feature multiple times 🎀
  • --with-requires, --without-requires (default: with) — turn requires on or off
  • --with-recommends, --without-recommends (default: without) — turn recommends on or off
  • --with-suggests, --without-suggests (default: without) — turn suggests on or off
  • --with-configure, --without-configure (default: without) — turn configure on or off
  • --with-build, --without-build (default: with) — turn build on or off
  • --with-test, --without-test (default: with) — turn test on or off
  • --with-runtime, --without-runtime (default: with) — turn runtime on or off
  • --with-develop, --without-develop (default: without) — turn develop on or off

all of these specify types/phases of dependencies in cpmfile/cpanfile/metafile to be installed 💖

  • --with-all — shortcut for --with-requires, --with-recommends, --with-suggests, --with-configure, --with-build, --with-test, --with-runtime and --with-develop. the "give me everything, I want it all" button 👑✨

Copyright 2015 Shoichi Kaji <skaji@cpan.org> 💜

This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

okay bestie that's the whole page 🫶 go install something, you're gonna do amazing, fr fr 🌸💖

this lil manual moment came to you via perl v5.42.0, dated 2026-01-16 🎀 mwah, go slay ✨💅

📦 where this page comes from