perlbrew Documentation

perlbrew allows you to install, list, and switch between multiple isolated Perl environments in your $HOME directory. This avoids the need for sudo when installing CPAN modules.

Common Workflow:

1. Check available versions: See what versions are available to install.
2. Install a version: Download and build a specific Perl version.
3. List installed versions: See which Perls you have already built.
4. Switch versions: Set a specific version as the default for your shell.
5. Use a version temporarily: Use a specific version only in the current shell session without changing the default.
6. Turn off perlbrew: Revert to using the system Perl.

# See what is available
perlbrew available

# Install specific versions
perlbrew install 5.32.1
perlbrew install perl-5.28.3

# List installed Perls
perlbrew list

# Switch to a version and set it as default
perlbrew switch perl-5.32.1

# Temporarily use a version in the current shell
perlbrew use perl-5.28.3

# Turn off perlbrew and go back to system perl
perlbrew off

# Turn it back on
perlbrew switch perl-5.32.1
perlbrew use perl-5.32.1

You can install perlbrew using the official installer script or via CPAN.

Using the installer script (Recommended): Use curl or fetch to run the installer. By default, perlbrew installs to ~/perl5/perlbrew.

Using CPAN: You can install it using your system Perl via cpan App::perlbrew. Note that if you are upgrading, you should run perlbrew off first to ensure you are using the system Perl and not a perlbrew-managed version.

Customizing Installation Location: To install perlbrew to a directory other than ~/perl5/perlbrew, set the PERLBREW_ROOT environment variable before running the installer.

# Standard installation
curl -L https://install.perlbrew.pl | bash

# Installation with fetch (FreeBSD)
fetch -o- https://install.perlbrew.pl | sh

# Custom installation root
export PERLBREW_ROOT=/opt/perl5
curl -L https://install.perlbrew.pl | bash

# Installation via CPAN
cpan App::perlbrew