How can I create a portable perl when I can't install modules on the target host?

Question

I need to run Perl applications I develop on cygwin Windows on HP unix / Solaris hosts. I am not a superuser on the unix machines and I can't touch the default Perl module location nor can I install modules to the default Perl module location. Also the unix installation lacks most basic modules and I can't change that.

For example, I have a Perl application that needs Expect which has native C compiled parts to it. How would I roll out this application to unix with its required dependencies without having to install anything else on that box?

Is there way to build the entire Perl application under Cygwin Windows and then just roll out one executable to unix and run it from my home directory there?

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EDIT addition based on answers so far:

Thanks in particular to brian, the local LIB dir solution seems to work in case of native Perl, but in case of Perl module needing C components, cross platform compiling, ie compiling on cygwin to run on Solaris, is not really possible as I feared.

However would having an other linux installation help, i.e. would this be possible easier between different flavors of Unix like package Perl on linux and then deploy to Solaris/HP? And what about something like lcc ?

Also I'd still like to hear little more if somebody has rolled out a native Perl package on Windows that includes all dependencies for a complicated Perl app that can then be moved to unix as just one file? (I do now understand that it won't work in case native C code is included like in in Expect.pm, but what about in case of app only using pure perl modules?)

Basically for many reasons I am trying to minimize time I need to spend being logged into these "production" unix hosts and do as much as possible locally beforehand.

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Added a new cross-compile question, since I felt I was maybe veering too far from the original perl question.

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EDIT -- Par looks promising for pure Perl, although same deal, it doesn't look to solve the cross platform compile problem for native extensions

Answer 1

In this case, I'd consider delivering a complete application complete with its own Perl. You get to choose any version you like and any modules you like. Compile everything, organize everything into a directory, then tar the result. To deploy, copy the file and untar. Use the advice that others have already noted about library search paths, etc. In essence, your application gets its own stack.

Now, the trick there is the cross compilation. Why are you developing on Cygwin? Is that a target too? Is there a reason you don't have an HP/UX or Solaris development machine? What architecture are you targeting (RISC, SPARC, Intel, etc). If you can't get hardware to run those, get some virtual machines for your targets and develop there.

Aside from that, you can install modules anywhere you have permissions. See perlfaq8:

• How do I keep my own module/library directory?
• How do I add the directory my program lives in to the module/library search path?
• How do I add a directory to my include path (@INC) at runtime?