How do I stop CPAN from accessing an unresponsive package repository?

Question

I tried to install a package. It's failing connecting to soft-download.org. I don't know why it's trying to connect to that host.

$ cpan install Config::IniFiles
Loading internal null logger. Install Log::Log4perl for logging messages
CPAN: Storable loaded ok (v2.53_01)
Reading '/home/Chloe/.cpan/Metadata'
  Database was generated on Sat, 24 Dec 2016 20:17:02 GMT
Running install for module 'Config::IniFiles'
CPAN: LWP::UserAgent loaded ok (v6.15)
CPAN: Time::HiRes loaded ok (v1.9732)
Fetching with LWP:
http://soft-download.org/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz
LWP failed with code[500] message[Can't connect to soft-download.org:80]

Trying with
    /usr/bin/wget -O "/home/Chloe/.cpan/sources/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz.tmp11320"
to get
    http://soft-download.org/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz
--2016-12-24 16:19:24--  http://soft-download.org/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz
Resolving soft-download.org (soft-download.org)... 204.45.81.83
Connecting to soft-download.org (soft-download.org)|204.45.81.83|:80... failed: Connection timed out.
Retrying.

--2016-12-24 16:19:46--  (try: 2)  http://soft-download.org/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz
Connecting to soft-download.org (soft-download.org)|204.45.81.83|:80... failed: Connection timed out.
Retrying.

--2016-12-24 16:20:09--  (try: 3)  http://soft-download.org/authors/id/S/SH/SHLOMIF/Config-IniFiles-2.94.tar.gz
Connecting to soft-download.org (soft-download.org)|204.45.81.83|:80... failed: Connection timed out.
Retrying.

I tried to reload the index, but it still tries to access soft-download.org.

cpan[2]> reload index
CPAN: Storable loaded ok (v2.53_01)
Reading '/home/Chloe/.cpan/Metadata'
  Database was generated on Sat, 24 Dec 2016 20:17:02 GMT
CPAN: LWP::UserAgent loaded ok (v6.15)
CPAN: Time::HiRes loaded ok (v1.9732)
Fetching with LWP:
http://soft-download.org/authors/01mailrc.txt.gz
LWP failed with code[500] message[Can't connect to soft-download.org:80]

Trying with
    /usr/bin/wget -O "/home/Chloe/.cpan/sources/authors/01mailrc.txt.gz.tmp14304"
to get
    http://soft-download.org/authors/01mailrc.txt.gz
--2016-12-24 16:27:15--  http://soft-download.org/authors/01mailrc.txt.gz
Resolving soft-download.org (soft-download.org)... 204.45.81.83
Connecting to soft-download.org (soft-download.org)|204.45.81.83|:80...

Answer 1

cpan[5]> o conf urllist
    urllist
        0 [http://soft-download.org/]
        1 [http://cpan.develooper.com/]
        2 [http://cpan.erlbaum.net/]

cpan[10]> o conf urllist http://cpan.erlbaum.net http://cpan.develooper.com
Please use 'o conf commit' to make the config permanent!


cpan[11]> o conf urllist
    urllist
        0 [http://cpan.erlbaum.net]
        1 [http://cpan.develooper.com]
Type 'o conf' to view all configuration items


cpan[12]> o conf commit
commit: wrote '/home/Chloe/.cpan/CPAN/MyConfig.pm'

http://www.cpan.org/SITES.html

Answer 2

Solution 1: Remove the bad repository

Run cpan with no arguments, then enter

o conf urllist

This is will lists the repositories to use.

urllist
    0 [http://good1/]
    1 [http://good2/]
    2 [http://bad/]

Re-enter the repositories without the bad one as follows:

o conf urllist http://good1/ http://good2/

Finally, save your changes as follows:

o conf commit

Solution 2: Find the repositories that are the fastest for you

Run cpan with no arguments, then enter

o conf init urllist

When asked "Would you like me to automatically choose some CPAN mirror sites for you?", press Enter.

Finally, save your changes as follows:

o conf commit

Solution 3: Find repositories by region

Run cpan with no arguments, then enter

o conf init urllist

When asked "Would you like me to automatically choose some CPAN mirror sites for you?", enter no.

When asked "Would you like to edit the urllist or pick new mirrors from a list?", press Enter.

When asked "Shall I use the cached mirror list?", enter no.

Select mirrors as directed by the prompt.

Finally, save your changes as follows:

o conf commit