Install Perl modules with lots of dependencies on a machine without CPAN network access

Question

I am trying to install the DateTime machine on a Linux server. Unfortunately, this Linux server has some restricted network access policy that prevents me from using the CPAN shell directly to download content, or installing cpanminus. Changing the access policy is beyond my control, so I am looking for a workaround. I also don't have root access to this Linux server.

I can, however, download anything to my work's Window machine, and upload to a file share on this server. So I started to pull down the DateTime dependencies one by one. I would download a module, sometime it will have Makefile.PL, sometime it will have Build.PL. I then rebase each Build or Makefile to my INSTALL_BASE, test each module. I did that for about 20 modules, and the trees seem to expand to ever smaller classes with no end in sight...

I hope you can tell me a better way. Is there a way I can initiate a download from a machine with CPAN access (ie. my Windows box) of all the DateTime dependencies into one giant Perl package, upload it to the Linux server, and run CPAN there (without network access) to put things in the right place? Thanks.

Answer 1

The most efficient way by far is to make a minicpan, install cpanm on the linux machine and alias localcpanmsomething like this:

alias localcpanm='cpanm --mirror file:///Users/Shared/cpan/ --mirror-only'

I have used this technique on long train journeys with patchy network access with great success.