asdf-perl

Perl plugin for the asdf version manager.

Install

Plugin:

asdf plugin add perl
# or
asdf plugin add perl https://github.com/ouest/asdf-perl.git

Perl:

# Show all installable stable versions
asdf list-all perl

# Install specific version
asdf install perl latest

# Set a version globally (on your ~/.tool-versions file)
asdf global perl latest

# Now Perl commands are available
perl --help

Check asdf readme for more instructions on how to install & manage versions.

Show all installable version of Perl

Set the ASDF_PERL_DEVEL environment variable to list development versions of Perl in addition to stable versions.

env ASDF_PERL_DEVEL=1 asdf list-all perl

Set Perl build args

Set the ASDF_PERL_BUILD_ARGS environment variable to set build arguments for Perl installation.

env ASDF_PERL_BUILD_ARGS='-Dusemultiplicity -Duseshrplib' asdf install perl latest

Generate man pages

Set the ASDF_PERL_GENERATE_MAN environment variable to generate the perl man pages.

env ASDF_PERL_GENERATE_MAN=1 asdf install perl latest

Default perl modules

asdf-perl can automatically install a set of default Perl modules right after installed Perl. To enable this feature, provide a $HOME/.default-perl-modules file that lists one module Per line, for example:

App::Ack
CGI
HTML::Template

You can specify a non-default location of this file by setting the ASDF_PERL_DEFAULT_PACKAGES_FILE environment variable.

Passing extra options to cpanm (optional)

If you need to pass additional flags to cpanm when installing the default modules, set the ASDF_PERL_CPANM_ARGS environment variable. For example, to increase verbosity:

env ASDF_PERL_CPANM_ARGS='-v' asdf install perl latest

⚠️ Note on -n (--notest): Skipping tests can hide build or dependency issues. It’s safer to run tests by default and use -n only when you fully understand the implications for the specific modules you’re installing.