How to install a specific version of a Perl module with CPAN

Mar 27, 2013 by David Farrell

Perl modules are usually installed via CPAN on the command line. This is invoked with the following syntax:

cpan My::Module

CPAN will always try to install the latest stable version of a module, which is a sensible default, however this may not always be the required behaviour. To have CPAN install a specific version of a module, you need to provide the full module distribution filename including the author. For example to install the module Set::Object version 1.28, at the command line type:

cpan SAMV/Set-Object-1.28.tar.gz

You can find the distribution filename for a module by searching for the module on MetaCPAN.

This article was originally posted on PerlTricks.com.