How to set up separate Perl modules for non-login users?

Question

Inspired of How can I use CPAN as a non-root user? i'd like to know, how to set up cpanm for non-login users (like www)? There is no login, so i don't know how to include some dir to @INC.

Edit: How i could set permanently enviroment var like PERL5LIB for non-login user? I can't set it from .bashrc (needs login) and not from /etc/environment (sets to everyone).

Maybe some suggestions here may help: http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/88201/whats-the-best-distro-shell-agnostic-way-to-set-environment-variables/88229 — Slaven Rezic, Sep 27 '13 at 17:04
@SlavenRezic: Thank you, but those solutions involve log-in or set variables for every user. — w.k, Sep 27 '13 at 18:15
Did you look at the `~/.pam_environment` solution? Note the `~`. — Slaven Rezic, Sep 27 '13 at 19:28
@SlavenRezic: I did, it says "is read by all login methods that use PAM". Non-system users don't use this file for setting env, as far i understand. For sake I tried it, it did not work for me. — w.k, Sep 28 '13 at 17:42

ikegami · Answer 1 · 2013-09-26T17:36:32.383

3

Methods of changing @INC:

On a per-script basis:

use lib ...;
-Mlib=... on the shebang line.

On a per-process basis:

Set the PERL5LIB env var from the parent process.
- sh: export PERL5LIB=... ; perl ...
- sh: PERL5LIB=... perl ...
- apache: SetEnv PERL5LIB ...

On a per-perl basis:

Specifying the directories for @INC when configuring perl when building it.
use lib ...; in a script named sitecustomize.pl in the directory returned by perl -V:sitelib.^[1]

Of course, you could also install your own local Perl, perhaps using perlbrew.

Notes:

Perl only looks for sitecustomize.pl if The perl has been configured to do with -Dusesitecustomize. Check with perl -V:usesitecustomize to see if it was.

edited Sep 26 '13 at 17:36

answered Sep 26 '13 at 11:31

ikegami

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some reference to PERL5ENV? – mpapec Sep 26 '13 at 11:40
Outside of script, how you obtain it for a non-login (system) user? – w.k Sep 26 '13 at 12:05
Links to docs added. It's a `PATH`-like var, i.e. a colon-separated paths in which to search. (They're added to `@INC`.) Like `use lib` (and unlike `-I`), any arch subdirs will be added as well. – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 13:26
`PERL5ENV` should be `PERL5LIB` ? How to set it for a non-login user? – w.k Sep 26 '13 at 14:08
Yes, `PERL5LIB`. A process's environment is always set by the parent process. What's the parent process? Apache? `SetEnv`. – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 14:23
Which is parent process for `www-data` running different services? Like Apche, nginx, starman, Dancer, cron-scripts. Don't want set them up separately, but can't find solution. – w.k Sep 26 '13 at 14:45
You've previously said you don't want to set it on per-script basis. Now you're saying you don't want to set it on a per-process basis. That leaves setting it on a per-`perl` basis. (See update) – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 16:57
No, i want it set **per-user** basis. I want that everything i run under this user uses separate modules. Setting it by parent process sounded as good idea to me, but what is a parent process for all those things i listed above? – w.k Sep 26 '13 at 17:20
Why are you asking me? How should I know what programs you have running on your machine, and which instances were used to create which other instances? – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 17:34
I've listed your options. – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 17:38
1

Of course, some of the options can be used to limit the effect to a particular user (e.g. `use if $USER eq ..., 'lib', ...;` instead of `use lib ...`). – ikegami Sep 26 '13 at 17:51

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

Make the first perl in your $PATH a shell script that checks for a file named after the invoking user, sources that file, and then calls the real perl:

    $ cat /usr/local/etc/perl.user.d/www-data
    PERL5LIB=/whatever/you/need
    export PERL5LIB

    $ cat /usr/local/bin/perl
    #! /bin/sh

    PERLBIN=/usr/bin/perl

    USER_CUSTOMIZE=/usr/local/etc/perl.user.d/$(whoami)

    [ -e "$USER_CUSTOMIZE" ] && source "$USER_CUSTOMIZE"

    exec $PERLBIN "$@"

N.B. I don't heartily recommend this. It's similar to sitecustomize.pl suggested elsewhere, but more hackish. Like the others who have answered, I don't think it would be too arduous to identify all of the parent processes you care about (apache, cron, and ... ?) and set PERL5LIB there.

How to set up separate Perl modules for non-login users?

2 Answers2