Latest revision as of 18:28, 28 December 2006

Why does your RPM complain about missing Perl modules?

This has been particularly noted on RedHat 9, complaining about the module "perl(Term::ReadKey)" - even if this is actually present (e.g. having been installed directly from CPAN). In fact, this is not specific to Perl modules - the same issue can potentially arise with other RPM dependencies.

The problem is that the RPM mechanism keeps a local database of what software packages have been installed, and checks this for any other features that this RPM requires. If software is installed "manually" rather than via rpm packages, then it will not appear in this database. Attempting to install another RPM that rely on this functionality will then complain about the "missing" package, because the RPM system doesn't know that's it's actually available.

The ideal solution is to always install software using a consistent mechanism (which may involve building RPMs locally, or looking for a suitable pre-built version).

Failing this, it's possible to tell the "rpm" command to ignore such dependencies, and install the package anyway. Try:

       rpm -i --nodeps {package}

In this situation, it's then up to you to make sure that any other necessary packages are actually present on the system.

   FAQ:Perl
   

0. What is the purpose of the Perl SNMP module?
1. Where can I get the Perl SNMP package?
2. How do I install the Perl SNMP modules?
3. But compiling this fails! Why?
4. Compiling the Perl module works OK, but 'make test' fails. Why?
5. Why can't mib2c (or tkmib) locate SNMP.pm?
6. Why can't mib2c (or tkmib) load SNMP.so?
7. Why can't tkmib locate Tk.pm?
8. Why does your RPM complain about missing Perl modules?
9. I've got a problem with the Net-SNMP module. Can you help?