How to Install Perl on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04

Perl is a high-level programming language Larry Wall created in the late 1980s. It was designed to provide a powerful and flexible tool for text processing and system administration tasks. Since then, Perl has become popular for various applications, including web development, data analysis, and scientific computing. It is especially popular on Unix-based operating systems such as Ubuntu, where it can be easily installed and used.

One of the key features of Perl is its flexibility. It allows developers to write code in a variety of styles and to solve problems in different ways. This makes it well-suited to many tasks, from small scripts to large-scale applications. Perl also has a large and active community of developers and users who contribute to the development of the language and provide support and guidance to those just getting started.

This guide will demonstrate how to install Perl on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish and Ubuntu 20.04 Focal. We will also cover some optional packages that can be installed alongside Perl to provide additional development tools and libraries. By the end of this guide, you will have a fully-functional Perl installation on your Ubuntu system, ready to use for your next project.

Step 1: Checking if Perl is Installed

Before installing Perl, checking if it is already installed on your Ubuntu system is important. To do this, open a terminal window and type the following command:

perl -v

The command will display its version number if Perl is installed on your system. If Perl is not installed, the terminal will display an error message.

Step 2: Updating the Package Repository

Before installing Perl, you must update your Ubuntu system’s package repository. This will ensure you download the latest version of Perl and any dependencies it may require. To do this, run the following command:

sudo apt update

This command will update the package repository on your Ubuntu system.

Step 3: Installing Perl

Once you have updated the package repository on your Ubuntu system, you can install Perl using the following command:

sudo apt install perl

This command will download and install the latest version of Perl and any dependencies it requires.

Alternatively, when installing Perl on Ubuntu, you can install additional packages that provide more development tools and debugging options or use libraries to improve your Perl experience. Here are some of the most popular packages you may want to consider:

• perl-doc: This package contains the official Perl documentation, which includes reference manuals, tutorials, and other helpful resources for learning and using Perl.
• libperl-dev: This package provides development files and libraries that can be used to compile and link Perl modules and extensions.
• libdbd-mysql-perl: This package provides a Perl interface to MySQL databases, making interacting with MySQL from your Perl scripts easy.
• libdatetime-perl: This package provides a collection of modules that can be used to manipulate dates and times in Perl. It includes support for time zones, daylight saving time, and other common date/time operations.
• libjson-perl: This package provides a Perl module for encoding and decoding JSON data, a popular data interchange format used in many web applications.
• libxml-simple-perl: This package provides a simple API for parsing and manipulating XML data in Perl. It is often used in web applications and other systems that need to work with XML data.
• libtest-simple-perl: This package provides a simple framework for writing and running Perl unit tests. It can be used to ensure that your Perl code is working correctly and to catch bugs before they become problems.

To install any of these packages, add their names to the apt-get install command when installing Perl. For instance, to install Perl along with the libdatetime-perl and libjson-perl packages, run the following command:

sudo apt install perl libdatetime-perl libjson-perl

This command will install Perl along with the optional packages that you specified. You can then use these packages in your Perl scripts to improve functionality and productivity.

In addition to the optional Perl packages we have mentioned, many other Perl packages available on Ubuntu that you may find useful. To search for additional Perl packages, you can use the apt-cache command, which is used to search the package repository on Ubuntu.

To search for Perl packages using apt-cache, open a terminal window and type the following command:

apt-cache search perl

This command will display a list of Perl packages available in the package repository on Ubuntu. You can scroll through the list to see what packages are available or use the grep command to search for specific packages.

For example, if you want to search for packages related to MySQL, you can use the following command:

apt-cache search perl | grep mysql

Example output:

This command will display a list of Perl packages with the word “mysql” in their name or description. You can use similar commands to search for other keywords or specific packages that you may be interested in.

Once you have found a package you want to install, you can use the apt-get command to install it. For example, to install the libdbd-mysql-perl package that we mentioned earlier, you can run the following command:

sudo apt install libdbd-mysql-perl

This command will download and install the package and any dependencies it requires. You can then use the package in your Perl scripts as needed.

Step 4: Testing Perl

To test Perl on your Ubuntu system, you can create a simple “Hello World” script. Open a terminal window and type the following command:

nano hello.pl

This command will open the Nano text editor, where you can enter the following code:

#!/usr/bin/perl
print "Hello, world!\n";

This code will print “Hello, world!” to the terminal.

Save the file by pressing Ctrl+O, then exit the editor by pressing Ctrl+X. Make the script executable by running the following command:

chmod +x hello.pl

This command will make the script executable.

Now, run the script by typing the following command:

./hello.pl

This command will execute the “Hello World” script and print the message “Hello, world!” to the terminal.

Conclusion

This article has shown you how to install Perl on Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish or Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa. We have also shown you how to update and test Perl by creating a simple “Hello World” script. Perl is a powerful language that can be used for a wide range of tasks, and we hope this guide has helped you get started with it on Ubuntu.

FAQ on Perl with Ubuntu