App::perlbrew - Compiling Perl with thread support

[kcott]

G'day Monks,

I'm currently using Perl 5.14.2 via App::perlbrew. This version of Perl was not compiled with thread support - I'd like to change this. I've researched online documentation and formulated a plan of attack. I still have a few questions - see the individual steps below. I'd appreciate any other advice or comments.

The steps I'm planning to follow are:

1. Backup home directory and /usr/local/bin/. I believe this captures everything I'd need to restore the current setup. Is this correct?

2. Upgrade Perlbrew (I have v0.30; latest is v0.41).

    perlbrew self-upgrade

3. Rename current Perlbrew Perl.

    perlbrew alias create perl-5.14.2 perl-5.14.2_NO_THREADS

I note this has an -f option (i.e. perlbrew alias [-f] create <name> <alias>) but can't find any documentation as to its purpose. Can anyone tell me what it does?

4. Install Perl 5.14.2 with thread support.

    perlbrew install -v perl-5.14.2 -Dusethreads --as perl-5.14.2_WITH
+_THREADS

I've guessed the position of the -v option - am I right? I see other options for install documented in perlbrew. Do I need any of these?

5. Default to newly installed threaded Perl.

    perlbrew switch perl-5.14.2_WITH_THREADS

6. Local tasks such as resetting my /usr/local/bin/perl symlink and testing existing applications still work.

Additional information which may be of use:

System: Apple Mac Pro running Mac OS X 10.7.3

Users: just me

$ perl -V
Summary of my perl5 (revision 5 version 14 subversion 2) configuration
+:

  Platform:
    osname=darwin, osvers=11.2.0, archname=darwin-2level
    uname='darwin ganymede 11.2.0 darwin kernel version 11.2.0: tue au
+g 9 20:54:00 pdt 2011; root:xnu-1699.24.8~1release_x86_64 x86_64 '
    config_args='-de -Dprefix=/Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.1
+4.2'
    hint=recommended, useposix=true, d_sigaction=define
    useithreads=undef, usemultiplicity=undef
    useperlio=define, d_sfio=undef, uselargefiles=define, usesocks=und
+ef
    use64bitint=define, use64bitall=define, uselongdouble=undef
    usemymalloc=n, bincompat5005=undef
  Compiler:
    cc='cc', ccflags ='-fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -fno-strict-aliasing 
+-pipe -fstack-protector',
    optimize='-O3',
    cppflags='-fno-common -DPERL_DARWIN -fno-strict-aliasing -pipe -fs
+tack-protector'
    ccversion='', gccversion='4.2.1 (Based on Apple Inc. build 5658) (
+LLVM build 2336.1.00)', gccosandvers=''
    intsize=4, longsize=8, ptrsize=8, doublesize=8, byteorder=12345678
    d_longlong=define, longlongsize=8, d_longdbl=define, longdblsize=1
+6
    ivtype='long', ivsize=8, nvtype='double', nvsize=8, Off_t='off_t',
+ lseeksize=8
    alignbytes=8, prototype=define
  Linker and Libraries:
    ld='env MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=10.3 cc', ldflags =' -fstack-prot
+ector'
    libpth=/usr/lib
    libs=-ldbm -ldl -lm -lutil -lc
    perllibs=-ldl -lm -lutil -lc
    libc=, so=dylib, useshrplib=false, libperl=libperl.a
    gnulibc_version=''
  Dynamic Linking:
    dlsrc=dl_dlopen.xs, dlext=bundle, d_dlsymun=undef, ccdlflags=' '
    cccdlflags=' ', lddlflags=' -bundle -undefined dynamic_lookup -fst
+ack-protector'


Characteristics of this binary (from libperl):
  Compile-time options: PERL_DONT_CREATE_GVSV PERL_MALLOC_WRAP
                        PERL_PRESERVE_IVUV USE_64_BIT_ALL USE_64_BIT_I
+NT
                        USE_LARGE_FILES USE_PERLIO USE_PERL_ATOF
  Built under darwin
  Compiled at Oct 23 2011 21:06:51
  %ENV:
    PERL5LIB="/Users/ken/local/lib/perl"
    PERLBREW_BASHRC_VERSION="0.30"
    PERLBREW_HOME="/Users/ken/.perlbrew"
    PERLBREW_PATH="/Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/bin:/Users/ken/perl5/perl
+brew/perls/perl-5.14.2/bin"
    PERLBREW_PERL="perl-5.14.2"
    PERLBREW_ROOT="/Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew"
    PERLBREW_VERSION="0.30"
  @INC:
    /Users/ken/local/lib/perl
    /Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/lib/site_perl/5.14.2/d
+arwin-2level
    /Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/lib/site_perl/5.14.2
    /Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/lib/5.14.2/darwin-2lev
+el
    /Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/lib/5.14.2
    .

$ perlbrew list
* perl-5.14.2
  /opt/local/bin/perl (5.12.3)      <--- MacPorts Perl
  /usr/bin/perl (5.12.3)            <--- System Perl
  /usr/local/bin/perl (5.14.2)      <--- Perlbrew Perl (symlink)

$ ls -l /usr/local/bin/perl
lrwxr-xr-x  1 root  wheel  52 29 Oct 04:30 /usr/local/bin/perl -> /Use
+rs/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/bin/perl

$ which perl
/Users/ken/perl5/perlbrew/perls/perl-5.14.2/bin/perl

Update: s/-Duseithreads/-Dusethreads/ (thanks ikegami).

Update 2014: I wrote this post in early 2012. Beyond the immediate replies at that time, there've been responses in both 2013 and 2014 with additional and updated information. It's good to see this node is still being read (and, hopefully, found to be useful). Here's my latest perlbrew install command (for Perl v5.18.1):

$ perlbrew install -v http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/R/RJ/RJBS
+/perl-5.18.1.tar.gz -Dusethreads --as perl-5.18.1t

[ikegami]

perl-5.14.2_WITH_THREADS isn't listed as a recognized install. It looks like your install wasn't successful. Which is probably why you *didn't* switch to it as you claim. (You may have issued the command, but you weren't switched.)

By the way, it's "-Dusethreads" (no "i").

By the way, I call my installs 5.14.2 and 5.14.2t. No need for the leading "perl-", no need for some long descriptor.

[kcott]

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I wrote "The steps I'm planning to follow are: ...". It looks like most, if not all, of your first paragraph is based on an assumption that I have completed (or at least attempted) these steps. I haven't performed any of the steps shown: the order of these steps and the details of any individual step may change based on responses to my post (in fact, thanks to your next point, one has changed already).

By the way, it's "-Dusethreads" (no "i").

Thanks for the correction. I've updated my post.

I found instances of useithreads in perlthrtut, perl -V output and Config.pm but I haven't seen usethreads anywhere. Could you point me to documentation where -D values are described?

By the way, I call my installs 5.14.2 and 5.14.2t. No need for the leading "perl-", no need for some long descriptor.

Thanks for the advice. The perl- prefix was based on usage throughout perlbrew. The suffixes are just a matter of personal preference.

[ikegami]

It looks like most, if not all, of your first paragraph is based on an assumption that I have completed (or at least attempted) these steps.

Oops yeah, thought you were listing the steps that lead to the "incorrect" output at the end. Aside from the "i" everything looks fine. (I've never created an alias before, so I'm just assuming there.)

See the INSTALL file in the root directory of the Perl distribution for info on common configuration items. You can find the distributions on CPAN: perl. (The other monk gave a link to the very very latest version of the file, which might not be accurate for the version of Perl you are installing.)

Some tweaks aren't documented, though. You'd only know it's even possible to change them by looking at the code itself, though. e.g. I use -DPERL_SUB_DEPTH_WARN=1000 to reduce the risk of warnings when dealing with deep trees.

My perlbrew install wrapper:

#!/usr/bin/env perl

# install_perl 5.x.y
# install_perl 5.x.yd    Build with debug symbols (-g)
# install_perl 5.x.yt    Build with thread support
# install_perl 5.x.ydt   Build with debug symbols (-g) and thread supp
+ort

use strict;
use warnings;

( my ($build) = @ARGV ) == 1
   or die;

my $ccache        = $ENV{CCACHE}        || ( `which ccache` ? 'ccache'
+ : '' );
my $perlbrew_root = $ENV{PERLBREW_ROOT} || "$ENV{HOME}/perl5/perlbrew"
+;

unlink("$perlbrew_root/build.log");

my $version = $build;
my $threaded = $version =~ s/t\z//;
my $debug    = $version =~ s/d\z//;

my @args;
push @args, "-v";
push @args, $version;
push @args, "--as=$build";
push @args, "-DPERL_SUB_DEPTH_WARN=1000";
push @args, "-Dcc=$ccache cc"    if $ccache;
push @args, "-Doptimize=-g"      if $debug;
push @args, "-Dusethreads"       if $threaded;

exec("perlbrew", "install", @args)
   or die $!;

(ccache is probably of no benefit, but I got in the habit of using it when bisecting.)

[Anonymous Monk]

http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git/blob/HEAD:/INSTALL

[salva]

perlbrew install-multiple 5.14.2 --both=thread

compiles both perl-5.14.2 and perl-5.14.2-thread-multi

[kcott]

Thanks for the updated information, salva.

The install-multiple command was not available when I originally wrote the OP. I'm not sure when it was introduced: the oldest perlbrew doco I can find on CPAN, perlbrew v0.56 (dated ~9 months after this thread was started), did not have it.

It's good to see this 2-year old thread is still being read. I've added a short "Update 2014" to the OP.

[7stud]

Here is perlbrew(0.58) help, section "install":

COMMAND: INSTALL
    install options perl-<version>
    install options <version>
        Build and install the given version of perl.

        Version numbers usually look like "5.x.xx", or "perl-5.xx.x-RCx" for
        release candidates.

        The specified perl is downloaded from the offical CPAN website or
        from the mirror site configured before.

        To configure mirror site, invoke `mirror` command.

    install options perl-blead
    install options blead
        A special way to install the blead version of perl, which is
        downloaded from this specific URL regardless of mirror settings:

            http://perl5.git.perl.org/perl.git/snapshot/blead.tar.gz

    install options /path/to/perl/git/checkout/dir
        Build and install from the given git checkout dir.

    install options /path/to/perl-5.14.0.tar.gz
        Build and install from the given archive file.

    install options http://example.com/mirror/perl-5.12.3.tar.gz
        Build and install from the given URL. Supported URL schemes are
        "http://", "https://", "ftp://" and "file://".

    Options for "install" command:

        -f --force     Force installation
        -j $n          Parallel buildng and testing. ex. C<perlbrew install -j 5 perl-5.14.2>
        -n --notest    Skip testing

           --as        Install the given version of perl by a name.
                       ex. C<perlbrew install perl-5.6.2 --as legacy-perl>

        -D,-U,-A       Switches passed to perl Configure script.
                       ex. C<perlbrew install perl-5.10.1 -D usemymalloc -U uselargefiles>

        --sitecustomize $filename
                       Specify a file to be installed as sitecustomize.pl

    By default, all installations are configured after their name like this:

        sh Configure -de -Dprefix=$PERLBREW_ROOT/perls/<name>

Therefore, the command to install perl 5.16.0 with thread support and to give that perl the name "perl-5.16.0t" should be this:

$ perlbrew install --as perl-5.16.0t -Dusethreads perl-5.16.0

And in fact, I tried that command on Mac OSX 10.6.8, and I was able to successfully install a perl named perl-5.16.0t:

$ perlbrew list
* perl-5.16.0       #this perl was already installed
  perl-5.16.0t      #this is the new install

$perlbrew use perl-5.16.0t
$perlbrew list
  perl-5.16.0
* perl-5.16.0t

And here's a test program:

use strict; 
use warnings; 
use 5.012;

use threads;
use threads::shared;

my $counter :shared;
$counter = 1;

my $name = 'Joe';

sub do_stuff {
    my $thread_id = shift;
    sleep rand 10;

    say "thread number $thread_id";

    say "count: $counter";
    $counter++;

    say $name;
    $name = "Cathy";
}

my @threads;

for my $thread_number (1..10) {
    push @threads, threads->create('do_stuff', $thread_number);
}

for (@threads) {
    $_->join;
}


--output:--
thread number 5
count: 1
Joe
thread number 9
count: 2
Joe
thread number 3
count: 3
Joe
thread number 7
count: 4
Joe
thread number 10
count: 5
Joe
thread number 4
count: 6
Joe
thread number 6
count: 7
Joe
thread number 8
count: 8
Joe
thread number 1
count: 9
Joe
thread number 2
count: 10
Joe

To set perl-5.16.0t as the default when you start up a shell:

$ perlbrew switch perl-5.16.0t

It's possible that the -f option for the perlbrew alias command is the same as for the install command. But in any case, options are optional--that is what the brackets around the option mean--so if you don't know what an option does, then don't use that option.

perlbrew help also says this:

   
Generic command options:

        -q --quiet     Be quiet on informative output message.
        -v --verbose   Tell me more about it.

The -v option isn't used to specify the perl version, so you can omit it.

[kcott]

Thanks for the info. This was actually resolved 11 months ago. The thread went to depth of Re^6 so perhaps you didn't see all the discussion.

[karlgoethebier]

See also Re: Simultaneously reading from a file and serving data.

Regards, Karl

[kcott]

Thanks for the additional information, Karl.

It's good to see this 2-year old thread is still being read. I've added a short "Update 2014" to the OP.