Weblog entry #265 for simonw
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#265
Absence of ftp.mirror.ac.uk with CPAN
Posted by simonw on Wed 16 Jul 2008 at 17:26
Finally upgrading long forgotten Debian box.
Wanted to find what if any modules were installed using CPAN, and what updates were available. But it seems ftp.mirror.ac.uk went in July 2007 which the box was using, which leads to all the information about where to find CPAN being overwritten with error messages (hmm).
Another symptom (of the same or similar problem) is the lack of any continents when running "o conf init" in CPAN.
Lots of folks said I fixed it manually - and the error does suggest the right approach - but what worked for me...
Fixed by....
Now overwrite the same named files under your ".cpan" directory (sources/ and sources/modules), and "gunzip" them over the unpacked copy of same. Run "cpan" use "o conf init" to select a mirror that exists*, and "install Bundle::CPAN" which will drag you into the current millennium at the risk of upgrading some core modules.
Alternatively just brave using "apt-get" and friends to drag such servers into the current era. Unless you are heavy Perl users probably all the Perl most folks need is in Etch in .deb packages by now. I suspect blowing away ".cpan" may work as well.
* I suggest avoiding the Demon mirror (long unmaintained), the anlx mirror (Zozo come back!) and the ftp.mirror.ac.uk mirror (that got you into this mess) maybe try mirrorservice.org.
Wanted to find what if any modules were installed using CPAN, and what updates were available. But it seems ftp.mirror.ac.uk went in July 2007 which the box was using, which leads to all the information about where to find CPAN being overwritten with error messages (hmm).
Another symptom (of the same or similar problem) is the lack of any continents when running "o conf init" in CPAN.
Lots of folks said I fixed it manually - and the error does suggest the right approach - but what worked for me...
Fixed by....
wget ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/MIRRORED.BY wget ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/modules/02packages.details.txt.gz wget ftp://ftp.mirrorservice.org/sites/ftp.funet.fi/pub/languages/perl/CPAN/modules/03modlist.data.gz
Now overwrite the same named files under your ".cpan" directory (sources/ and sources/modules), and "gunzip" them over the unpacked copy of same. Run "cpan" use "o conf init" to select a mirror that exists*, and "install Bundle::CPAN" which will drag you into the current millennium at the risk of upgrading some core modules.
Alternatively just brave using "apt-get" and friends to drag such servers into the current era. Unless you are heavy Perl users probably all the Perl most folks need is in Etch in .deb packages by now. I suspect blowing away ".cpan" may work as well.
* I suggest avoiding the Demon mirror (long unmaintained), the anlx mirror (Zozo come back!) and the ftp.mirror.ac.uk mirror (that got you into this mess) maybe try mirrorservice.org.
Comments on this Entry
I recently came across an old machine with dead mirror details fro CPAN. I found the CPAN UK mirrors database and picked something on there that was marked as up to date. I found that hurricane.hinasu.net seemed to be fastest for me.
I've had similar problems with Debian mirrors too, you do need to keep an eye on them in case they go slow or die. Indeed on some security web site I was reading over lunch they suggested that you could set up a mirror and intentionally hold back critical packages to help to create a set of vulnerable machines...
--
"It's Not Magic, It's Work"
Adam
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