CODEWITHSUNDEEP
perl
User1611
User1611

Reputation: 1099

How can I compile my Perl script so it can be executed on systems without 'perl' installed?

I have a .pl file and I want to execute that file in any system even though perl is not installed. How can I achieve it?

What would be some good examples to do that?

Upvotes: 58

Views: 117869

Answers (8)

Klaas Z4us V
Klaas Z4us V

Reputation: 1

On Mac OS X there may be perlcc. Type man perlcc. On my system (10.6.8) it's in /usr/bin. Your mileage may vary.

See perl-5.8.9 / perlcc.

Upvotes: -1

Alexandr Ciornii
Alexandr Ciornii

Reputation: 7392

  1. Install PAR::Packer. Example for *nix:

    sudo cpan -i PAR::Packer

    For Strawberry Perl for Windows or for ActivePerl and MSVC installed:

    cpan -i PAR::Packer

  2. Pack it with pp. It will create an executable named "example" or "example.exe" on Windows.

    pp -o example example.pl

This would work only on the OS where it was built.

P.S. It is really hard to find a Unix clone without Perl. Did you mean Windows?

Upvotes: 31

brian d foy
brian d foy

Reputation: 132802

From perlfaq3's answer to How can I compile my Perl program into byte code or C?:

(contributed by brian d foy)

In general, you can't do this. There are some things that may work for your situation though. People usually ask this question because they want to distribute their works without giving away the source code, and most solutions trade disk space for convenience. You probably won't see much of a speed increase either, since most solutions simply bundle a Perl interpreter in the final product (but see How can I make my Perl program run faster?).

The Perl Archive Toolkit ( http://par.perl.org/ ) is Perl's analog to Java's JAR. It's freely available and on CPAN ( http://search.cpan.org/dist/PAR/ ).

There are also some commercial products that may work for you, although you have to buy a license for them.

The Perl Dev Kit ( http://www.activestate.com/Products/Perl_Dev_Kit/ ) from ActiveState can "Turn your Perl programs into ready-to-run executables for HP-UX, Linux, Solaris and Windows."

Perl2Exe ( http://www.indigostar.com/perl2exe.htm ) is a command line program for converting perl scripts to executable files. It targets both Windows and unix platforms.

Upvotes: 9

Rick
Rick

Reputation: 591

Cava Packager is great on the Windows ecosystem.

Upvotes: 3

Mathieu Longtin
Mathieu Longtin

Reputation: 16700

And let's not forget ActiveState's PDK. It will allow you to compile UI, command line, Windows services and installers.

I highly recommend it, it has served me very well over the years, but it is around 300$ for a licence.

Upvotes: 6

ysth
ysth

Reputation: 98398

pp can create an executable that includes perl and your script (and any module dependencies), but it will be specific to your architecture, so you couldn't run it on both Windows and linux for instance.

From its doc:

To make a stand-alone executable, suitable for running on a machine that doesn't have perl installed:

   % pp -o packed.exe source.pl        # makes packed.exe
   # Now, deploy 'packed.exe' to target machine...
   $ packed.exe                        # run it

(% and $ there are command prompts on different machines).

Upvotes: 44

David Lewis
David Lewis

Reputation:

Perl files are scripts, not executable programs. Therefore, for them to 'run', they are going to need an interpreter.

So, you have two choices: 1) Have the interpreter on the machine that you wish to run the script, or 2) Have the script running on a networked (or Internet) machine that you remotely connect to (ie with a browser)

Upvotes: 1

Jared Oberhaus
Jared Oberhaus

Reputation: 14648

Look at PAR (Perl Archiving Toolkit).

PAR is a Cross-Platform Packaging and Deployment tool, dubbed as a cross between Java's JAR and Perl2EXE/PerlApp.

Upvotes: 7

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