Lion, sudo and cpan

dr chris jones · 02-14-2012, 04:40 AM

I've recently upgraded to Lion, and found that sudo doesn't work like it used to. Specifically, I now can't launch /usr/bin/cpan to install Perl modules. In Leopard/Snow Leopard, I used to do this under sudo in order that cpan would have the admin privileges required to perform make install. But now I get "sudo: cpan: command not found". Also, where I used to be able to launch cpan without sudo, I now can't do that either (getting a "Permission denied" error).

I've never tinkered with the sudoers file, or modified which apps can run under sudo - is this what I need to do to fix this? If so, can someone give me the heads up how to safely do that?

Before anyone suggests it - I don't want a second Perl installation, don't want to use Fink, homebrew, etc - I just want cpan to work again!

dr chris jones · 02-14-2012, 04:43 AM

Forgot to mention that my account is the admin account on the computer and I can use sudo to perform other tasks (like chown, chmod etc). So far, cpan is the only task I've found I can't use under sudo

dr chris jones · 02-14-2012, 04:46 AM

Oh, errr.... and perldoc

dr chris jones · 02-14-2012, 05:04 AM

OK, I feel a bit silly for not spotting the bleeding obvious..... My mention of chown and chmod working reminded me that I hadn't checked the permissions in /usr/bin, and of course there were lots of errors. A quick "Repair Permissions" in Disk Utility has fixed the problem.

So now my question is - How does this happen? (Permissions getting broken, not me being half asleep)

jsalmi · 02-14-2012, 07:19 AM

I'm curious as to which files/directories had permission issues after moving to Lion?

dmacks · 02-14-2012, 10:03 AM

I've seen an occasional user where lots of /usr/bin/ perlscripts lose their +x but I haven't seen anyone diagnose a common trigger of it.

dr chris jones · 02-14-2012, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsalmi


	I'm curious as to which files/directories had permission issues after moving to Lion?

I didn't migrate (I'm not sure that's even possible...!) - it was a clean Lion install on a new iMac. Having looked back, I remember I had used cpan successfully when I first got my iMac, so these permission changes have obviously happened recently - and they seem to be Perl related (cpan, perldoc amongst a few errors).

The only related app I've installed recently is Eclipse and its Perl IDE, Epic - but why would that screw up the cpan and perldoc permissions?

02-14-2012, 04:40 AM	#1
dr chris jones Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 147	Lion, sudo and cpan I've recently upgraded to Lion, and found that sudo doesn't work like it used to. Specifically, I now can't launch /usr/bin/cpan to install Perl modules. In Leopard/Snow Leopard, I used to do this under sudo in order that cpan would have the admin privileges required to perform make install. But now I get "sudo: cpan: command not found". Also, where I used to be able to launch cpan without sudo, I now can't do that either (getting a "Permission denied" error). I've never tinkered with the sudoers file, or modified which apps can run under sudo - is this what I need to do to fix this? If so, can someone give me the heads up how to safely do that? Before anyone suggests it - I don't want a second Perl installation, don't want to use Fink, homebrew, etc - I just want cpan to work again!

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02-14-2012, 04:43 AM	#2
dr chris jones Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 147	Forgot to mention that my account is the admin account on the computer and I can use sudo to perform other tasks (like chown, chmod etc). So far, cpan is the only task I've found I can't use under sudo

02-14-2012, 04:46 AM	#3
dr chris jones Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 147	Oh, errr.... and perldoc

02-14-2012, 05:04 AM	#4
dr chris jones Triple-A Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 147	OK, I feel a bit silly for not spotting the bleeding obvious..... My mention of chown and chmod working reminded me that I hadn't checked the permissions in /usr/bin, and of course there were lots of errors. A quick "Repair Permissions" in Disk Utility has fixed the problem. So now my question is - How does this happen? (Permissions getting broken, not me being half asleep)

02-14-2012, 07:19 AM	#5
jsalmi Triple-A Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Down by the river Posts: 195	I'm curious as to which files/directories had permission issues after moving to Lion?

02-14-2012, 10:03 AM	#6
dmacks All Star Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 677	I've seen an occasional user where lots of /usr/bin/ perlscripts lose their +x but I haven't seen anyone diagnose a common trigger of it.