Again, CPAN makes installation and upgrades simpler. You have seen how to install a mod_perl-enabled server using CPAN.pm's interactive shell. You have seen how to install Perl modules and Apache locally. Now all you have to do is to merge these techniques.

Assuming that you have configured CPAN.pm to install Perl modules locally, the installation is very simple. Start the CPAN shell, set the arguments to be passed to perl Makefile.PL (modify the example setting to suit your needs), and tell CPAN.pm to do the rest for you:

panic% perl -MCPAN -eshell
cpan> o conf makepl_arg 'DO_HTTPD=1 USE_APACI=1 EVERYTHING=1 \
      PREFIX=/home/stas APACHE_PREFIX=/home/stas/apache'
cpan> install mod_perl

When you use CPAN.pm for local installation, you need to make sure that the value of makepl_arg is restored to its original value after the mod_perl installation is complete, because if you install other Perl modules you probably don't want to pass mod_perl flags to them. The simplest way to do this is to quit the interactive shell and then re-enter it. There is another way to do it without quitting, but it's very cumbersome—if you want to learn about the other option, refer to the CPAN.pm manpage.