[Case 121097] Minor perl version change breaks perl (perl-5.8.8-41.el5 => perl-5.8.8-42.el5)

This morning I received a number of customer reports that some scripts on their sites weren't working (500 error). I tracked it down to sites using specific Perl modules:

LWP
MIME::Base64
File::Path
(there may be others)

I created a small test app that includes "use LWP" at the beginning and prints out some simple text. If I comment out "use LWP" it works. If I un-comment that line so it's active, the program dies with a 500 error. LWP was always installed and working until last night. No code changes or server config changes were made by me in the last week.

The problem is that it shows no Perl modules as already installed when I go to the Perl Module Installer in WHM. I know this used to list the installed modules in the past. Oddly, while the list is empty, SOME modules are being used by the scripts and functioning. It's like they're installed but not showing here, and some are simply not working or not installed any more.

Further, when I enter "LWP" in the "Install a Perl Module" field to (re)install it, I get an empty progress area. It normally would display the steps of searching for the module, finding it, and then installing it. I get nothing and it finishes without doing anything. Same for MIME::Base64 installation.

Even when I try to install LWP via SSH using
/scripts/perlinstaller LWP

I get an error:
root@sites [~]# /scripts/perlinstaller MIME::Base64
Attempt to free unreferenced scalar: SV 0x1ab83a0, Perl interpreter: 0x1935010 at /usr/lib64/perl5/5.8.8/x86_64-linux-thread-multi/IO/File.pm line 134.
Segmentation fault

Same thing when I specify MIME::Base64 on the command line for installation.

Up until last night, everything was working fine. Any idea what might have happened and how I can correct it?

Thanks,
Vinnie

 

re: [Case 121097] Minor perl version change breaks perl (perl-5.8.8-41.el5 => perl-5.8.8-42.el5)

Hi,

From Cpanel: WHM 11.44.1 (build 18)
This is a dedicated server.

I'm not sure how to check the memory while installing Perl modules. Here is the output from TOP in a secure shell:

top - 14:42:31 up 381 days, 19:59, 2 users, load average: 0.57, 0.52, 0.43
Tasks: 220 total, 1 running, 217 sleeping, 0 stopped, 2 zombie
Cpu(s): 0.9%us, 0.9%sy, 0.0%ni, 98.1%id, 0.0%wa, 0.0%hi, 0.0%si, 0.0%st
Mem: 4045756k total, 3887880k used, 157876k free, 252492k buffers
Swap: 1999864k total, 108k used, 1999756k free, 2049784k cached

Here is the memory display from within WHM, Server Info:

total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 4045756 3942680 103076 0 254764 2066208
-/+ buffers/cache: 1621708 2424048
Swap: 1999864 108 1999756
Total: 6045620 3942788 2102832

I do know that I had installed these modules in the past and never encountered problems. Beyond that, it's strange that the already-installed modules are not even being listing in the WHM Perl Module Manager page.

Also, it only seems to be some modules (LWP , MIME::Base64 and a few others) that aren't being loaded by the scripts. Other modules are being loaded properly.