Install Perl on Windows (Strawberry Perl)

System requirements

Hardware

• A processor (Intel Pentium or compatible).
• 512 MB of RAM (1 GB or more is better).
• 500 MB of disk space (1 GB or more is better).

Windows

• Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 (32-bit or 64-bit).

Download Strawberry Perl

Open the Strawberry Perl website (strawberryperl.com) and download the installer (.msi) for your system, 64-bit in most cases.

Why Strawberry Perl

• It is free and open source.
• It includes a compiler (MinGW), so you can install CPAN modules that need to be built.
• It is easy to install and use.

What it includes

1. The Perl interpreter.
2. Documentation.
3. Modules, including the CPAN client for installing more.
4. Development tools, such as a compiler and a debugger.

Install

1. Run the .msi file and click Next.
2. Accept the license agreement.
3. Choose the install folder (the default is C:\Strawberry).

   

4. Click Install and wait.

   

   

5. Click Finish.

   

The installer adds Perl to the PATH.

Check the install

Open a new Command Prompt:

perl -v

Run a first script

Create hello.pl:

print "Hello, Perl!\n";

Run it:

perl hello.pl

Install a CPAN module

cpan install Text::CSV

Quick recap

• Download Strawberry Perl and run the installer.
• Check with perl -v.
• Install modules with cpan.