[Development Guides Home](/guides) >> [Guide to Perl](/guides/guide-to-perl/)

# Guide to Perl in cPanel - Modules and Scripts

## Introduction

cPanel & WHM includes several Perl environments. The version of cPanel & WHM that you use determines the Perl environments on your server.

Note:
While cPanel & WHM's installer requires basic Perl, cPanel & WHM does **not** require the `/usr/bin/perl` file in order to function. cPanel & WHM's codebase and the `/usr/bin/perl` file interact minimally.

## Perl script modifications to use cPanel's Perl environments

Warning:
If your distribution’s core Perl does not provide Perl modules, you may need to change the shebang (`#`) at the top of your scripts. Change your shebang if any of the following statements are true:

* Your scripts need to work on prior versions of cPanel & WHM.
* Your maintenance scripts tie in to the cPanel & WHM codebase.
* You want to use Perl 5.14 or later.


We recommend the following option to change the shebang (`#!/usr/bin/perl`) at the beginning of your script.

### Modification to function on cPanel & WHM

Replace the shebang at the beginning of your script with the following shebang:


```
#!/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/perl
```

Note:
The `/usr/local/cpanel/3rdparty/bin/perl` symlink points to the location of Perl on the server. We do **not** recommend that you use the binary to which the symlink points, as it may move in future versions of cPanel & WHM.