Generate a UUID in Perl

How to Generate a UUID in Perl

Although the Perl programming language itself does not have built-in support for generating a UUID or GUID, there are quality 3rd party, open-source packages that you can use instead.

We recommend the UUID package. It can generate version 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 UUIDs. All are variant 1, meaning compliant with the OSF DCE standard as described in RFC4122.

Installing the UUID package from CPAN

Perl packages are typically installed from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN). It is common to use the cpan minus installer. You can install the UUID package with this command:

  % cpanm UUID

Generating UUIDs

With the UUID package installed, you can now use it in your Perl code.

use strict;
use warnings;
use UUID qw(uuid4);

my $uuid = uuid4();

print "Your v4 UUID is: $uuid\n";

Explanation

• Lines #1 and #2 are good practice, ensuring common errors are caught and useful warnings are emitted.
• Line #3 includes the UUID module and imports the uuid4 function into the current package.
• Line #5 generates a Version 4 UUID and saves it in the variable, $uuid. The uuid4() function returns a new, random, Version 4 UUID.
• The output from line #7 will be something like:

  Your v4 UUID is: 374fe2ea-2034-420d-8d69-c49122fe6bed
  

The UUID package has a number of other functions, such as those for generating other UUID versions and for parsing UUID strings. You can read more about the UUID package on its MetaCPAN page.

Special thanks to Adam Clarke for the information on generating UUIDs in Perl.

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