Cannot upgrade from repo package when trying to upgrade perl

Greetings,

I met a strange behavior when i tried to upgrade my perl-libs. So i have the correct package in my repo as you can see:

\[user@vm \~\]$ dnf list perl-libs-4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64
Rocky Linux 8 - BaseOS                                                                                                                                                                                                            5.2 kB/s | 4.3 kB     00:00
Rocky Linux 8 - BaseOS                                                                                                                                                                                                            5.8 MB/s |  39 MB     00:06
Rocky Linux 8 - Extras                                                                                                                                                                                                             11 kB/s | 3.1 kB     00:00
Rocky Linux 8 - Extras                                                                                                                                                                                                             25 kB/s |  15 kB     00:00
Available Packages
perl-libs.x86_64                                                                                               4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                                                                appstream

But i got the following errors when i tried to install it,

\[user@vm \~\]$ sudo dnf update perl-libs.x86_64
Error:
Problem: problem with installed package perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+e71a7a62.x86_64

* package perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+e71a7a62.x86_64 from @System requires libperl.so.5.26()(64bit), but none of the providers can be installed
* package perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+e71a7a62.x86_64 from appstream requires libperl.so.5.26()(64bit), but none of the providers can be installed
* package perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+11a26ffb.x86_64 from appstream requires perl(:MODULE_COMPAT_5.24.4), but none of the providers can be installed
* package perl-Net-SSLeay-1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+11a26ffb.x86_64 from appstream requires libperl.so.5.24()(64bit), but none of the providers can be installed
* cannot install both perl-libs-4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64 from appstream and perl-libs-4:5.26.3-423.el8_10.x86_64 from @System
* cannot install both perl-libs-4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64 from appstream and perl-libs-4:5.24.4-404.module+el8.6.0+882+2fa1e48f.x86_64 from appstream
* cannot install both perl-libs-4:5.26.3-422.el8.x86_64 from baseos and perl-libs-4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64 from appstream
* cannot install both perl-libs-4:5.26.3-423.el8_10.x86_64 from baseos and perl-libs-4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64 from appstream
* cannot install the best update candidate for package perl-libs-4:5.26.3-423.el8_10.x86_64
  (try to add ‘–allowerasing’ to command line to replace conflicting packages or ‘–skip-broken’ to skip uninstallable packages or ‘–nobest’ to use not only best candidate packages)

So i tried to install the libperl.so.5.26()(64bit) version from a local rpm package since it is an earlier version, but it says no need to install it:

\[user@vm \~\]$ sudo dnf install perl-libs-5.26.3-423.el8_10.x86_64.rpm
Package perl-libs-4:5.26.3-423.el8_10.x86_64 is already installed.
Dependencies resolved.
Nothing to do.
Complete! 

Then i downloaded the perl-libs-5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64.rpm locally and installed it, and this time, it was successful! So now i feel confused, why it does not allow me to install from repo but the local installation will work? As we can see, even i tried to install from the local package, it still find those dependencies from the appstream repo:

# user@vm \~\]$ sudo dnf install perl-libs-5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68.x86_64.rpm
Last metadata expiration check: 0:04:37 ago on Thu 13 Nov 2025 04:16:09 PM EST.
Dependencies resolved.

# Package                                                         Architecture                                    Version                                                                              Repository                                             Size

Upgrading:
perl-Carp                                                       noarch                                          1.50-439.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              32 k
perl-DBD-SQLite                                                 x86_64                                          1.58-2.module+el8.9.0+1509+99849472                                                  appstream                                             191 k
perl-DBI                                                        x86_64                                          1.641-4.module+el8.9.0+1495+776b191b                                                 appstream                                             738 k
perl-Data-Dumper                                                x86_64                                          2.174-440.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                              appstream                                              59 k
perl-Digest                                                     noarch                                          1.20-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                 appstream                                              28 k
perl-Digest-MD5                                                 x86_64                                          2.58-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                 appstream                                              38 k
perl-Encode                                                     x86_64                                          4:3.08-461.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                             1.5 M
perl-Errno                                                      x86_64                                          1.30-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              91 k
perl-Exporter                                                   noarch                                          5.74-458.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              34 k
perl-File-Path                                                  noarch                                          2.16-439.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              38 k
perl-File-Temp                                                  noarch                                          1:0.231.100-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                          appstream                                              64 k
perl-Getopt-Long                                                noarch                                          1:2.52-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              63 k
perl-HTTP-Tiny                                                  noarch                                          0.078-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                appstream                                              60 k
perl-IO                                                         x86_64                                          1.43-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             164 k
perl-IO-Socket-IP                                               noarch                                          0.41-2.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                 appstream                                              47 k
perl-MIME-Base64                                                x86_64                                          3.15-1001.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                              appstream                                              30 k
perl-Math-BigInt                                                noarch                                          1:1.9998.18-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                          appstream                                             202 k
perl-Math-Complex                                               noarch                                          1.59-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             123 k
perl-PathTools                                                  x86_64                                          3.78-439.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              90 k
perl-Pod-Escapes                                                noarch                                          1:1.07-396.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                              20 k
perl-Pod-Perldoc                                                noarch                                          3.28.01-443.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                            appstream                                              89 k
perl-Pod-Simple                                                 noarch                                          1:3.42-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             226 k
perl-Pod-Usage                                                  noarch                                          4:2.01-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              43 k
perl-Scalar-List-Utils                                          x86_64                                          4:1.55-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                              74 k
perl-Socket                                                     x86_64                                          4:2.031-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                              appstream                                              59 k
perl-Storable                                                   x86_64                                          1:3.21-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                              99 k
perl-Term-ANSIColor                                             noarch                                          5.01-458.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              51 k
perl-Term-Cap                                                   noarch                                          1.17-396.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              22 k
perl-Text-ParseWords                                            noarch                                          3.30-396.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              17 k
perl-Text-Tabs+Wrap                                             noarch                                          2013.0523-396.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                          appstream                                              23 k
perl-Time-Local                                                 noarch                                          2:1.300-4.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                              appstream                                              36 k
perl-URI                                                        noarch                                          1.76-5.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                 appstream                                             116 k
perl-Unicode-Normalize                                          x86_64                                          1.27-458.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              83 k
perl-constant                                                   noarch                                          1.33-1001.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                              appstream                                              25 k
perl-interpreter                                                x86_64                                          4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                           appstream                                             148 k
perl-libnet                                                     noarch                                          3.13-1.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                                 appstream                                             131 k
perl-libs                                                       x86_64                                          4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                           @commandline                                          2.2 M
perl-macros                                                     noarch                                          4:5.32.1-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                           appstream                                              87 k
perl-parent                                                     noarch                                          1:0.238-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                            appstream                                              20 k
perl-podlators                                                  noarch                                          1:4.14-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                             118 k
perl-threads                                                    x86_64                                          1:2.25-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                             appstream                                              62 k
perl-threads-shared                                             x86_64                                          1.61-457.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              48 k
Installing dependencies:
perl-AutoLoader                                                 noarch                                          5.74-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              98 k
perl-B                                                          x86_64                                          1.80-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             260 k
perl-Class-Struct                                               noarch                                          0.66-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              98 k
perl-DynaLoader                                                 x86_64                                          1.47-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             105 k
perl-Fcntl                                                      x86_64                                          1.13-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              97 k
perl-File-Basename                                              noarch                                          2.85-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              93 k
perl-File-Find                                                  noarch                                          1.37-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             102 k
perl-File-stat                                                  noarch                                          1.09-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              93 k
perl-FileHandle                                                 noarch                                          2.03-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              92 k
perl-Getopt-Std                                                 noarch                                          1.12-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              92 k
perl-IPC-Open3                                                  noarch                                          1.21-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              99 k
perl-POSIX                                                      x86_64                                          1.94-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             172 k
perl-SelectSaver                                                noarch                                          1.02-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              88 k
perl-Symbol                                                     noarch                                          1.08-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              90 k
perl-base                                                       noarch                                          2.27-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              92 k
perl-if                                                         noarch                                          0.60.800-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                           appstream                                              90 k
perl-locale                                                     noarch                                          1.09-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              90 k
perl-mro                                                        x86_64                                          1.23-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             105 k
perl-overload                                                   noarch                                          1.31-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                             122 k
perl-overloading                                                noarch                                          0.02-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              89 k
perl-subs                                                       noarch                                          1.03-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              88 k
perl-vars                                                       noarch                                          1.05-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              89 k
Installing weak dependencies:
perl-NDBM_File                                                  x86_64                                          1.15-473.module+el8.10.0+1616+0d20cc68                                               appstream                                              98 k
Downgrading:
perl-IO-Socket-SSL                                              noarch                                          2.066-4.module+el8.9.0+1517+a76eaf6e                                                 appstream                                             297 k
perl-Mozilla-CA                                                 noarch                                          20160104-7.module+el8.9.0+1521+b0a37ee7                                              appstream                                              14 k
perl-Net-SSLeay                                                 x86_64                                          1.88-2.module+el8.9.0+1517+a76eaf6e                                                  appstream                                             377 k

# Transaction Summary

Install    23 Packages
Upgrade    42 Packages
Downgrade   3 Packages

Total size: 10 M
Total download size: 8.1 M

Going by what you posted, your system is a mishmash of perl packages. You had perl packages from 5.24, 5.26 and 5.32 installed - most likely from inconsistent package installs from modules you had enabled/disabled previously or by installing them manually incorrectly like you just did in your post above by manually downloading perl-libs-5.32.

root@rocky8:~# dnf module list perl
Last metadata expiration check: 2:28:41 ago on Fri 14 Nov 2025 02:25:00 PM CET.
Rocky Linux 8 - AppStream
Name            Stream                 Profiles                       Summary                                           
perl            5.24                   common [d], minimal            Practical Extraction and Report Language          
perl            5.26 [d][e]            common [d], minimal            Practical Extraction and Report Language          
perl            5.30                   common [d], minimal            Practical Extraction and Report Language          
perl            5.32                   common [d], minimal            Practical Extraction and Report Language

what you should be doing is:

dnf module reset perl
dnf update

If the modules had been used correctly, then the packages would be in a sane state and would have updated without problems. The fact you have a mix of perl packages from different versions is what has caused all your issues. How you got in that situation, only you know, but based by what your posted, we can guess manually downloading, or not using the modules correctly.

Another situation is attempting to use the latest perl version, when other packages rely on perl-5.24 or 5.26. Which is another option as to why it doesn’t work.

Hi Iwalker,

Thank you for the explanations! I feel it’s very strange, since this is a home lab VM, since i only manually installed one software on this VM.