On CPAN module

In the CPAN shell, search and configure all policies to use "follow" as a value:

cpan[1]> o conf build_requires_install_policy yes
cpan[1]> o conf recommends_policy 1
cpan[1]> o conf prerequisites_policy follow
cpan[1]> o conf suggests_policy 1

This configuration will basically add everything related to the distribution you're testing.

Additionally:

cpan[1]> o conf make_arg -j<n>

This will define the -j<n> argument for the GNU make program to execute tasks in parallel, where <n> is the number of concurrent tests execution you will want. A "safe" value might be the number of processors/cores that you have available, but the best combination will require you to do some benchmark.

If you're using a different implementation of make (like dmake available on [http://strawberryperl.com/ Strawberry Perl]) you will need to check it's documentation and see if such configuration is possible.

On Test::Harness

Test-Harness will look for the environment variable HARNESS_OPTIONS and include the options set and you will want to set it with

HARNESS_OPTIONS=j<n>

Where <n> is the number of concurrent tests execution you will want. A "safe" value might be the number of processors/cores that you have available, but the best combination will require you to do some benchmark.

On CPAN::Reporter::Smoker

Start your smoker adding the "install" parameter:

perl -MCPAN::Reporter::Smoker -e 'start( install => 1)'

By doing that, CPAN-Reporter-Smoker will install the tested modules (if they pass the tests), instead of just testing then over and over. There are other additional benefits for doing that (check the Pod) but it will increase the smoker speed.