In copying specific artifacts, you need to bind the dependency:copy mojo to a lifecycle, configure the plugin and specify the artifacts you want to copy. See the following example:
<project> [...] <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.3</version> <executions> <execution> <id>copy</id> <phase>package</phase> <goals> <goal>copy</goal> </goals> <configuration> <artifactItems> <artifactItem> <groupId>junit</groupId> <artifactId>junit</artifactId> <version>3.8.1</version> <type>jar</type> <overWrite>false</overWrite> <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/alternateLocation</outputDirectory> <destFileName>optional-new-name.jar</destFileName> </artifactItem> </artifactItems> <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/wars</outputDirectory> <overWriteReleases>false</overWriteReleases> <overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> [...] </project>
Then after executing mvn package the artifact (junit) is copied to the given alternateLocation.
Artifacts are resolved from the following sources in order:
If the artifact cannot be resolved from the above sources then the build
If the artifact is also listed as a dependency, the version of the artifactItem will default to the version from the dependencies or dependencyManagement, e.g.
<project> [...] <dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>junit</groupId> <artifactId>junit</artifactId> <version>3.8.1</version> <scope>test</scope> </dependency> </dependencies> [...] <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.3</version> <executions> <execution> <id>copy</id> <phase>package</phase> <goals> <goal>copy</goal> </goals> <configuration> <artifactItems> <artifactItem> <groupId>junit</groupId> <artifactId>junit</artifactId> <overWrite>false</overWrite> <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/alternateLocation</outputDirectory> <destFileName>optional-new-name.jar</destFileName> </artifactItem> </artifactItems> <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/wars</outputDirectory> <overWriteReleases>false</overWriteReleases> <overWriteSnapshots>true</overWriteSnapshots> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> [...] </project>
The dependency:copy goal can also be used to copy the just built artifact to a custom location if desired. It must be bound after the to any phase after the package phase so that the artifact exists in the repository. The following configuration shows how (binding to the install phase in this case):
<project> [...] <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.3</version> <executions> <execution> <id>copy-installed</id> <phase>install</phase> <goals> <goal>copy</goal> </goals> <configuration> <artifactItems> <artifactItem> <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId> <artifactId>${project.artifactId}</artifactId> <version>${project.version}</version> <type>${project.packaging}</type> </artifactItem> </artifactItems> <outputDirectory>some-other-place</outputDirectory> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> [...] </project>
dependency:copy always downloads artifacts to default local repository first, and then copy the artifacts to the desired locations. For large size unique snapshot artifacts, the downloads can quickly fill up default local repository, and therefore local disk, after many executions. To clean up the downloaded artifacts as part the build, set localRepotorityDirectory's value to a location in your project's target directory.
This use case also applies to dependency:unpack goal.
<project> [...] <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.3</version> <executions> <execution> <id>copy-with-alternalte-repo</id> <phase>install</phase> <goals> <goal>copy</goal> </goals> <configuration> <artifactItems> <artifactItem> [...] </artifactItem> [...] </artifactItems> <localRepositoryDirectory>${project.build.directory}/localrepo</localRepositoryDirectory> </configuration> </execution> </executions> </plugin> </plugins> </build> [...] </project>
If you intend to configure this mojo for execution on the command line using:
mvn dependency:copy
you must not put the configuration inside the executions tag. Your configuration should look like this:
<project> [...] <build> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.3</version> <configuration> <artifactItems> <artifactItem> <groupId>[ groupId ]</groupId> <artifactId>[ artifactId ]</artifactId> <version>[ version ]</version> <type>[ packaging ]</type> <overWrite>[ true or false ]</overWrite> <outputDirectory>[ output directory ]</outputDirectory> <destFileName>[ filename ]</destFileName> </artifactItem> </artifactItems> <!-- other configurations here --> </configuration> </plugin> </plugins> </build> [...] </project>