Copying specific artifacts

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>
        <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.

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 install phase so that the artifact exists in the repository. The following configuration shows how:

 <project>
  [...]
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
        <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>

Copying from the command line:

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>
        <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>