Make Maven to copy dependencies into target/lib

Question

How do I get my project's runtime dependencies copied into the target/lib folder?

As it is right now, after mvn clean install the target folder contains only my project's jar, but none of the runtime dependencies.

Why do you need this ? What is the type of your maven project ? jar ? — Alexandre Victoor, Sep 18 '08 at 22:34
The type of my maven project is JAR. I need this because there are a lot of dependencies and I'm trying deploy the jar as an executable. — Michael, Sep 18 '08 at 22:56
Caution with assemblies - if you have overlapping packages/classes between the deps, you will probably have a bad time. — demaniak, Oct 08 '15 at 11:36

score 294 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 22 '14 at 06:49

294

This works for me:

<project>
  ...
  <profiles>
    <profile>
      <id>qa</id>
      <build>
        <plugins>
          <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
            <executions>
              <execution>
                <phase>install</phase>
                <goals>
                  <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
                </goals>
                <configuration>
                  <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/lib</outputDirectory>
                </configuration>
              </execution>
            </executions>
          </plugin>
        </plugins>
      </build>
    </profile>
  </profiles>
</project>

edited Aug 22 '14 at 06:49

Duncan Jones

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answered Jun 15 '09 at 15:58

Georgy Bolyuba

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14

If you want this to happen all the time, remove the ... wrappers and make the tag be just under – Dan Halbert Nov 06 '12 at 15:34
3

@Georgy this does not coy the jars in lib/ , but includes the classes in the compiled project – Midhat Nov 26 '12 at 09:04
6

This is fine, but it is copying test dependencies too. I add to myself the `excludeScope` option (http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-dependency-plugin/copy-dependencies-mojo.html). – Alfonso Nishikawa Aug 09 '13 at 08:44
Work well but it is not required to place the build tag inside the profile tags. – Julien BRENELIERE Feb 11 '14 at 13:47
3

Note: `test` goes inside the `configuration` node. – Jesse Chisholm Nov 23 '16 at 19:37
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Maybe it would be more appropriate if the phase were `package` instead of `install` – Searene Aug 23 '18 at 08:03

score 116 · Answer 2 · edited Feb 08 '14 at 02:49

116

mvn install dependency:copy-dependencies

Works for me with dependencies directory created in target folder. Like it!

edited Feb 08 '14 at 02:49

Andreas Louv

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answered Feb 08 '14 at 02:30

user3286149

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Thank you for this simple option. I used the package target instead but otherwise did what I was looking for. – jla Jul 16 '20 at 01:40
8

dont know how this is not hte accepted answer? anyway , if you want to send dependencies to specific dir, for example called 'lib' , can use `mvn dependency:copy-dependencies -DoutputDirectory=lib/` – niken Apr 23 '22 at 15:12

score 94 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 21 '16 at 11:15

The best approach depends on what you want to do:

If you want to bundle your dependencies into a WAR or EAR file, then simply set the packaging type of your project to EAR or WAR. Maven will bundle the dependencies into the right location.
If you want to create a JAR file that includes your code along with all your dependencies, then use the assembly plugin with the jar-with-dependencies descriptor. Maven will generate a complete JAR file with all your classes plus the classes from any dependencies.
If you want to simply pull your dependencies into the target directory interactively, then use the dependency plugin to copy your files in.
If you want to pull in the dependencies for some other type of processing, then you will probably need to generate your own plugin. There are APIs to get the list of dependencies, and their location on disk. You will have to take it from there...

isapir · Answer 4 · 2017-12-24T20:39:57.367

All you need is the following snippet inside pom.xml's build/plugins:

<plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <phase>prepare-package</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/lib</outputDirectory>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

The above will run in the package phase when you run

mvn clean package

And the dependencies will be copied to the outputDirectory specified in the snippet, i.e. lib in this case.

If you only want to do that occasionally, then no changes to pom.xml are required. Simply run the following:

mvn clean package dependency:copy-dependencies

To override the default location, which is ${project.build.directory}/dependencies, add a System property named outputDirectory, i.e.

    -DoutputDirectory=${project.build.directory}/lib

score 39 · Answer 5 · answered Sep 19 '08 at 00:03

39

Take a look at the Maven dependency plugin, specifically, the dependency:copy-dependencies goal. Take a look at the example under the heading The dependency:copy-dependencies mojo. Set the outputDirectory configuration property to ${basedir}/target/lib (I believe, you'll have to test).

Hope this helps.

answered Sep 19 '08 at 00:03

Travis B. Hartwell

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15

Alternatively, you could use ${project.build.directory}/lib rather than ${basedir}/target/lib – Cuga Jul 06 '10 at 14:42

score 35 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 22 '14 at 06:59

35

If you want to do this on an occasional basis (and thus don't want to change your POM), try this command-line:

mvn dependency:copy-dependencies -DoutputDirectory=${project.build.directory}/lib

If you omit the last argument, the dependences are placed in target/dependencies.

answered Aug 22 '14 at 06:59

Duncan Jones

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thanks! this is the easiest way to just copy the libs that would be required by a project into a folder somewhere so you can copy them somewhere else if need be, e.g. a non maven based project. Note that of course you can just pass in a hardcoded folder to use if you like, e.g. `mvn dependency:copy-dependencies -DoutputDirectory=./lib ` – Brad Parks May 15 '15 at 13:18
Can you do it out of pom.xml? – Gobliins Oct 19 '15 at 14:50

score 34 · Answer 7 · edited Dec 11 '14 at 09:14

A simple and elegant solution for the case where one needs to copy the dependencies to a target directory without using any other phases of maven (I found this very useful when working with Vaadin).

Complete pom example:

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">

    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>groupId</groupId>
    <artifactId>artifactId</artifactId>
    <version>1.0</version>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.mybatis</groupId>
            <artifactId>mybatis-spring</artifactId>
            <version>1.1.1</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
                    <executions>
                        <execution>
                            <phase>process-sources</phase>

                            <goals>
                                <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
                            </goals>

                            <configuration>
                                <outputDirectory>${targetdirectory}</outputDirectory>
                            </configuration>
                        </execution>
                    </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Then run mvn process-sources

The jar file dependencies can be found in /target/dependency

maven-dependency-plugin (goals "copy-dependencies", "unpack") is not supported by m2e. :-( — P.M, Jan 27 '12 at 16:45
@Gobliins use ${project.build.directory}/lib instead of ${targetdirectory} — Divyang Shah, Sep 12 '17 at 12:12

score 25 · Answer 8 · edited Dec 11 '14 at 09:14

25

Try something like this:

<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.4</version>
<configuration>
    <archive>
        <manifest>  
            <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
            <classpathPrefix>lib/</classpathPrefix>
            <mainClass>MainClass</mainClass>
        </manifest>
    </archive>
    </configuration>
</plugin>
<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.4</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>copy</id>
            <phase>install</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <outputDirectory>
                    ${project.build.directory}/lib
                </outputDirectory>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

edited Dec 11 '14 at 09:14

Duncan Jones

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answered May 01 '12 at 08:57

adjablon

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@Thomas I think it's `maven clean install`, then you will find `lib` in `target` – Searene Jan 15 '17 at 04:15
1

what would I have to do to copy only 1 dependency? – Alan Donizete Mar 31 '17 at 13:39
1

lib/ helped me a lot. Thank you! – Martin Pabst Apr 14 '17 at 15:43
Would replace the `install` phase with `process-resources` so that the dependencies are copied before the `build` goal runs – Vyacheslav Cotruta Sep 29 '19 at 16:13

score 11 · Answer 9 · edited Dec 13 '17 at 17:55

11

supposing

you don't want to alter the pom.xml
you don't want test scoped (e.g. junit.jar) or provided dependencies (e.g. wlfullclient.jar)

here ist what worked for me:

mvn install dependency:copy-dependencies -DincludeScope=runtime -DoutputDirectory=target/lib

edited Dec 13 '17 at 17:55

Jeffrey Knight

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answered Nov 24 '16 at 10:42

mambolis

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score 5 · Answer 10 · edited Jan 25 '19 at 15:01

If you want to deliver a bundle of your application jar, together with all its dependencies and some scripts to invoke the MainClass, look at the appassembler-maven-plugin.

The following configuration will generate scripts for Window and Linux to launch the application (with a generated path referencing all the dependency jars, download all dependencies (into a lib folder below target/appassembler). The assembly plugin can then be used to package the whole appassembler directory to a zip which is installed/deployed along with the jar to the repository.

  <plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>appassembler-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>1.0</version>
    <executions>
      <execution>
        <id>generate-jsw-scripts</id>
        <phase>package</phase>
        <goals>
          <goal>generate-daemons</goal>
        </goals>
        <configuration>
          <!--declare the JSW config -->
          <daemons>
            <daemon>
              <id>myApp</id>
              <mainClass>name.seller.rich.MyMainClass</mainClass>
              <commandLineArguments>
                <commandLineArgument>start</commandLineArgument>
              </commandLineArguments>
              <platforms>
                <platform>jsw</platform>
              </platforms>              
            </daemon>
          </daemons>
          <target>${project.build.directory}/appassembler</target>
        </configuration>
      </execution>
      <execution>
        <id>assemble-standalone</id>
        <phase>integration-test</phase>
        <goals>
          <goal>assemble</goal>
        </goals>
        <configuration>
          <programs>
            <program>
              <mainClass>name.seller.rich.MyMainClass</mainClass>
              <!-- the name of the bat/sh files to be generated -->
              <name>mymain</name>
            </program>
          </programs>
          <platforms>
            <platform>windows</platform>
            <platform>unix</platform>
          </platforms>
          <repositoryLayout>flat</repositoryLayout>
          <repositoryName>lib</repositoryName>
        </configuration>
      </execution>
    </executions>
  </plugin>
  <plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.2-beta-4</version>
    <executions>
      <execution>
        <phase>integration-test</phase>
        <goals>
          <goal>single</goal>
        </goals>
        <configuration>
          <descriptors>
            <descriptor>src/main/assembly/archive.xml</descriptor>
          </descriptors>
        </configuration>
      </execution>
    </executions>
  </plugin>

The assembly descriptor (in src/main/assembly) to package the direcotry as a zip would be:

<assembly>
  <id>archive</id>
  <formats>
    <format>zip</format>
  </formats>
  <fileSets>
    <fileSet>
     <directory>${project.build.directory}/appassembler</directory>
     <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
    </fileSet>
  </fileSets>
</assembly>

score 4 · Answer 11 · answered Sep 18 '08 at 22:44

4

If you make your project a war or ear type maven will copy the dependencies.

answered Sep 18 '08 at 22:44

Eduard Wirch

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score 3 · Answer 12 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

3

It's a heavy solution for embedding heavy dependencies, but Maven's Assembly Plugin does the trick for me.

@Rich Seller's answer should work, although for simpler cases you should only need this excerpt from the usage guide:

<project>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.2.2</version>
                <configuration>
                    <descriptorRefs>
                        <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
                    </descriptorRefs>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

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answered Jan 31 '12 at 22:27

RubyTuesdayDONO

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Your code example doesn't solve the problem, it just bundles everything into a single JAR. Yes, the assembly plugin can be used to achieve this goal, but not like this. – Duncan Jones Aug 22 '14 at 07:00
Although, on further reading, maybe you are responding to [this comment](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/97640/force-maven2-to-copy-dependencies-into-target-lib/25441276#comment15792_97640). – Duncan Jones Aug 22 '14 at 07:01
it's been so long that i don't really remember … plus i've gotten rather rusty since focusing on Linux administration at my last firm — but thank you for the feedback! – RubyTuesdayDONO Aug 22 '14 at 18:54

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 22 '10 at 12:23

Just to spell out what has already been said in brief. I wanted to create an executable JAR file that included my dependencies along with my code. This worked for me:

(1) In the pom, under <build><plugins>, I included:

<plugin>
    <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.2-beta-5</version>
    <configuration>
        <archive>
            <manifest>
                <mainClass>dk.certifikat.oces2.some.package.MyMainClass</mainClass>
            </manifest>
        </archive>
        <descriptorRefs>
            <descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
        </descriptorRefs>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

(2) Running mvn compile assembly:assembly produced the desired my-project-0.1-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar in the project's target directory.

(3) I ran the JAR with java -jar my-project-0.1-SNAPSHOT-jar-with-dependencies.jar

score 1 · Answer 14 · answered Sep 18 '08 at 22:59

1

You can use the the Shade Plugin to create an uber jar in which you can bundle all your 3rd party dependencies.

answered Sep 18 '08 at 22:59

Brian Matthews

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score 0 · Answer 15 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

0

If you're having problems related to dependencies not appearing in the WEB-INF/lib file when running on a Tomcat server in Eclipse, take a look at this:

ClassNotFoundException DispatcherServlet when launching Tomcat (Maven dependencies not copied to wtpwebapps)

You simply had to add the Maven Dependencies in Project Properties > Deployment Assembly.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:55

Community

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answered May 17 '11 at 16:31

hemetsu

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times29 · Answer 16 · 2022-01-17T22:14:20.493

You could place a settings.xml file in your project directory with a basic config like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
          xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
    <localRepository>.m2/repository</localRepository>
    <interactiveMode/>
    <offline/>
    <pluginGroups/>
    <servers/>
    <mirrors/>
    <proxies/>
    <profiles/>
    <activeProfiles/>
</settings>

More information on these settings can be found in the official Maven docs.
Note that the path is resolved relative to the directory where the actual settings file resides in unless you enter an absolute path.

When you execute maven commands you can use the settings file as follows:

mvn -s settings.xml clean install

Side note: I use this in my GitLab CI/CD pipeline in order to being able to cache the maven repository for several jobs so that the dependencies don't need to be downloaded for every job execution. GitLab can only cache files or directories from your project directory and therefore I reference a directory wihtin my project directory.

Make Maven to copy dependencies into target/lib

16 Answers16

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