{"id":270,"date":"2026-10-13T06:11:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T06:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scmgalaxy.com\/tutorials\/2010\/07\/12\/maven2-step-by-step\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T06:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T06:11:42","slug":"maven2-step-by-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/maven2-step-by-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Maven2 Web Application Setup: Legacy Step-by-Step Guide with Build, Jetty, and Site Reporting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on 2010-07-12; fully revised and updated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This guide is for engineers maintaining or modernizing legacy Maven2-style Java web projects. You will learn how to bootstrap a project, switch to WAR packaging, run the core Maven lifecycle, use an in-place Jetty development loop, and generate project documentation and quality reports from pom.xml<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"maven2-step-by-step\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Create a Maven web application skeleton<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The original workflow starts from the Maven archetype flow described in the Maven Getting Started Guide<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n

mvn archetype:create -DgroupId=com.mycompany.app -DartifactId=my-app<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Then add web and resource directories for a typical JSP\/Servlet style project:<\/p>\n\n\n
mkdir -p my-app\/src\/main\/webapps\/WEB-INF\nmkdir -p my-app\/src\/main\/resources\nmkdir -p my-app\/src\/test\/resources<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Path<\/th>Used in original post<\/th>Purpose<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
src\/main\/webapps\/WEB-INF<\/td>Yes<\/td>Web app context and deployment descriptors<\/td><\/tr>
src\/main\/resources<\/td>Yes<\/td>Application resource files on classpath<\/td><\/tr>
src\/test\/resources<\/td>Yes<\/td>Test-only resource files<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
To produce a web archive instead of a JAR, change packaging from jar<\/code> to war<\/code>. The original post also configured the compiler for Java 1.5:<\/p>\n\n\n
<packaging<\/span>><\/span>war<\/packaging<\/span>><\/span>\n\n<build<\/span>><\/span>\n  <plugins<\/span>><\/span>\n    <plugin<\/span>><\/span>\n      <groupId<\/span>><\/span>org.apache.maven.plugins<\/groupId<\/span>><\/span>\n      <artifactId<\/span>><\/span>maven-compiler-plugin<\/artifactId<\/span>><\/span>\n      <configuration<\/span>><\/span>\n        <source<\/span>><\/span>1.5<\/source<\/span>><\/span>\n        <target<\/span>><\/span>1.5<\/target<\/span>><\/span>\n      <\/configuration<\/span>><\/span>\n    <\/plugin<\/span>><\/span>\n  <\/plugins<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/build<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Core Maven goals you will use daily<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Command<\/th>What it does<\/th>Typical use<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
mvn clean<\/td>Removes generated build output<\/td>Reset workspace before a fresh build<\/td><\/tr>
mvn compile<\/td>Compiles main Java sources<\/td>Quick compile check<\/td><\/tr>
mvn test-compile<\/td>Compiles test sources<\/td>Validate test code compiles<\/td><\/tr>
mvn test<\/td>Runs unit tests<\/td>Local validation before packaging<\/td><\/tr>
mvn package<\/td>Builds artifact (JAR\/WAR)<\/td>Create deployable output<\/td><\/tr>
mvn install<\/td>Installs artifact into local Maven repository<\/td>Make artifact available to local dependent builds<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n
# Common local build sequence<\/span>\nmvn clean test package<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Run an in-place development loop with Jetty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The original article uses the Maven2 Jetty Plugin<\/a> to run the app directly from source and shorten edit-build-run feedback cycles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nflowchart LR\n    A[Create project] --> B[Add web directories]\n    B --> C[Set packaging to war]\n    C --> D[Run clean test package]\n    D --> E[Start Jetty]\n    E --> F[Open app in browser]\n    F --> G[Edit code]\n    G --> D\n    D --> H[Generate site reports]\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Legacy Jetty configuration snippet from the original workflow:<\/p>\n\n\n
<plugin<\/span>><\/span>\n  <groupId<\/span>><\/span>org.mortbay.jetty<\/groupId<\/span>><\/span>\n  <artifactId<\/span>><\/span>maven-jetty6-plugin<\/artifactId<\/span>><\/span>\n  <configuration<\/span>><\/span>\n    <scanIntervalSeconds<\/span>><\/span>10<\/scanIntervalSeconds<\/span>><\/span>\n  <\/configuration<\/span>><\/span>\n  <dependencies<\/span>><\/span>\n    <dependency<\/span>><\/span>\n      <groupId<\/span>><\/span>org.apache.geronimo.specs<\/groupId<\/span>><\/span>\n      <artifactId<\/span>><\/span>geronimo-j2ee_1.4_spec<\/artifactId<\/span>><\/span>\n      <version<\/span>><\/span>1.0<\/version<\/span>><\/span>\n      <scope<\/span>><\/span>provided<\/scope<\/span>><\/span>\n    <\/dependency<\/span>><\/span>\n  <\/dependencies<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/plugin<\/span>><\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n
mvn<\/span> jetty6<\/span>:run<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Expected local URL in this setup: http:\/\/localhost:8080\/my-app<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Generate IDE metadata from pom.xml<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The post highlights Maven-driven IDE metadata generation so source paths and dependencies come from the same POM definition.<\/p>\n\n\n
mvn<\/span> eclipse<\/span>:eclipse<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
It also notes setting M2_REPO<\/code> in Eclipse to point to the local repository path (typically ~\/.m2\/repository<\/code>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Build project documentation and reports with Maven Site<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Maven can generate a project site and reports from POM metadata and source docs. The original article references DocBook<\/a>, APT (Almost Plain Text)<\/a>, and FML for FAQ content.<\/p>\n\n\n
mkdir -p my-app\/src\/site\/apt\nmkdir -p my-app\/src\/site\/fml\nmkdir -p my-app\/src\/site\/resources\/images\ntouch my-app\/src\/site\/site.xml<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n
mvn site<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Plugin<\/th>Role in reporting\/site<\/th>Standalone command<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
maven-project-info-reports-plugin<\/td>Project metadata reports (dependencies, SCM, issue tracking, etc.)<\/td>Usually run via mvn site<\/td><\/tr>
maven-javadoc-plugin<\/td>API documentation generation<\/td>mvn javadoc:javadoc<\/td><\/tr>
maven-jxr-plugin<\/td>Cross-referenced source browsing<\/td>mvn jxr:jxr<\/td><\/tr>
maven-checkstyle-plugin<\/td>Code style reporting<\/td>mvn checkstyle:checkstyle<\/td><\/tr>
cobertura-maven-plugin<\/td>Test coverage reports<\/td>mvn cobertura:cobertura<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The original Cobertura notes mention that a cobertura.ser<\/code> file may be left in the project root and can be removed with mvn clean<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Original reference links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n