A custom Checker configuration xml file can be defined and then referenced via a URL, File, or build classpath resource reference.
To reference a custom Checkstyle Checker configuration, use the configLocation parameter.
<project> ... <reporting> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId> <version>2.14</version> <configuration> <configLocation>checkstyle.xml</configLocation> </configuration> </plugin> </plugins> </reporting> ... </project>
This example causes the Checkstyle Plugin to check for a File named checkstyle.xml or a resource named checkstyle.xml within the compile scope of the dependencies or build extensions classpath.
There are 4 predefined Checkstyle configuration definitions that ship with the Checkstyle Plugin, the Sun Microsystems Definition is selected by default.