Must have artifact plugin v1.3 installed to use this version of the dist plugin. Try: maven plugin:download -DgroupId=maven -DartifactId=maven-artifact-plugin -Dversion=1.3 +-------------------------------------------------------+ | C R E A T I N G B I N A R Y D I S T R I B U T I O N | +-------------------------------------------------------+ +-------------------------------------------------------+ | C R E A T I N G S O U R C E D I S T R I B U T I O N | +-------------------------------------------------------+