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>
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>