Including dependencies in a jar with Maven

Question

Is there a way to force maven(2.0.9) to include all the dependencies in a single jar file?

I have a project the builds into a single jar file. I want the classes fro

Answer 1

With Maven 2, the right way to do this is to use the Maven2 Assembly Plugin which has a pre-defined descriptor file for this purpose and that you could just use on the command line:

mvn assembly:assembly -DdescriptorId=jar-with-dependencies

If you want to make this jar executable, just add the main class to be run to the plugin configuration:

  org.apache.maven.plugins
  maven-assembly-plugin
  
    
      
        my.package.to.my.MainClass
      
    
  

If you want to create that assembly as part of the normal build process, you should bind the single or directory-single goal (the assembly goal should ONLY be run from the command line) to a lifecycle phase (package makes sense), something like this:

  org.apache.maven.plugins
  maven-assembly-plugin
  
    
      create-my-bundle
      package
      
        single
      
      
        
          jar-with-dependencies
        
        ...
      
    
  

Adapt the configuration element to suit your needs (for example with the manifest stuff as spoken).