Maven war plugin, not getting dependencies from parent pom

Question

My objective is to include a war to another war. See My Project structure:

+test-parent (here goes all common dependencies for spring & hibernate framework) -- test-core (the collection of all common classes type:jar) -- test-web (the webapp which should run as individual webapp, depends on test-core, type:war) -- test-web-2 (the webapp which depends on test-web,test-core, type:war)

I have used maven war plugin to achieve this.

test-parent/pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
    <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <modules>
        <module>test-core</module>
        <module>test-web</module>
        <module>test-web-2</module>
    </modules>
    <dependencies>
        <!-- All common spring & hibernate dependencies -->
    </dependencies>
</project>

test-core/pom.xml

<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
  <parent>
    <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
    <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
  </parent>
  <artifactId>test-core</artifactId>
</project>

test-web/pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
        <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
    <artifactId>test-web</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <name>test-web Maven Webapp</name>
    <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>3.8.1</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-core</artifactId>
            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <finalName>test-web</finalName>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-war-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>2.4</version>
                <configuration>
                    <packagingIncludes>**/*.xml,**/*.properties,**/*.class,**/*.png,**/*.css,**/*.js,**/*.jsp</packagingIncludes>
                    <packagingExcludes>WEB-INF/web.xml</packagingExcludes>
                    <attachClasses>true</attachClasses>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

test-web-2/pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"
    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
        <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
    <artifactId>test-web-2</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <name>test-web-2 Maven Webapp</name>
    <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>3.8.1</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web</artifactId>
            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
            <type>war</type>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web</artifactId>
            <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
            <classifier>classes</classifier>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <finalName>test-web-2</finalName>
    </build>
</project>

As my test-web-2 depends on test-web, I want to merge all classes,resources in test-web-2. when I run mvn install my all builds are successful, but when I run test-web or test-web-2 on server, it has no lib folder under WEB-INF with all required spring jars from parent.

I have given package & jsp file names different in both projects. I am even able to see the proper merged build as required.

How can I get this lib folder generated in both test-web & test-web-2 project with all dependent jars from parent?

Did you have a look at http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-war-plugin/overlays.html ? — Robert Scholte, Nov 03 '13 at 11:50
Ya I have tried overlays also. The trouble is it is not including my dependent jars from parent. I run it on web server not with maven but from springsource-toolsuit 3.3. But I guess it internally produces same output as mvn install before deploying to wtpwebapps on tomcat 7 runtime. — Anand Shah, Nov 03 '13 at 14:32
Look at this: https://github.com/mariuszs/stackoverflow-war-bounty — MariuszS, Nov 23 '13 at 18:27

MariuszS · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-23T18:23:17.290

Simplify project configuration. Separate java source code from WAR to JAR. After this you can simply add this JAR to another WAR as dependency. Merging java code in this case is not good idea.

For merging resources from WAR use maven overlays.

Sample solution

* test-parent.pom
  * test-core (test-core.jar)         - shared code
  * test-web-parent (test-web-parent.pom)   - first project
    * core (test-web-core.jar)
    * web (test-web.war)
  * test-web-2-parent (test-web-2-parent.pom) - second project
    * core (test-web-2-core.jar)
    * web (test-web-2.war)

test-web.war have dependencies:

test-web-core.jar
test-core.jar

test-web-2.war have dependencies:

test-web-2-core.jar
test-core.jar

Configuration

`test-parent.pom`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
    <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>

    <modules>
        <module>test-core</module>
        <module>test-web-parent</module>
        <module>test-web-2-parent</module>
    </modules>

</project>

`test-core.jar`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-core</artifactId>

</project>

`test-web-parent.pom`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web-parent</artifactId>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <modules>
        <module>core</module>
        <module>web</module>
    </modules>

</project>

`test-web-core.jar`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-web-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web-core</artifactId>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

</project>

`test-web.war`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-web-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web</artifactId>
    <packaging>war</packaging>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
            <type>jar</type>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

</project>

`test-web-2-parent.pom`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web-2-parent</artifactId>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>

    <modules>
        <module>core</module>
        <module>web</module>
    </modules>

</project>

`test-web-2-core.jar`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-web-2-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web-2-core</artifactId>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

</project>

`test-web-2.war`

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <parent>
        <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
        <artifactId>test-web-2-parent</artifactId>
        <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    </parent>
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

    <artifactId>test-web-2</artifactId>
    <packaging>war</packaging>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web-2-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
        </dependency>
        <!--first war-->
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
            <type>war</type>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>test-parent</groupId>
            <artifactId>test-web-core</artifactId>
            <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

</project>

Source code

https://github.com/mariuszs/stackoverflow-war-bounty

Thankx for quick reply, but here my requirement is to use project1 as a individual war webapp & project2 as individual war webapp which has both classes & pages(jsps) depending on first. — Anand Shah, Nov 23 '13 at 17:23
sounds good. But will it not make system more difficult to manage lots of different artifacts? — Anand Shah, Nov 23 '13 at 17:29
Thankx a lot :) It will be more helpful if you can just post the sample poms for the tree — Anand Shah, Nov 23 '13 at 17:35

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 23 '13 at 17:13

I think that the problem is that you're trying to do something that does not fit with J2EE standard. It makes no sense to include a war file in another war file.

The 'standard' way to handle such dependencies is to package your deployment as a .ear file, with shared resources packaged as jar files within the ear, and war files that use those shared dependencies also in the ear file.

Look at the maven packaging plugin's "ear" packaging options.

Maven war plugin, not getting dependencies from parent pom

2 Answers2

Sample solution

Configuration

test-parent.pom

test-core.jar

test-web-parent.pom

test-web-core.jar

test-web.war

test-web-2-parent.pom

test-web-2-core.jar

test-web-2.war