Maven: The Complete Reference
12.2. Using Archetypes

The following command line can be used to generate a project from the quickstart archetype.

mvn archetype:generate \
-DgroupId=org.sonatype.mavenbook \
-DartifactId=quickstart \
-Dversion=1.0-SNAPSHOT \
-DpackageName=org.sonatype.mavenbook \
-DarchetypeGroupId=org.apache.maven.archetypes \
-DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart \
-DarchetypeVersion=1.0 \
-DinteractiveMode=false

The generate goal accepts the following parameters:

Once you run the generate goal using the previously listed command line, you will have a directory named quickstart which contains a new Maven project. The command line you had to suffer through in this section is difficult to manage. In the next section we generate the same project running the generate goal in an interactive mode.

The simplest way to use the Maven Archetype plugin to generate a new Maven project from an archetype is to run the archetype:generate goal in interactive mode. When interactiveMode is set to true, the generate goal will present you with a list of archetypes and prompt you to select an archetype and supply the necessary identifiers. Since the default value of the parameter interactiveMode is true, all you have to do to generate a new Maven project is run mvn archetype:generate.

$ mvn archetype:generate
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building Maven Default Project
[INFO]task-segment: [archetype:generate] (aggregator-style)
[INFO] [archetype:generate]
[INFO] Generating project in Interactive mode
[INFO] No archetype defined. Using maven-archetype-quickstart
Choose archetype:
1: internal -> appfuse-basic-jsf
2: internal -> appfuse-basic-spring
3: internal -> appfuse-basic-struts
4: internal -> appfuse-basic-tapestry
5: internal -> appfuse-core
6: internal -> appfuse-modular-jsf
7: internal -> appfuse-modular-spring
8: internal -> appfuse-modular-struts
9: internal -> appfuse-modular-tapestry
10: internal -> maven-archetype-j2ee-simple
11: internal -> maven-archetype-marmalade-mojo
12: internal -> maven-archetype-mojo
13: internal -> maven-archetype-portlet
14: internal -> maven-archetype-profiles
15: internal -> maven-archetype-quickstart
16: internal -> maven-archetype-site-simple
17: internal -> maven-archetype-site
18: internal -> maven-archetype-webapp
19: internal -> jini-service-archetype
20: internal -> softeu-archetype-seam
21: internal -> softeu-archetype-seam-simple
22: internal -> softeu-archetype-jsf
23: internal -> jpa-maven-archetype
24: internal -> spring-osgi-bundle-archetype
25: internal -> confluence-plugin-archetype
26: internal -> jira-plugin-archetype
27: internal -> maven-archetype-har
28: internal -> maven-archetype-sar
29: internal -> wicket-archetype-quickstart
30: internal -> scala-archetype-simple
31: internal -> lift-archetype-blank
32: internal -> lift-archetype-basic
33: internal -> cocoon-22-archetype-block-plain
34: internal -> cocoon-22-archetype-block
35: internal -> cocoon-22-archetype-webapp
36: internal -> myfaces-archetype-helloworld
37: internal -> myfaces-archetype-helloworld-facelets
38: internal -> myfaces-archetype-trinidad
39: internal -> myfaces-archetype-jsfcomponents
40: internal -> gmaven-archetype-basic
41: internal -> gmaven-archetype-mojo
Choose a number: +15 +

The first thing that the archetype:generate goal does in interactive mode is print out a list of archetypes that it is aware of. The Maven Archetype plugin ships with an archetype catalog which includes a reference to all of the standard, simple Maven archetypes (10-18). The plugin’s archetype catalog also contains a number of references to compelling third-party archetypes such as archetypes which can be used to create AppFuse projects, Confluence and JIRA plugins, Wicket applications, Scala applications, and Groovy projects. For a brief overview of these third-party archetypes, see Section 12.3.2, “Notable Third-Party Archetypes”.

Once you select an archetype, the Maven Archetype plugin downloads the archetype, and then asks you to supply the following values for your new project:

Define value for groupId: : +org.sonatype.mavenbook+
Define value for artifactId: : +quickstart+
Define value for version:  1.0-SNAPSHOT: : +1.0-SNAPSHOT+
Define value for package:  org.sonatype.mavenbook: : +org.sonatype.mavenbook+
Confirm properties configuration:
groupId: org.sonatype.mavenbook
artifactId: quickstart
version: 1.0-SNAPSHOT
package: org.sonatype.mavenbook
Y: : +Y+

Once this interactive portion of the archetype:generate goal execution is finished, the Maven Archetype plugin will generate the project in a directory named after the artifactId you supplied.

[INFO] Parameter: groupId, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook
[INFO] Parameter: packageName, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook
[INFO] Parameter: basedir, Value: /Users/tobrien/tmp
[INFO] Parameter: package, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook
[INFO] Parameter: version, Value: 1.0-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] Parameter: artifactId, Value: quickstart
[INFO] ********************* End of debug info from resources from \
generated POM **
[INFO] OldArchetype created in dir: /Users/tobrien/tmp/quickstart
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESSFUL
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 1 minute 57 seconds
[INFO] Finished at: Sun Oct 12 15:39:14 CDT 2008
[INFO] Final Memory: 8M/15M
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

m2eclipse makes creating a new Maven project from a Maven Archetype very easy by providing an intuitive wizard for searching for, selecting, and configuring a Maven Archetype. For more information about generating a Maven project from a Maven Archetype using m2eclipse, see Creating a Maven Project from a Maven Archetype in "Developing with Eclipse and Maven".