TheNEXUS

To create your web application:

$ mvn archetype:generate -DgroupId=org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb \
      -DartifactId=simple-webapp \
      -Dpackage=org.sonatype.mavenbook \
      -Dversion=1.0-SNAPSHOT
...
[INFO] [archetype:generate {execution: default-cli}]
Choose archetype:
...
19: internal -> maven-archetype-webapp (A simple Java web application)
...
Choose a number:  (...) 15: : 19
Confirm properties configuration:
groupId: org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb
artifactId: simple-webapp
version: 1.0-SNAPSHOT
package: org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb
Y: : Y
[INFO] Parameter: groupId, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb
[INFO] Parameter: packageName, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb
[INFO] Parameter: package, Value: org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb
[INFO] Parameter: artifactId, Value: simple-webapp
[INFO] Parameter: basedir, Value: /private/tmp
[INFO] Parameter: version, Value: 1.0-SNAPSHOT
...
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESSFUL

Once the Maven Archetype plugin creates the project, change directories into the simple-webapp directory and take a look at the pom.xml. You should see something close to the following.

Initial POM for the simple-webapp Project. 

<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/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb</groupId>
    <artifactId>simple-webapp</artifactId>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>simple-webapp 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>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <finalName>simple-webapp</finalName>
    </build>
</project>

Next, you will need to configure the Maven Compiler plugin to target Java 5. To do this, add the plugins element to the initial POM as shown in POM for the simple-webapp Project with Compiler Configuration.

POM for the simple-webapp Project with Compiler Configuration. 

<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/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>org.sonatype.mavenbook.simpleweb</groupId>
    <artifactId>simple-webapp</artifactId>
    <packaging>war</packaging>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>simple-webapp Maven Webapp</name>
    <url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>4.12</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <finalName>simple-webapp</finalName>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.3</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.5</source>
                    <target>1.5</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

Notice the packaging element contains the value war. This packaging type is what configures Maven to produce a web application archive in a WAR file. A project with war packaging is going to create a WAR file in the target/ directory. The default name of this file is ${artifactId}-${version}.war. In this project, the default WAR would be generated in target/simple-webapp-1.0-SNAPSHOT.war. In the simple-webapp project, we’ve customized the name of the generated WAR file by adding a finalName element inside of this project’s build configuration. With a finalName of simple-webapp, the package phase produces a WAR file in target/simple-webapp.war.