Rebuild a Maven repository in 3 steps

Alex TheedomAugust 21st, 2020Last Updated: January 3rd, 2022

1 3,341 1 minute read

In this blog post, I will show a way to very quickly rebuild a Maven repository without having to set up a project.

Step 1: Delete all artifacts

Cleanse your Maven repository by deleting the contents of the /.m2/repository directory. Ensure to delete the settings.xml file if so required.

Step 2: Create a dummy POM file

Create the simplest POM file that defines only groupId, artifactId, and version. This is just a basic dummy POM file that you will delete later. Maven needs it to run the purging local repository dependencies command.

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>com.example</groupId>
    <artifactId>most-basic-projet</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
</project>

Step 3: Repopulate the local Maven repository

Run the purge repository Maven command:

mvn dependency:purge-local-repository

The objective of this Maven goal is to remove artifacts from your local maven repository. It will delete and re-resolve artifacts.

Finally, delete the POM file. Now you have a nice clean Maven repo with freshly repopulate artifacts.

Published on Java Code Geeks with permission by Alex Theedom, partner at our JCG program. See the original article here: Rebuild a Maven repository in 3 steps

Opinions expressed by Java Code Geeks contributors are their own.

Do you want to know how to develop your skillset to become a Java Rockstar?

Subscribe to our newsletter to start Rocking right now!

To get you started we give you our best selling eBooks for FREE!

1. JPA Mini Book

2. JVM Troubleshooting Guide

3. JUnit Tutorial for Unit Testing

4. Java Annotations Tutorial

5. Java Interview Questions

6. Spring Interview Questions

7. Android UI Design

and many more ....