maven-surefire-plugin ignores plugins order in pom.xml

Question

I have multimodule maven project. This project contains self written maven plugin and test project for this plugin. I want to run my plugin in test phase before maven-surefire-plugin I put maven-surefire-plugin after my plugin in pom.xml

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>com.my.group</groupId>
            <artifactId>validator-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>${project.version}</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>test</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>validate</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.18.1</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>test</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>test</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
</build>

But maven-surefire-plugin still runs first.

[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Building PC_TEST_PROJECT 0.23-SNAPSHOT
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-clean-plugin:2.5:clean (default-clean) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Deleting C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\target
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.6:resources (default-resources) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Using 'UTF-8' encoding to copy filtered resources.
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\src\main\java
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\src\main\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:compile (default-compile) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] No sources to compile
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.6:testResources (default-testResources) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Using 'UTF-8' encoding to copy filtered resources.
[INFO] Copying 0 resource
[INFO] Copying 0 resource
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Compiling 1 source file to C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\target\test-classes
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-surefire-plugin:2.18.1:test (default-test) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Surefire report directory: C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\target\surefire-reports

-------------------------------------------------------
 T E S T S
-------------------------------------------------------
Running com.my.group.validator.MainTest
Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0, Time elapsed: 0.657 sec - in com.my.group.validator.MainTest

Results :

Tests run: 3, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0

[INFO]
[INFO] >>> validator-maven-plugin:0.23-SNAPSHOT:validate (default) > test @ PC_TEST_PROJECT >>>
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.6:resources (default-resources) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Using 'UTF-8' encoding to copy filtered resources.
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\src\main\java
[INFO] skip non existing resourceDirectory C:\validator\PC_TEST_PROJECT\src\main\resources
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:compile (default-compile) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] No sources to compile
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-resources-plugin:2.6:testResources (default-testResources) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Using 'UTF-8' encoding to copy filtered resources.
[INFO] Copying 0 resource
[INFO] Copying 0 resource
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Nothing to compile - all classes are up to date
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-surefire-plugin:2.18.1:test (default-test) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Skipping execution of surefire because it has already been run for this configuration
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-surefire-plugin:2.18.1:test (default) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Skipping execution of surefire because it has already been run for this configuration
[INFO]
[INFO] <<< validator-maven-plugin:0.23-SNAPSHOT:validate (default) < test @ PC_TEST_PROJECT <<<
[INFO]
[INFO] --- validator-maven-plugin:0.23-SNAPSHOT:validate (default) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO]
[INFO] --- maven-surefire-plugin:2.18.1:test (default) @ PC_TEST_PROJECT ---
[INFO] Skipping execution of surefire because it has already been run for this configuration
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Reactor Summary:
[INFO]
[INFO] validator-parent ................................... SUCCESS [  0.175 s]
[INFO] validator .......................................... SUCCESS [  6.038 s]
[INFO] validator-maven-plugin ............................. SUCCESS [  2.012 s]
[INFO] PC_TEST_PROJECT .................................... SUCCESS [  2.762 s]
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 11.298 s
[INFO] Finished at: 2015-07-05T00:46:59+03:00
[INFO] Final Memory: 21M/51M
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it expected behavior for maven-surefire-plugin? How to change order of plugins execution?

Answer 1

try this one:

<?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>ch.stefanheimberg.stackoverflow</groupId>
    <artifactId>stackoverflow-31225404</artifactId>
    <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <packaging>jar</packaging>

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>run-before-surfire</id>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>run</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <tasks>
                                <echo message=" !!!! THIS SHOULD RUN BEFORE SUREFIRE !!!! " />
                            </tasks>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <id>default-test</id>
                        <phase>none</phase>
                    </execution>

                    <execution>
                        <id>run-after-antrun</id>
                        <phase>test</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>test</goal>
                        </goals>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

</project>

and the console output:

cd /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404; JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_40.jdk/Contents/Home "/Applications/NetBeans/NetBeans 8.0.2.app/Contents/Resources/NetBeans/java/maven/bin/mvn" clean install
Scanning for projects...

Some problems were encountered while building the effective model for ch.stefanheimberg.stackoverflow:stackoverflow-31225404:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT
'build.plugins.plugin.version' for org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-surefire-plugin is missing. @ line 31, column 21

It is highly recommended to fix these problems because they threaten the stability of your build.

For this reason, future Maven versions might no longer support building such malformed projects.


------------------------------------------------------------------------
Building stackoverflow-31225404 1.0-SNAPSHOT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

--- maven-clean-plugin:2.4.1:clean (default-clean) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
Deleting /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/target

--- maven-resources-plugin:2.5:resources (default-resources) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
[debug] execute contextualize
Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
skip non existing resourceDirectory /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/src/main/resources

--- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:compile (default-compile) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
No sources to compile

--- maven-resources-plugin:2.5:testResources (default-testResources) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
[debug] execute contextualize
Using platform encoding (UTF-8 actually) to copy filtered resources, i.e. build is platform dependent!
skip non existing resourceDirectory /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/src/test/resources

--- maven-compiler-plugin:2.3.2:testCompile (default-testCompile) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
No sources to compile

--- maven-antrun-plugin:1.3:run (run-before-surfire) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
Executing tasks
     [echo]  !!!! THIS SHOULD RUN BEFORE SUREFIRE !!!! 
Executed tasks

--- maven-surefire-plugin:2.10:test (run-after-antrun) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
No tests to run.
Surefire report directory: /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/target/surefire-reports

-------------------------------------------------------
 T E S T S
-------------------------------------------------------

Results :

Tests run: 0, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 0


--- maven-jar-plugin:2.3.2:jar (default-jar) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
JAR will be empty - no content was marked for inclusion!
Building jar: /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/target/stackoverflow-31225404-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar

--- maven-install-plugin:2.3.1:install (default-install) @ stackoverflow-31225404 ---
Installing /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/target/stackoverflow-31225404-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar to /Users/stefanheimberg/.m2/repository/ch/stefanheimberg/stackoverflow/stackoverflow-31225404/1.0-SNAPSHOT/stackoverflow-31225404-1.0-SNAPSHOT.jar
Installing /Users/stefanheimberg/git/stackoverflow-31225404/pom.xml to /Users/stefanheimberg/.m2/repository/ch/stefanheimberg/stackoverflow/stackoverflow-31225404/1.0-SNAPSHOT/stackoverflow-31225404-1.0-SNAPSHOT.pom
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUILD SUCCESS
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total time: 1.888s
Finished at: Tue Jul 07 00:41:57 CEST 2015
Final Memory: 8M/155M
------------------------------------------------------------------------

the trick here is, to first bind your plugin (in my antrun) to the test phase, and after this, unbind the "default-test" phase. after this you can bind the maven-surfire to the test phase again.

Answer 2

In the same phase, maven should execute plugins in the same order as they are listed in the pom.xml. Update your maven version :

For maven 3, it is fixed since version 3.0.3.

For maven 2, it is fixed since versions 2.0.11 and 2.1.0