Distribution of settings.xml for Maven

Question

Every developer in our company needs a settings.xml file for using Maven. This settings.xml file is completely equal for each developer (we do not have any passwords etc. in it). Occasionally, it will be edited by the build manager.

What is an easy way to distribute new versions of settings.xml?

Theoretically, I can think of three possibilities:

1. Write a newsletter and tell everyone to copy the new settings.xml from a central source.

2. Put the settings.xml on a network drive and tell Maven to grab it from the globally valid path (how?)

3. Use the Nexus mechanism of settings.xml templates. I understood that the user can grab a new version by using a Maven goal (so again, writing a newsletter "Please update!") but I am not sure whether it can be run in batch mode inside (each) build process.

Which approach is the most practical one?

Answer 1

You could create a symlink to some network share containing your settings.xml.

For example, in Windows:

mklink C:\Users\username\.m2\settings.xml \\server\share\settings.xml

This needs to be done one time on all developer machines. Then maven and all other IDEs should treat this file as local.

PS Newsletter and wiki could be better approach though. Some devs may still need to modify their settings.xml sometimes for a special project or so. It is better to leave them in control of their dev environment.

Answer 2

Nexus has a feature for managing and distributing settings files.

• https://books.sonatype.com/nexus-book/reference/maven-settings.html

I think this is the third option you've listed.

Looks like something that could be automated.