How to Prevent Maven from Checking for Updates of Specific Artifacts in a Group?

How can I prevent Maven from checking for updates on certain artifacts from a specific group in the Maven Central Repository?

Maven, a popular build automation tool, often checks for updates to dependencies, including SNAPSHOT versions, during the build process. In some cases, this behavior can lead to unnecessary network calls, especially for artifacts that are consistently built locally. Fortunately, there are several configuration options within Maven that can help mitigate this issue.

<settings xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/SETTINGS/1.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/settings-1.0.0.xsd">
  <profiles>
    <profile>
      <id>disable-snapshot-updates</id>
      <repositories>
        <repository>
          <id>central</id>
          <url>https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2</url>
          <snapshots>
            <updatePolicy>never</updatePolicy>
          </snapshots>
        </repository>
      </repositories>
    </profile>
  </profiles>
  <activeProfiles>
    <activeProfile>disable-snapshot-updates</activeProfile>
  </activeProfiles>
</settings>

Causes

• Maven checks for updates by default in the local and remote repositories.
• SNAPSHOT dependencies are particularly prone to frequent checks, as they represent ongoing development versions.
• Configurations in the settings.xml file can inadvertently lead to redundant update checks.

Solutions

• 1. **Disable SNAPSHOT Updates**: You can manage how Maven handles SNAPSHOT updates by configuring the settings within the settings.xml file located in the `.m2` directory. Use the `updatePolicy` tag to set it to `never` for SNAPSHOT dependencies under the `<snapshots>` section of the repository definition.
• 2. **Repository Configuration**: Instead of having Maven check external repositories for snapshots, consider deploying them to your internal repository (using tools such as Nexus or Artifactory). Update your project's pom.xml to point to your internal repository instead.
• 3. **Use Offline Mode Selectively**: While not ideal, if you must run in offline mode, remember to limit its use to builds where dependencies are not expected to change.

Mistake: Not specifying the correct repository in settings.xml.

Solution: Ensure that the repository’s `<snapshots>` section is properly configured, specifically the `<updatePolicy>`.

Mistake: Overlooking dependency scope settings in pom.xml.

Solution: Ensure that dependencies are declared with the appropriate scope (like 'compile' or 'provided') to leverage the local repository effectively.