Exclude META-INF/maven folder from the generated jar file

Question

I am trying to create a jar file which has all the necessary classes extracted within the jar. But for few dependent jar like log4j, it creates some folders inside META-INF/maven/*. I have a limitation that the server in which I will be placing the generated jar file will not have Internet connectivity. So if there is any content in this META-INF/maven/* folder then it gives me an error.

My maven descriptor looks like the following

<build>
    <sourceDirectory>src</sourceDirectory>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.3</version>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.6</source>
                <target>1.6</target>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <archive>
                    <addMavenDescriptor>false</addMavenDescriptor>
                </archive>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>package</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>shade</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
            <configuration>
                <minimizeJar>true</minimizeJar>
                <finalName>myclient</finalName>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

I am able to extract the required class files in the generated jar but the maven folder is still getting generated under META-INF. I have to manually delete the folder to make everything work. Please advice on how to automate this removal of maven folder from the generated jar file.

Answer 1

You can use filters inside the maven-shade-plugin configuration to exclude everything that is under META-INF/maven for every artifact:

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.4.1</version>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>shade</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <filters>
                    <filter>
                        <artifact>*:*</artifact>
                        <excludes>
                            <exclude>META-INF/maven/**</exclude>
                        </excludes>
                    </filter>
                </filters>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

A solution for the maven-jar-plugin can be found here.

Answer 2

Simple add this to either it is a jar,war,ear plugin

<configuration>
   ....
  <archive>
    <addMavenDescriptor>false</addMavenDescriptor>
   </archive>
   ....
</configuration>