Specifying Maven memory parameter without setting MAVEN_OPTS environment variable

Question

I was wondering if it is possible to specify Maven memory boundaries with a syntax similar to:

mvn -Dtest=FooTest -DXmx=512M clean test

I t

Answer 1

You can configure the surefire-plugin to use more memory. Take a look on Strange Maven out of memory error.

Update: If you would like to set the parameter from command-line take a look on {{mvn.bat}} (or {{mvn}} shell script) in your maven installation directory. It uses with additional options specified in command line.

Next possibility is to set surefire-plugin and use properties specified in command-line, e.g. mvn ... -Dram=512

and

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>2.5</version>
    <configuration>
        <forkMode>once</forkMode>
        <argLine>-Xms${ram}m -Xmx${ram}m</argLine>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

Answer 2

Since Maven 3.3.1 a default can also be specified in ${maven.projectBasedir}/.mvn/jvm.config

It is documented here: https://maven.apache.org/docs/3.3.1/release-notes.html#JVM_and_Command_Line_Options

Answer 3

To specify the max memory (not via MAVEN_OPTS as originally requested) you can do the following:

mvn clean install -DargLine="-Xmx1524m"