The “execute-phase” goal is basically the same as the execute goal, except it accepts maven lifecycle phases instead of plugin goals. See the execute goal docs for more information.

What It Does

This goal maps your commands to the full set of recognized maven lifecycle phases. This goal will allow you to type “mvn package” and all the typical lifecycle events will be run up and through package. Contrastingly, the “execute” goal of this plugin will not allow you to run “package” because package is not a plugin, but rather a lifecycle goal.

Command Line Syntax

The command line syntax is very similar to the way arguments passed to the mvn command are interpreted, with one exception, you can specify modules. So, specifying:

maven2> clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true -o

is equivalent to running:

$ mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true -o

Similarly, goals can be executed:

maven2> dependency:tree

is equivalent to running:

$ mvn dependency:tree

When modules are specified, this is equivalent to changing into the module first. So running:

maven2> mymodule/mysubmodule clean install

is equivalent to running:

$ cd mymodule/mysubmodule
$ mvn clean install

Multiple modules can be specified, this is equivalent to running each command on each module:

maven2> mymodule/mysubmodule1 mymodule2 clean install

is equivalent to running:

$ cd mymodule/mysubmodule1
$ mvn clean install
$ cd ../..
$ cd mymodule2
$ mvn clean install

Finally, different goals can be executed on different modules in the one command:

maven2> mymodule1 clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true mymodule2 package

is equivalent to running:

$ cd mymodule1
$ mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true
$ cd ..
$ cd mymodule2
$ mvn package

Of course, aliases still work as for the execute goal.

Supported Options