Unable to compile simple Java 10 / Java 11 project with Maven

I have a trivial Maven project:

src
└── main
    └── java
        └── module-info.java
pom.xml

pom.xml:

<groupId>org.example</groupId>
<artifactId>example</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<packaging>jar</packaging>
<name>example</name>

<build>
	<plugins>
		<plugin>
			<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
			<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
			<version>3.7.0</version>
			<configuration>
				<release>10</release>
			</configuration>
		</plugin>
	</plugins>
</build>

When I build the project via mvn -X install -DskipTests=true, it fails:

org.apache.maven.lifecycle.LifecycleExecutionException: Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.7.0:testCompile (default-testCompile) on project example: Execution default-testCompile of goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.7.0:testCompile failed.
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:213)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:154)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:146)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject(LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:117)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleModuleBuilder.buildProject(LifecycleModuleBuilder.java:81)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.builder.singlethreaded.SingleThreadedBuilder.build(SingleThreadedBuilder.java:51)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.LifecycleStarter.execute(LifecycleStarter.java:128)
        at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:309)
        at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:194)
        at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:107)
        at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.execute(MavenCli.java:993)
        at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.doMain(MavenCli.java:345)
        at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:191)
        at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
        at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
        at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:564)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:289)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:229)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:415)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.classworlds.launcher.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:356)
Caused by: org.apache.maven.plugin.PluginExecutionException: Execution default-testCompile of goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.7.0:testCompile failed.
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultBuildPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultBuildPluginManager.java:145)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.internal.MojoExecutor.execute(MojoExecutor.java:208)
        ... 20 more
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
        at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init>(Unknown Source)
        at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init>(Unknown Source)
        at org.objectweb.asm.ClassReader.<init>(Unknown Source)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.languages.java.jpms.AsmModuleInfoParser.parse(AsmModuleInfoParser.java:80)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.languages.java.jpms.AsmModuleInfoParser.getModuleDescriptor(AsmModuleInfoParser.java:54)
        at org.codehaus.plexus.languages.java.jpms.LocationManager.resolvePaths(LocationManager.java:83)
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.compiler.TestCompilerMojo.preparePaths(TestCompilerMojo.java:281)
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.compiler.AbstractCompilerMojo.execute(AbstractCompilerMojo.java:762)
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.compiler.TestCompilerMojo.execute(TestCompilerMojo.java:176)
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultBuildPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultBuildPluginManager.java:134)
        ... 21 more

Is there a way to fix this?

As of 30Jul, 2018 to fix the above issue, one can configure the java version used within maven to any up to JDK/11 and make use of the maven-compiler-plugin:3.8.0 to specify a release of either 9,10,11 without any explicit dependencies.

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <version>3.8.0</version>
    <configuration>
        <release>11</release>  <!--or <release>10</release>-->
    </configuration>
</plugin>

Note:- The default value for source/target has been lifted from 1.5 to 1.6 with this version. -- release notes.

---

Edit [30.12.2018]

In fact, you can make use of the same version of maven-compiler-plugin while compiling the code against JDK/12 as well.

More details and a sample configuration in how to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/52232681/compile-a-jdk12-preview-feature-with-maven.

UPDATE

The answer is now obsolete. See this answer.

---

maven-compiler-plugin depends on the old version of ASM which does not support Java 10 (and Java 11) yet. However, it is possible to explicitly specify the right version of ASM:

<plugin>
	<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
	<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
	<version>3.7.0</version>
	<configuration>
		<release>10</release>
	</configuration>
	<dependencies>
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.ow2.asm</groupId>
			<artifactId>asm</artifactId>
			<version>6.2</version> <!-- Use newer version of ASM -->
		</dependency>
	</dependencies>
</plugin>

You can find the latest at https://search.maven.org/search?q=g:org.ow2.asm%20AND%20a:asm&core=gav

It might not exactly be the same error, but I had a similar one.

Check Maven Java Version

Since Maven is also runnig with Java, check first with which version your Maven is running on:

mvn --version | grep -i java 

It returns: > Java version 1.8.0_151, vendor: Oracle > Corporation, runtime: C:\tools\jdk\openjdk1.8

Incompatible version

Here above my maven is running with Java Version 1.8.0_151. So even if I specify maven to compile with Java 11:

<properties>
    <java.version>11</java.version>
    <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
    <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

It will logically print out this error:

> [ERROR] Failed to execute goal > org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.8.0:compile > (default-compile) on project efa-example-commons-task: Fatal error > compiling: invalid target release: 11 -> [Help 1]

How to set specific java version to Maven

The logical thing to do is to set a higher Java Version to Maven (e.g. Java version 11 instead 1.8).

Maven make use of the environment variable JAVA_HOME to find the Java Version to run. So change this variable to the JDK you want to compile against (e.g. OpenJDK 11).

Sanity check

Then run again mvn --version to make sure the configuration has been taken care of:

mvn --version | grep -i java

yields > Java version: 11.0.2, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: C:\tools\jdk\openjdk11

Which is much better and correct to compile code written with the Java 11 specifications.

Specify maven.compiler.source and target versions.

1. Maven version which supports jdk you use. In my case JDK 11 and maven 3.6.0.

2. pom.xml

   11 11

As an alternative, you can fully specify maven compiler plugin. See previous answers. It is shorter in my example :)

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.8.0</version>
            <configuration>
                <release>11</release>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

3) rebuild the project to avoid compile errors in your IDE.

4. If it still does not work. In Intellij Idea I prefer using terminal instead of using terminal from OS. Then in Idea go to file -> settings -> build tools -> maven. I work with maven I downloaded from apache (by default Idea uses bundled maven). Restart Idea then and run mvn clean install again. Also make sure you have correct Path, MAVEN_HOME, JAVA_HOME environment variables.

I also saw this one-liner, but it does not work.

<maven.compiler.release>11</maven.compiler.release>

I made some quick starter projects, which I re-use in other my projects, feel free to check:

• https://github.com/yan-khonski-it/mvn-pmd-java11
• https://github.com/yan-khonski-it/pmd-java-14

Boosting your maven-compiler-plugin to 3.8.0 seems to be necessary but not sufficient. If you're still having problems, you should also make sure your JAVA_HOME environment variable is set to Java 10 (or 11) if you're running from the command line. (The error message you get won't tell you this.) Or if you're running from an IDE, you need to make sure it is set to run maven with your current JDK.

If you are using spring boot then add these tags in pom.xml.

<plugin>
	<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
	<artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
</plugin>

and

<properties>
	<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
	<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
	`<maven.compiler.release>`10</maven.compiler.release>
</properties>

You can change java version to 11 or 13 as well in <maven.compiler.release> tag.

Just add below tags in pom.xml

<properties>
	<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
	<project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
	<maven.compiler.release>11</maven.compiler.release>
</properties>

You can change the 11 to 10, 13 as well to change java version. I am using java 13 which is latest. It works for me.

In my case, I had to explicitly set JAVA_HOME to JDK-11 in my script though the terminal shows Java 11 version.

This was because, I'm executing mvn through shell script and mvn was using default JDK of my machine which was JDK8.

I confirmed which JDK version is being used by mvn in script & set to JDK-11 as below:

#!/bin/bash
echo $(java -version)
echo $(mvn --version | grep -i java )

export JAVA_HOME="/opt/jdk11/"
export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

echo $(java -version)
echo $(mvn --version | grep -i java )

Alright so for me nothing worked.
I was using spring boot with hibernate. The spring boot version was ~2.0.1 and I would keep get this error and null pointer exception upon compilation. The issue was with hibernate that needed a version bump. But after that I had some other issues that seemed like the annotation processor was not recognised so I decided to just bump spring from 2.0.1 to 2.1.7-release and everything worked as expected.

You still need to add the above plugin tough
Hope it helps!

If nothing else works and even after you set JAVA_HOME to a correct path, check if there is no override of the JAVA_HOME path in <user>/.mavenrc!

In my case,

• "echo $JAVA_HOME" shows version 11
• "java -version" shows version 11
• However, "mvn -version" shows "Java version" is NOT 11

I paste this on the top of .bash_profile and source it. It works.

export JAVA_8_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v1.8)
export JAVA_11_HOME=$(/usr/libexec/java_home -v11)

alias java8='export JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_8_HOME;export PATH=$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH'
alias java11='export JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_11_HOME;export PATH=$HOME/bin:$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH'

java11