If you do any non-trivial customization of a Maven build, you'll understand that you need to have a good understanding of Maven Plugin configuration. What configuration parameters are available for a particular plugin goal? Most users tend to Google for the particular Maven plugin and rely on the fact that most Maven-generate plugin sites contain a standard list of goals and configuration parameters. While this works, there is a better way: use the Maven Help plugin's describe goal to list the available configuration parameters for a Maven plugin.
Describing Plugin Configuration Parameters with a Command
<?xml version="1.0"?>
$ mvn help:describe -Dcmd=compiler:compile
[INFO] [help:describe {execution: default-cli}]
[INFO] 'compiler:compile' is a plugin goal (aka mojo).
Mojo: 'compiler:compile'
compiler:compile
Description: Compiles application sources
Deprecated. No reason given
Sure, the compile goal in the compiler plugin will compile application sources. That's not exactly what you were looking for, what you usually need is a detailed list of plugin configuration parameters. You can get this by passing in a -Ddetail argument.
$mvn help:describe -Dcmd=compiler:compile -Ddetail
[INFO] [help:describe {execution: default-cli}]
[INFO] 'compiler:compile' is a plugin goal (aka mojo).
Mojo: 'compiler:compile'
compiler:compile
Description: Compiles application sources
Deprecated. No reason given
Implementation: org.apache.maven.plugin.CompilerMojo
Language: java
Bound to phase: compile
Available parameters:
compilerArgument
Sets the unformatted argument string to be passed to the compiler if fork
is set to true.
This is because the list of valid arguments passed to a Java compiler
varies based on the compiler version.
Deprecated. No reason given
compilerArguments
Sets the arguments to be passed to the compiler (prepending a dash) if
fork is set to true.
This is because the list of valid arguments passed to a Java compiler
varies based on the compiler version.
Deprecated. No reason given
compilerId (Default: javac)
The compiler id of the compiler to use. See this guide for more
information.
Deprecated. No reason given
compilerVersion
Version of the compiler to use, ex. '1.3', '1.5', if fork is set to true.
Deprecated. No reason given
debug (Default: true)
Set to true to include debugging information in the compiled class files.
Deprecated. No reason given
encoding
The -encoding argument for the Java compiler.
Deprecated. No reason given
excludes
A list of exclusion filters for the compiler.
Deprecated. No reason given
executable
Sets the executable of the compiler to use when fork is true.
Deprecated. No reason given
failOnError (Default: true)
Indicates whether the build will continue even if there are compilation
errors; defaults to true.
Deprecated. No reason given
fork (Default: false)
Allows running the compiler in a separate process. If 'false' it uses the
built in compiler, while if 'true' it will use an executable.
Deprecated. No reason given
includes
A list of inclusion filters for the compiler.
Deprecated. No reason given
maxmem
Sets the maximum size, in megabytes, of the memory allocation pool, ex.
'128', '128m' if fork is set to true.
Deprecated. No reason given
meminitial
Initial size, in megabytes, of the memory allocation pool, ex. '64',
'64m' if fork is set to true.
Deprecated. No reason given
optimize (Default: false)
Set to true to optimize the compiled code using the compiler's
optimization methods.
Deprecated. No reason given
outputFileName
Sets the name of the output file when compiling a set of sources to a
single file.
Deprecated. No reason given
showDeprecation (Default: false)
Sets whether to show source locations where deprecated APIs are used.
Deprecated. No reason given
showWarnings (Default: false)
Set to true to show compilation warnings.
Deprecated. No reason given
source
The -source argument for the Java compiler.
Deprecated. No reason given
staleMillis (Default: 0)
Sets the granularity in milliseconds of the last modification date for
testing whether a source needs recompilation.
Deprecated. No reason given
target
The -target argument for the Java compiler.
Deprecated. No reason given
verbose (Default: false)
Set to true to show messages about what the compiler is doing.
Deprecated. No reason given
That's more like it. If you ever find yourself wondering what a particular plugin configuration parameter's name is, or what a default value for a parameter is. You now know how to find it. For more information see the Configuring Maven chapter in Maven: The Definitive Guide.