mvn archetype:generate which version selected

Question

According to doc , there is no default value for <archetypeVersion>.

So, when I do mvn archetype:generate , and I select an archetype , then it might be possible that many versions of it might exist in repository. Which will be selected ?

Example :

In the repository - https://nexus.opendaylight.org/content/repositories/opendaylight.snapshot/archetype-catalog.xml , there are basically 2 archetypes with 2 versions each.

Answer 1

In your meta-data you should be able to specify a release version, here is the example from quickstart:

cat /cygdrive/c/Users/G01103266/.m2/repository/org/apache/maven/archetypes/maven-archetype-quickstart/maven-metadata-central.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<metadata>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.archetypes</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-archetype-quickstart</artifactId>
  <versioning>
    <latest>1.4</latest>
    <release>1.4</release>
    <versions>
      <version>1.0-alpha-1</version>
      <version>1.0-alpha-2</version>
      <version>1.0-alpha-3</version>
      <version>1.0-alpha-4</version>
      <version>1.0</version>
      <version>1.1</version>
      <version>1.3</version>
      <version>1.4</version>
    </versions>
    <lastUpdated>20181213005348</lastUpdated>
  </versioning>
</metadata>

In your local repository or Nexus/Artifactory you may have an archetype-catalog.xml this will define the allowed versions, for you to choose from, here is the one for Maven Central.

If there is no mention of the archetype in the catalog the version will default to 1.0.

If there is more than one version it will ask you to pick a version and default to release.

I create test projects with the following script

mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeGroupId=org.apache.maven.archetypes -DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-archetype-quickstart -DarchetypeVersion=RELEASE

Will use version 1.4