3.7.0

Exec Maven Plugin 3.7.0 raises the minimum Maven version to 3.9.0, adds three long-requested exec:java options, and fixes a batch of old bugs in how commands and Java programs are started. Java 8 is still enough to run it. Builds on Maven 3.6.3 to 3.8.x must stay on 3.6.4.

✨ Highlights

• Maven 3.9.0 or later is required (#548). Older Maven versions fail at startup with a prerequisite error.
• classpathDependencyExcludes removes chosen dependencies from the class path of exec:java and exec:exec (#562, requested in #68 by @pramodanarase).
• mainClass from the manifest. When executableDependency is set and mainClass is not, the Main-Class attribute of that dependency's manifest is used (#563, #89 by @sewe).
• keepClassLoaderOpen leaves the exec:java class loader open after the program returns, so shutdown hooks and background threads can still load classes (#561, #513 by @tzaeschke).
• exec:java threading. The main class runs in a non-daemon bootstrap thread that the plugin waits for, so IDE builds such as m2e no longer interrupt it (#572, #526 by @sbj42). A program's own UncaughtExceptionHandler now receives its uncaught exceptions (#569, #141 by @dedeibel).
• exec:exec fixes. async together with outputFile keeps the output file open until the process ends (#565, #63 by @tarioch). A relative executable resolves against workingDirectory again (#567, #92 by @deepakab03). Unquoted line breaks and tabs in commandlineArgs count as spaces instead of creating empty arguments (#571, #466 by @cebaa). A failed command logs its message at error level and keeps the stack trace for -X (#568).
• Module path. Resource directories stay off the module path (#560, #534 by @inaldt), and the %modulepath token is handled (#532 by @pzygielo).
• Documentation moved from APT to Markdown, and the module path argument file is now documented (#557, #566).

🚨 Removed

• Require Maven 3.9.0 (#548) @slachiewicz

🚀 New features and improvements

• Add keepClassLoaderOpen to exec:java (#561) @slachiewicz
• Add classpathDependencyExcludes (#562) @slachiewicz
• Read mainClass from the executableDependency manifest (#563) @slachiewicz

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Log only the message of a failed command at error level (#568) @slachiewicz
• Pass uncaught exceptions to the handlers of the program (#569) @slachiewicz
• Resolve a relative executable against the working directory (#567) @slachiewicz
• Treat unquoted line breaks and tabs in the arguments as spaces (#571) @slachiewicz
• Run the main class in a non-daemon bootstrap thread (#572) @slachiewicz
• Keep the output file open for asynchronous executions (#565) @slachiewicz
• Keep resource directories off the module path (#560) @slachiewicz
• Handle %modulepath token (#532) @pzygielo

📝 Documentation updates

• Document the module path argument file (#566) @slachiewicz
• Convert the site documents from APT to Markdown (#557) @slachiewicz
• Add AGENTS.md (#552) @slachiewicz

👻 Maintenance

• Ignore JVM option notices in the mexec-86 output check (#564) @slachiewicz
• Declare the Maven artifacts the code uses (#553) @slachiewicz
• Remove redundant mojo.java.target property (#554) @slachiewicz
• Keep Dependabot on Maven 3.9.x (#550) @slachiewicz
• Keep plexus-xml on 3.x in Dependabot (#541) @slachiewicz

🔧 Build

• Resolve the heaviest plugins of setup-parent in the main build (#559) @slachiewicz
• Reuse the cached prefix file in the integration tests (#558) @slachiewicz
• Use the runners' cached Temurin JDKs in CI (#551) @slachiewicz
• Serve the plexus-utils fixture dependency from a mock repository (#549) @slachiewicz
• Assign merged pull requests to the release milestone (#547) @slachiewicz
• Check dependencies monthly and group the updates (#546) @slachiewicz
• Run fewer JDKs on macOS and Windows and the ITs in parallel (#545) @slachiewicz
• Keep Dependabot off Mockito 5 (#543) @slachiewicz

📦 Dependency updates

• Bump the maven group with 4 updates (#555) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump asm.version from 9.10.1 to 9.11 (#544) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-xml from 3.0.1 to 3.1.0 (#542) @dependabot[bot]
• Bump org.codehaus.plexus:plexus-utils from 3.0.24 to 3.6.1 in /src/it/projects/modulepath-from-cli (#539) @dependabot[bot]
• Keep plexus-xml on 3.x in Dependabot (#541) @slachiewicz

Thanks to @pzygielo and @slachiewicz.

Full changelog