Configuring the Maven Release Plugin to Skip Tests

If you are using Maven in addition to the Maven Release Plugin, it is in your best interest to skip the execution of tests during the Release plugin execution. There are many very different reasons why you may need to do this, but it may depend on the nature of the project or how the CI pipeline is implemented.

Note that this might be able to bring a great improvement in your release time since performing the release with the Maven Release Plugin implies executing the same tests twice: once in the Prepare step and then once more in the Perform step.

If you would like to avoid executing tests in the Prepare phase, then you need to run it like so:

mvn -DpreparationGoals=clean release:prepare

If you would like to avoid executing tests during the Perform phase, then you need to run it like so:

mvn -Darguments="-Dmaven.test.skip=true" release:perform

It is important to note that I am not saying that you don't need to execute tests during the Release process. Instead, what I am saying is that this might be a good idea if your Release process doesn't fit the standard Release process of the plugin and, for example, you are already running tests before you have executed the plugin.