CompilerMojo#execute() caused a linkage error (java.lang.NoSuchMethodError) and may be out-of-date

Question

I've searched google and reviewed answers on StackOverflow, but cannot seem to resolve this problem. I recently joined this project and added a few things to the POM. Being a relative neophyte with Maven, I am not grasping the issue and the response I have seen have not been clarifying. I suspect it is the addition of Groovy to the project. I want to use Groovy & Spock for testing (and, hopefully, eventually for prod as well).

[INFO] Using Groovy-Eclipse compiler to compile both Java and Groovy files
[FATAL ERROR] org.apache.maven.plugin.CompilerMojo#execute() caused a linkage error (java.lang.NoSuchMethodError) and may be out-of-date. Check the realms:
[FATAL ERROR] Plugin realm = app0.child-container[org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:2.0.2]
urls[0] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/apache/maven/plugins/maven-compiler-plugin/2.0.2/maven-compiler-plugin-2.0.2.jar
urls[1] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/groovy/groovy-eclipse-compiler/2.7.0-01/groovy-eclipse-compiler-2.7.0-01.jar
urls[2] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/groovy/groovy-eclipse-batch/2.0.4-02/groovy-eclipse-batch-2.0.4-02.jar
urls[3] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-compiler-api/1.5.3/plexus-compiler-api-1.5.3.jar
urls[4] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-utils/1.0.4/plexus-utils-1.0.4.jar
urls[5] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-compiler-manager/1.5.3/plexus-compiler-manager-1.5.3.jar
urls[6] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/.m2/repository/org/codehaus/plexus/plexus-compiler-javac/1.5.3/plexus-compiler-javac-1.5.3.jar
[FATAL ERROR] Container realm = plexus.core
urls[0] = file:/C:/Users/bill.turner/apache-maven-2.2.1/lib/maven-2.2.1-uber.jar
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ERROR] FATAL ERROR
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.CompilerConfiguration.getDebugLevel()Ljava/lang/String;
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Trace
java.lang.NoSuchMethodError: org.codehaus.plexus.compiler.CompilerConfiguration.getDebugLevel()Ljava/lang/String;
    at org.codehaus.groovy.eclipse.compiler.GroovyEclipseCompiler.createCommandLine(GroovyEclipseCompiler.java:343)
    at org.codehaus.groovy.eclipse.compiler.GroovyEclipseCompiler.compile(GroovyEclipseCompiler.java:218)
    at org.apache.maven.plugin.AbstractCompilerMojo.execute(AbstractCompilerMojo.java:493)
    at org.apache.maven.plugin.CompilerMojo.execute(CompilerMojo.java:114)
    at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:490)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:694)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalWithLifecycle(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:556)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:535)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:387)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:348)
    at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:180)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:328)
    at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:138)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362)
    at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:60)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:597)
    at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315)
    at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255)
    at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:430)
    at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:375)

Answer 1

I found my answer. I had to add a version to the maven-compiler-plugin. Answering my own question for anyone else that might be struggling with this. The clue was http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/MSITE-233

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
    <!-- added version here -->
    <version>2.5.1</version>
    <configuration>
        <source>1.6</source>
        <target>1.6</target>
        <compilerId>groovy-eclipse-compiler</compilerId>
    </configuration>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
        <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
        <artifactId>groovy-eclipse-compiler</artifactId>
        <version>2.7.0-01</version>
    </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.groovy</groupId>
            <artifactId>groovy-eclipse-batch</artifactId>
            <version>1.8.6-01</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</plugin>

Answer 2

i have faced the same problem, but later i found very simple solution.

step1 - Download desire maven folder from http://maven.apache.org/download.cgi (i have downloaded Maven 2.2.1 (Binary tar.gz))

step2 - extract the tar and put the folder to your desire location(ie. /usr/lib/)

step3 - update the path of maven where you have used it( in my case it is .bashrc)

Basically problem is your maven is corrupted and you need to follow above steps to resolve it. :)