Maven can't compile java 1.8

Question

I'm trying to use maven to build a jar but I keep getting the error

ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.1:compile 
(default-compile) on project Application: Fatal error compiling: invalid target release: 1.8 -> [Help 1]
[ERROR] 
[ERROR] To see the full stack trace of the errors, re-run Maven with the -e switch.
[ERROR] Re-run Maven using the -X switch to enable full debug logging.
[ERROR] 
[ERROR] For more information about the errors and possible solutions, please read the following articles:
[ERROR] [Help 1] http://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MAVEN/MojoExecutionException

mvn -v outputs

mvn -version
Apache Maven 3.2.5 (12a6b3acb947671f09b81f49094c53f426d8cea1; 2014-12-14T09:29:23-08:00)
Maven home: /usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.2.5/libexec
Java version: 1.6.0_65, vendor: Apple Inc.
Java home: /System/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/1.6.0.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: MacRoman
OS name: "mac os x", version: "10.10.1", arch: "x86_64", family: "mac"

So it looks like its pointing to the 1.6jdk

but I have the 1.8 jdk

java -version

java -version
java version "1.8.0_25"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_25-b17)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.25-b02, mixed mode)

POM.xml

 <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <groupId>com.brian.ridecellchallenge</groupId>
    <artifactId>Application</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <build>
        <sourceDirectory>src</sourceDirectory>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>3.1</version>
                <configuration>
                    <source>1.8</source>
                    <target>1.8</target>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>

            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>1.6</version>
                <executions>
                    <execution>
                        <phase>package</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>shade</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <transformers>
                                <transformer
                                    implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
                                    <mainClass>com.group.id.Launcher1</mainClass>
                                </transformer>
                            </transformers>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
                </executions>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>


    </build>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>junit</groupId>
            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
            <version>4.12</version>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>

        <dependency>
            <groupId>commons-io</groupId>
            <artifactId>commons-io</artifactId>
            <version>2.4</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>joda-time</groupId>
            <artifactId>joda-time</artifactId>
            <version>2.6</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</project>

Answer 1

Maven relies on the JAVA_HOME environment variable being set. Set it according to your OS and re-run your build.

Edit: Use export to set the variable.

export JAVA_HOME=/path/to/java

Answer 2

As a MacOS user, open a Terminal and create or edit a file .bash_profile (in the directory of your user home) and put the following snippet there:

export JAVA_HOME=`/usr/libexec/java_home -v 1.8`

Save that file and reopen a Terminal instance. If you execute export as a command there, you should see a valid JAVA_HOME with the location of your JDK 8 installation. Restart your IDE afterwards and maven should be able to build you nice java target 1.8 code.

Answer 3

Because Maven does not know version of jdk you want to build. You can try with

<properties>
    <maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
    <maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Answer 4

you can try configuration in compiler plugin. Its working on my local

      <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>3.3</version>
            <configuration>
                <executable><!--path-to-your-java8-home-directoru--></executable>
                <compilerVersion>1.8</compilerVersion>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>