Maven: Exclude "META-INF/maven" folder from JAR

Question

I use Maven to build a JAR. When I check the JAR, I see a maven folder inside the META-INF folder. I want it to be excluded from the build. My current build code in the pom.xml looks like this:

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <archive>
                    <manifest>
                        <addClasspath>true</addClasspath>
                        <classpathPrefix>Libraries</classpathPrefix>
                        <mainClass>com.company.Main</mainClass>
                    </manifest>
                    <manifestEntries>
                        <Built-By>Me</Built-By>
                    </manifestEntries>
                </archive>
                <!-- <excludes>
                    <exclude>META-INF/maven/**</exclude>
                </excludes> -->
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <!-- ...more plugins... -->
    </plugins>
</build>

I read that using the exclude tags allows you to exclude something but it doesn't work. Maybe this only refers to local files/folders? The maven folder is not part of the source, it's just added by Maven.

This answer kind of works but uses a different artifact hence a 2nd JAR is generated when I paste it into my pom.xml. I want to use my current build code and exclude the maven folder like described above. How can it be done using maven build rules?

Answer 1

The maven-jar-plugin uses the maven-archiver to handle packaging. It provides the configuration addMavenDescriptor, which is true by default. Setting it to false should remove the META-INF/maven directory.

...
<archive>
   <addMavenDescriptor>false</addMavenDescriptor>
   ....
</archive>

You can find the reference here.