exclude maven module with intergration tests from test phase

Question

I have a multi module maven project with a structure

parent
  pom.xml
module
  pom.xml
  core-api
    pom.xml
  integ-tests
    pom.xml

I have maven surefire plugin setup for executing the unit tests '*Test.java' which are houses in the 'core-api' module.

We have slow long-running integration tests housed in a separate 'integ-tests' module. we use '*Test.java' for our integ tests as well.

We need to be able to compile all source code but want to exclude the 'integ-test' from running as part of the default maven 'test' phase. We plan to use a profile to enable the test phase of the 'integ-test' module. I don't want to use the 'failsafe' plugin.

A matrix outlining the combination is here

mvn              | core           | integ-test
test             | run unit tests | exclude
test -PintegTest | unit tests     | integ tests

I've defined the surefire plugin in my parent pom, with a property 'skip.integ.tests' which will be controlled via a profile '-PintegTests'.

<properties>
  <skip.integ.tests>true</skip.integ.tests>
</properties>
..
<build>
  <plugin>
    <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
    <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
  </plugin>
</build>
..
<profiles>
  <profile>
    <id>integTests</id>
    <properties>
      <skip.integ.tests>false</skip.integ.tests>
    </properties>
  </profile>
</profiles>

In my 'integ-test' pom, i've then overridden the 'maven-surefire-plugin' config and have the 'skipTests' configuration set to look at the value of the property.

<build>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
      <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
      <configuration>
        <skipTests>${skip.integ.tests}</skipTests>
      </configuration>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</build>

My problem is the integ-test module tests run in every case. Any ideas on where i'm going wrong with the setup?

"I don't want to use the 'failsafe' plugin.". Why not? It does what you want in a much simpler way. Just name your integration tests FooITs, and then you can use -DskipITs to disable them. (Or if you insist on a profile, have a profile that set the equivalent property) — ptyx, Oct 25 '13 at 16:51
Related: [maven: How can I skip test in some projects via command line options?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9123075/maven-how-can-i-skip-test-in-some-projects-via-command-line-options) — Vadzim, Sep 15 '19 at 10:41

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 25 '13 at 16:40

First you should name your integration tests accordingly to the naming conventions of the maven-failsafe-plugin which is intended to run the integration tests. Furthermore the pre-integration-test, integration-test and post-integration-test life cycle phases are intended for running those tests. This means in your case to configure the maven-failsafe-plugin accordingly to the documentation like this. The maven-failsafe-plugin bounds to the integration-test life cycle phase.

<project>
  [...]
  <build>
    <plugins>
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>2.16</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <goals>
              <goal>integration-test</goal>
              <goal>verify</goal>
            </goals>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>
    </plugins>
  </build>
  [...]
</project>

I would suggest to add the following profile into your integration test module like this:

<profiles>
  <profile>
    <id>run-its</id>
    <build>
      <plugins>
          <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.16</version>
            <executions>
              <execution>
                <goals>
                  <goal>integration-test</goal>
                  <goal>verify</goal>
                </goals>
              </execution>
            </executions>
          </plugin>
        </plugins>
      </build>
  </profile>
</profiles>

This gives you simply the following options:

mvn test

running unit tests only
mvn -DskipTests=true test

running compilation etc. but no unit tests.
mvn -Prun-its verify

Running packaging etc. unit tests and integration tests
mvn install

Running installation without integration tests.
mvn -DskipTests=true install

Running installation without running unit tests nor integration tests.

thanks and i do hear you but i did make it clear i can't use failsafe as part of the solution. i'm in a situation where we have some brittle integration tests but we cannot allow an integration test failing to block a release, so i need some workaround where by the integration tests are only run in specific circumstances — emeraldjava, Oct 25 '13 at 16:49
Which i exactly gave you. Just in case of the activated profile `run-its` the integration tests where running otherwise they don't. (See [here](https://github.com/khmarbaise/maui/tree/master/src/main/resources/it-example-container-selenium) for full example in the mod-it). — khmarbaise, Oct 25 '13 at 16:55

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 25 '18 at 15:39

In your Maven build, you can exclude:

compilation and execution of both unit tests (by Surefire plugin) and integration tests (by Failsafe plugin) by adding -Dmaven.skip.test=true
execution of both unit and integration tests via -DskipTests
execution of integration tests via -DskipITs

Instead, if you have your integration tests in a separate Maven module (i.e. integ-test in your case), you can directly exclude that from the Maven build via profile, like in below example -- see extract of aggregator's pom.xml and maven command line to be launched:

<modules>
  <!-- remove 'integ-test' from this list -->
</modules>
<profiles>
    <profile><id>build-it</id>
        <activation><activeByDefault>true</activeByDefault></activation>
        <modules><module>integ-test</module></modules>
    </profile>
</profiles>

and then mvn install -P !build-it

exclude maven module with intergration tests from test phase

2 Answers2