How to inherit dependency from a parent pom to a child pom

I am new in using maven and jenkins. I am trying to inherit the dependencies from parent pom to child pom it shows the following errors:

[ERROR] COMPILATION ERROR : 
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------------
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/XMLConverters.java:[10,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/XMLConverters.java:[11,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/XMLConverters.java:[15,38] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class AbstractRequestMessageData_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.XMLConverters
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/XMLConverters.java:[26,23] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class AbstractResponseMessageData_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.XMLConverters
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/UsTermRateItemComparator.java:[5,42] package com.rpmtec.current.UsTermRate_Type does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/UsTermRateItemComparator.java:[7,61] cannot find symbol
  symbol: class UsTermRateItems
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/UsTermRateItemComparator.java:[9,28] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class UsTermRateItems
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.UsTermRateItemComparator
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/UsTermRateItemComparator.java:[9,48] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class UsTermRateItems
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.UsTermRateItemComparator
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[9,40] package com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[10,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[11,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[12,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[13,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[14,42] package com.rpmtec.current.UsTermRate_Type does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[19,2] cannot find symbol
  symbol: class JsonIgnoreProperties
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[69,22] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class ORCA_GETTERMHOLDINGRS_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.model.COIRQ
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[69,66] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class RPM_GETPLANACCOUNTOVERVIEWRS_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.model.COIRQ
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/model/COIRQ.java:[70,25] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class ORCA_GETTERMINSTRUCTIONRS_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.model.COIRQ
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[5,26] package javax.ws.rs.client does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[6,26] package javax.ws.rs.client does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[7,26] package javax.ws.rs.client does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[8,26] package javax.ws.rs.client does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[9,24] package javax.ws.rs.core does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[15,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[16,26] package com.rpmtec.current does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[23,57] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class AbstractRequestMessageData_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.RPMInvoker
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/util/RPMInvoker.java:[24,41] cannot find symbol
  symbol:   class AbstractResponseMessageData_Type
  location: class com.td.inv.wss.util.RPMInvoker
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/application/InvestmentAPI.java:[4,19] package javax.ws.rs does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/application/InvestmentAPI.java:[5,24] package javax.ws.rs.core does not exist
[ERROR] /D:/jenkins/workspace/CBAW/testP/WSW_Investment/src/main/java/com/td/inv/wss/application/InvestmentAPI.java:[9,36] cannot find symbol
  symbol: class Application

Here is my parent POM:

.....
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>group1</groupId>
<artifactId>group1-artifact</artifactId>
<version>1.0.1</version>
<packaging>pom</packaging>

<modules>
     <module>child1</module>
</modules>
.......

Here is my child POM:

.....
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<parent>
    <groupId>group1</groupId>
    <artifactId>group1-artifact</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.1</version>
    <relativePath>(full url.....)/jenkins-parent-pom//pom.xml</relativePath>
</parent>
<groupId>group1</groupId>
<artifactId>child1</artifactId>
<version>0.0.1</version>
<packaging>war</packaging>
......

Here is how I tried to inherit dependency in child POM from parent POM:

<dependencyManagement>  
  <dependencies>
    <dependency>
      <groupId>group1</groupId>
      <artifactId>group1-artifact</artifactId>
      <version>1.0.1</version>
      <type>pom</type>
      <scope>import</scope>
    </dependency>
  </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

If I put those same dependencies in the child POM, it works perfectly. I do clean install for installing and deploy for deploying in nexus by using jenkins. I am using maven-3.3.9. In jenkins, I have read the parent and child poms in two different maven projects from git. I want to inherit all the dependencies and plugins from parent POM. Is it possible?


You should declare dependencies you want to inherit under a <dependencies> section to achieve this. <dependencyManagement> is used for definitions that must be referenced later, whenever needed, within the <dependencies> of a particular child to become effective.

UPDATE: Be careful when declaring dependencies that every child pom will inherit. Very quickly you can end up having dependencies you don't really need just because they are declared in the parent. As mentioned by other commenters, <dependencyManagement> may be a better choice, although it isn't what you wanted originally.


In fact, you've got 2 ways to deal with the problem.

  1. Either you factor the dependencies in the parent pom under the <dependencyManagement /> node and in each child that requires it, add the dependency in the <dependencies /> node. You can choose not to set the version of the dependency.
  2. Or you declare the dependencies in the parent pom in the <dependencies /> node, and each child will benefit from the dependency.

So for example, if you declare this in the parent pom:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
        <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
        <version>1.7.21</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
<dependencyManagement>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
            <version>1.7.21</version>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>

Then slf4j-api will be a dependency for all children. However, you will have to add a dependency on slf4j-simple in the child's pom, should it require it:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <group>org.slf4j</group>
        <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

For the plugins, it works the same, but with the <pluginManagement /> and <plugins /> nodes. All configuration can go in the parent pom's definition of the plugin, and you simply declare the plugin in the <build /> section of your child pom.


Below is the example of how you should use the parent and child poms.

The parent pom is as follows:

.....
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>group1</groupId>
<artifactId>group1-artifact</artifactId>
<version>1.0.1</version>
<packaging>pom</packaging>

<modules>
     <module>child1</module>
     // add more childs here
</modules>

<dependencyManagement>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
            <version>1.7.21</version>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.abc</groupId>
            <artifactId>xyz</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.0</version>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>
.......

If you specify a dependency in the dependencyManagement tag, it simply means that you are making this jar available for the child pom. It would NOT actually download the jar at this point. The child pom will have to provide the groupId and the artifactId explicitly to download and use the jar to compile its classes. Note: you don't have to include the version of the dependency in the child poms.

The child pom will be as follows:

.....
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>

<parent>            // this is how you will inherit from parent pom
    <groupId>group1</groupId>
    <artifactId>group1-artifact</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.1</version>
</parent>

<groupId>child1</groupId>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
            <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
            // no version needed as it would inherit from the parent pom
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.abc</groupId>
            <artifactId>xyz</artifactId>
            // no version needed as it would inherit from the parent pom
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>

.......

It is a good practice to put dependencies common to all the childs in the dependencyManagement tag of the parent pom. This way you can manage the versions of these dependencies from one single place.