Install parent POM without building Child modules

Use the '-N' option in the mvn command.

From mvn -h:

-N,--non-recursive Do not recurse into sub-projects

While Guillaume is indeed right and that is the correct option, I would personally recommend keeping your parent as a separate module.

I find the best approach for inheritance to be as follows:

aggregator
|- module1/ (extends parent)
| |- pom.xml
|- module2/ (extends parent)
| |- pom.xml
|- parent/
| |- pom.xml
|- pom.xml

This way you can always install the parent only, with mvn clean install without extra options.

You can also have the parent outside the aggregator so you can re-use it between more projects.

There are numerous benefits to keeping the parent and the aggregator as two separate things. But in the end, you choose what's best for your project/environment.