How to Install Maven on Windows, Linux and macOS - Quiz

Installing Maven means downloading the Apache Maven distribution (an archive of ready-to-run files), unpacking it and adding its bin directory to the PATH environment variable so that the mvn command works from any folder. There is no classic installer: on Windows, installation comes down to unpacking the archive and setting environment variables, while on Linux and macOS a package manager (apt, dnf, brew) or SDKMAN is usually more convenient.

Before installing you need a JDK, not just a JRE: Maven 3.10.0 (the recommended version) and the previous 3.9.x line run on Java 8 or newer, while Maven 4 (still in preview) requires Java 17 or newer. Maven finds Java through the JAVA_HOME variable (the JDK root) or, if it is not set, through the java command on the PATH. Check the JDK with java -version and javac -version: if javac is not found, you have only a JRE or the JDK is not on the PATH.

A manual installation does not require administrator rights. If you only work in IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse, Maven is already bundled with the IDE; a separate installation is needed to run mvn in a terminal, in scripts and on a CI server.

• Archive from maven.apache.org - unpack it and add bin to PATH. Works on any OS, gives you the latest version, needs no administrator rights; variables and upgrades are manual.
• Windows: Chocolatey, Scoop, winget - choco install maven (administrator console), scoop install maven (no administrator rights); check whether winget has Maven and its exact ID with winget search maven. Path is configured automatically, but the JDK must be installed beforehand.
• Linux: apt, dnf, apk - sudo apt install maven, sudo dnf install maven, apk add maven. One command, but the repository version may lag behind: Ubuntu 22.04 installs 3.6.3, Ubuntu 24.04 and Debian 12 install 3.8.7.
• macOS: Homebrew - brew install maven, upgrade with brew upgrade maven. The formula installs its own openjdk and, without JAVA_HOME, runs Maven on it, so the Java version in mvn -version may differ from java -version.
• SDKMAN (Linux, macOS, WSL) - sdk install maven; handy when you need several Maven or JDK versions (sdk use, sdk default). Does not work on plain Windows without WSL or Git Bash.

For a single project you may not need a global installation at all if the project ships with the Maven Wrapper (mvnw).

Download Maven from the official Apache site - maven.apache.org/download.cgi, the "Files" section. On Windows choose the Binary zip archive (apache-maven-3.10.0-bin.zip), on Linux and macOS the Binary tar.gz archive (apache-maven-3.10.0-bin.tar.gz). Archives with src in the name contain source code and are not meant for installation.

Both binary archives contain exactly the same files: Maven is written in Java and does not depend on the OS, only the packaging format differs. This is also the "portable" Maven: you can copy the unpacked folder to another directory or a USB stick, and bin\mvn -version runs from there without any installation.

The dlcdn.apache.org mirror keeps only current versions; older ones are in archive.apache.org/dist/maven/maven-3/.

Checksum: next to each archive there is a .sha512 file. Compute the hash and compare - the strings must match exactly:

Get-FileHash .\apache-maven-3.10.0-bin.zip -Algorithm SHA512   # Windows (PowerShell)
sha512sum apache-maven-3.10.0-bin.tar.gz                        # Linux
shasum -a 512 apache-maven-3.10.0-bin.tar.gz                    # macOS

PowerShell prints the hash in uppercase, while the .sha512 file uses lowercase - that is fine.

1. Unzip the archive into a folder without spaces, for example C:\dev: you get C:\dev\apache-maven-3.10.0 with the bin, boot, conf and lib subfolders.
2. Open the Environment Variables dialog: Win+R → sysdm.cpl → "Advanced" → "Environment Variables". User variables need no administrator rights.
3. Create JAVA_HOME with the JDK root as the value, without \bin at the end.
4. Add C:\dev\apache-maven-3.10.0\bin to Path.
5. Close every open terminal, open a new window and run mvn -version.

M2_HOME is not needed: Maven scripts stopped reading it in version 3.5.0. Only the bin directory on PATH and a JDK are required. You can create MAVEN_HOME for convenience (and put %MAVEN_HOME%\bin into Path), but Maven itself does not require it.

Do not add Maven to PATH with setx: it truncates the value to 1024 characters. Instead of the Environment Variables dialog you can use PowerShell - [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(..., "User").

Run mvn -version (or mvn -v) in a new terminal. It prints the Maven version, the installation directory and the JDK Maven runs on:

• Apache Maven - the version that actually runs. If it is older than expected, another installation comes earlier in PATH: check with where mvn (Windows) or which mvn (Linux, macOS).
• Maven home - where Maven runs from (after apt install it is /usr/share/maven).
• Java version / runtime - the JDK Maven runs on; its javac compiles your project, even if java -version reports a different version. If this is a JRE, the build fails with No compiler is provided in this environment. Perhaps you are running on a JRE rather than a JDK?

Typing mvn with no arguments is not an installation error: Maven works but reports No goals have been specified for this build. And mvn package in a folder without pom.xml ends with there is no POM in this directory - change to the project root first.

"Installing Maven" means putting the tool itself on your computer: download the distribution, unpack it, add bin to PATH (or use a package manager) and check mvn -version.

The mvn install command has nothing to do with that: it is a build lifecycle phase that compiles and tests your project, packages it into a jar and copies the result into the local repository ~/.m2/repository so that your other projects can use it as a dependency. The output shows lines like [INFO] Installing ... to ~/.m2/repository/... and BUILD SUCCESS.

To just build a jar, mvn package is enough - the file appears in the target directory.