Is it possible to run a plugin in between two executions of another plugin?

Question

For explanation purposes, assume I would like to:

• copy project artifact jar (maven-antrun-plugin)
• copy dependencies (maven-dependency-plugin)
• compile installer (maven-antrun-plugin)

Unfortunately both maven-antrun-plugin executions are run together. There is a warning about duplicate plugin declaration, and they are merged together in the effective POM.

Edit: This specific task could be solved by using other phases or the install4j plugin, but I am interested whether it is generally possible to execute e.g. maven-antrun-plugin multiple times during the same phase in a specific order (with other plugins in between).

  <build>
    <plugins>

      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <!-- copy project jar -->
      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>1.8</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>copy-project-jar</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <target>
                <copy file="target/${project.artifactId}-${project.version}.jar"
                  tofile="target/installer/bin/${project.artifactId}.jar" />
              </target>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>

      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <!-- copy dependencies -->
      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>3.2.0</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>copy-dependencies</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>copy-dependencies</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <outputDirectory>${project.build.directory}/installer/bin</outputDirectory>
              <stripVersion>true</stripVersion>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>

      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <!-- compile installer -->
      <!-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -->
      <plugin>
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>1.8</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>compile-installer</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <target>
                <exec executable="${install4j.home}/bin/install4jc.exe">
                  <arg value="installer.install4j" />
                </exec>
              </target>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>

    </plugins>
  </build>

Merged effective POM:

      <plugin>
        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>1.8</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <id>copy-project-artifact</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <target>
                <copy file="target/test-1.0.0.jar" tofile="target/installer/bin/test.jar" />
              </target>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
          <execution>
            <id>compile-installer</id>
            <phase>package</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>run</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <target>
                <exec executable="C:\Program Files\install4j8/bin/install4jc.exe">
                  <arg value="installer.install4j" />
                </exec>
              </target>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>

Answer 1

First of all, you need to put all executions into the same plugin definition.

Secondly, I doubt that this is possible, but usually you can split things up by using more phases. E.g. you could use prepare-package for the first execution of the antrun plugin.