Understanding of settings.xml in maven

In this post, We will learn about Understanding of settings.xml in Maven

Maven settings.xml file

In maven settings.xml file usually contains elements used to define values that configure Maven execution in various ways, like the pom.xml. This file should not be bundled to any specific project, or should not be distributed to an audience.
This file mainly includes values such as the local repository path, alternate remote repository servers, profiles, and authentication information, etc..
There are mainly two locations where a settings.xml file may reside.
The Maven install: ${maven.home}/conf/settings.xml (Global Setting)
A user’s install: ${user.home}/.m2/settings.xml (User settings)
If both files exist then their contents get merged together, with the user-specific settings.xml being dominant.

Element Name	Description
localRepository	Maven stores copies of plug-ins and dependencies locally in the C:\Users\<your_user_name>\.m2\repository folder.
interactiveMode	As this name suggests, when we set this value to true then maven interacts with the user for input.
offline	When we set this value to true then configuration instructs maven to operate in an offline mode. The default is false
pluginGroups	It contains a list of pluginGroup elements. Each pluginGroup tag has a groupId. The provided list is usually searched when a plugin is used and the groupId is not provided in the command line. This list automatically contains org.apache.maven.plugins and org.codehaus.mojo.
proxies	Proxies tag contain the HTTP proxy information needed to connect to the internet.
servers	Maven may interact with a variety of servers, such as Apache Subversion (SVN) servers, build servers, and remote repository servers. This element allows us to specify security credentials, such as the username and password, which we need to connect to those servers.
mirrors	As this name suggests, mirrors allow us to specify alternate locations for your repositories.
profiles	The profiles allow us to group certain configurational elements, like repositories and pluginRepositories.
activeProfiles	The activeProfile allows us to specify a default profile to be active for maven to use.

That’s all about Understanding settings.xml in Maven

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