AspectJ Maven Plugin cannot compile my project

Question

I try to use aspectj maven plugin for compile project with aspectj compiler and then I try to package classes into "war" file. Unfortunately, it doesn't work with following configuration (pom.xml):

<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.17</version>
            <configuration>
                <skipTests>true</skipTests>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>com.liferay.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>liferay-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>${liferay.maven.plugin.version}</version>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>generate-sources</phase>
                </execution>
            </executions>
            <configuration>
                <autoDeployDir>${liferay.auto.deploy.dir}</autoDeployDir>
                <appServerDeployDir>${liferay.app.server.deploy.dir}</appServerDeployDir>
                <appServerLibGlobalDir>${liferay.app.server.lib.global.dir}</appServerLibGlobalDir>
                <appServerPortalDir>${liferay.app.server.portal.dir}</appServerPortalDir>
                <liferayVersion>${liferay.version}</liferayVersion>
                <pluginType>portlet</pluginType>

            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.5</version>
            <configuration>
                <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
                <source>1.7</source>
                <target>1.7</target>
                <showWarnings>true</showWarnings>
                <failOnError>true</failOnError>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.5</version>
            <configuration>
                <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
            <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>1.7</version>
            <configuration>
                <source>1.7</source>
                <target>1.7</target>
                <compilationLevel>1.7</compilationLevel>
                <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
            </configuration>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>process-sources</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>compile</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
    <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
    <version>1.7.4</version>
    <type>jar</type>
</dependency>

After mvn clean install I see following exceptions:

[INFO] --- aspectj-maven-plugin:1.7:compile (default) @ tvbs-portlet ---
[INFO] Showing AJC message detail for messages of types: [error, warning, fail]
[ERROR] Missing message: configure.incompatibleComplianceForSource in: org.aspectj.ajdt.ajc.messages
    <unknown source file>:<no line information>

[ERROR] no sources specified
    <unknown source file>:<no line information>

[ERROR] AspectJ Compiler 1.8.2

    Usage: <options> <source file | @argfile>..

AspectJ-specific options:
    -inpath <list>      use classes in dirs and jars/zips in <list> as source

Could anybody suggest me some solution?

Answer 1

Update: While the things I said about AspectJ Maven configuration in this answer are all correct, the root cause of the concrete problem at hand - bad Maven dependency management - is described in my other answer. It would be better if that one was the accepted answer and not this one.

---

• User codelion's hint makes sense, please change your <compilationLevel> tag (typo?) - to <complianceLevel>.
• There is no need to downgrade to plugin version 1.6, you can keep 1.7.
• There is also no need to specify the configuration again within the <execution> section, the one at plugin level is enough.
• Please note that the default AspectJ version in plugin 1.7 is 1.8.2, so maybe your runtime dependency on 1.7.4 works, but if I were you I would upgrade that one too, optimally in sync with the plugin version. It is no hard requirement, but I think it makes sense.
• Maybe you even want to upgrade to the current version AspectJ 1.8.4, in the plugin as well as the runtime. This can also be achieved by adding a dependency to the desired aspectjtools version to the plugin configuration:

    <properties>
        <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
        <java.source-target.version>1.8</java.source-target.version>
        <aspectj.version>1.8.4</aspectj.version>
    </properties>

    <build>
        <pluginManagement>
             <plugins>
                <plugin>
                    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                    <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                    <version>1.7</version>
                    <configuration>
                        <showWeaveInfo>true</showWeaveInfo>
                        <source>${java.source-target.version}</source>
                        <target>${java.source-target.version}</target>
                        <Xlint>ignore</Xlint>
                        <complianceLevel>${java.source-target.version}</complianceLevel>
                        <encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
                        <verbose>true</verbose>
                    </configuration>
                    <executions>
                        <execution>
                            <!-- IMPORTANT -->
                            <phase>process-sources</phase>
                            <goals>
                                <goal>compile</goal>
                                <goal>test-compile</goal>
                            </goals>
                        </execution>
                    </executions>
                    <dependencies>
                        <dependency>
                            <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
                            <artifactId>aspectjtools</artifactId>
                            <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
                        </dependency>
                    </dependencies>
                </plugin>
            </plugins>
        </pluginManagement>

        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                <artifactId>aspectj-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>

    <dependencyManagement>
        <dependencies>
            <dependency>
                <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
                <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
                <version>${aspectj.version}</version>
                <scope>runtime</scope>
            </dependency>
        </dependencies>
    </dependencyManagement>

    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
            <artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>