cobertura-maven-plugin 2.6 is used despite 2.7 is configured

Question

I have this section in my POM:

<reporting>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
            <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.7</version>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</reporting>

When i invoke this command from terminal:

mvn clean cobertura:cobertura

cobertura-maven-plugin version 2.6 is used:

[INFO] >>> cobertura-maven-plugin:2.6:cobertura (default-cli) > [cobertura]test @ myproject >>>

If I add this section too:

<build>
    <!-- ... -->
    <plugins>
        <!-- ... -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
            <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.7</version>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>

Version 2.7 is used as intended. Is this normal?

Answer 1

In the first example you've added Cobertura in version 2.7 only to reports generated during site phase. Goal cobertura:cobertura is bound to test phase, which is separate lifecycle.

In order to solve such problems, there is pluginManagement section. Add the following to POM:

<pluginManagement>
  <plugins>
    <plugin>
      <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
      <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
      <version>2.7</version>
    </plugin>
  </plugins>
</pluginManagement>

and everywhere else use Cobertura without providing version:

<build>
    <!-- ... -->
    <plugins>
        <!-- ... -->
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
            <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>
<!-- ... -->
<reporting>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
            <artifactId>cobertura-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</reporting>