What does "http://central" mean in my Maven settings.xml?

maven

Solution

AFAIK, it is `a bogus URL` which mentions at Configure Maven to Download from Nexus as the following example: -

<settings>
  <mirrors>
    <mirror>
      <!--This sends everything else to /public -->
      <id>nexus</id>
      <mirrorOf>*</mirrorOf>
      <url>http://localhost:8081/nexus/content/groups/public</url>
    </mirror>
  </mirrors>
  <profiles>
    <profile>
      <id>nexus</id>
      <!--Enable snapshots for the built in central repo to direct -->
      <!--all requests to nexus via the mirror -->
      <repositories>
        <repository>
          <id>central</id>
          <url>http://central</url>
          <releases><enabled>true</enabled></releases>
          <snapshots><enabled>true</enabled></snapshots>
        </repository>
      </repositories>
     <pluginRepositories>
        <pluginRepository>
          <id>central</id>
          <url>http://central</url>
          <releases><enabled>true</enabled></releases>
          <snapshots><enabled>true</enabled></snapshots>
        </pluginRepository>
      </pluginRepositories>
    </profile>
  </profiles>
  <activeProfiles>
    <!--make the profile active all the time -->
    <activeProfile>nexus</activeProfile>
  </activeProfiles>
</settings>

The `nexus profile` is configured to download from the `central repository` with `a bogus URL` of `http://central`.

This URL is overridden by the mirror setting in the same `settings.xml` file to point to the URL of your `single Nexus group`. The nexus group is then listed as an active profile in the activeProfiles element.

I hope this may help.

Problem

I've been copying "sample" `settings.xml` files for ages now, and almost all of them seem to include a repository with the URL `http://central`. This bugs me, because of course there could actually be a machine on the local domain called "central", so this is a valid URN, but it also must (might?) have some special meaning to Maven. Is it just shorthand that's commonly used, but the actual URL is ignored? Could I replace it with something else, or remove it entirely? Is it documented anywhere? If it matters, I develop on a corporate network that has an internal iBiblio mirror, that acts as "central" for us.

Original source