apache/maven · error · RepositoryMetadataStoreException

Error copying POM to the local repository.

Error message

Error copying POM to the local repository.

What it means

Thrown when ProjectArtifactMetadata (the POM file attached to an installed/deployed artifact) cannot be copied into the local repository during storeInLocalRepository(). The method creates the destination directory and Files.copy's the pom; any IOException is wrapped in RepositoryMetadataStoreException. This is a local filesystem failure, not a network one: unwritable repo, disk full, file locks, or permission problems.

Source

Thrown at compat/maven-compat/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/project/artifact/ProjectArtifactMetadata.java:83

    @Override
    public void storeInLocalRepository(ArtifactRepository localRepository, ArtifactRepository remoteRepository)
            throws RepositoryMetadataStoreException {
        File destination = new File(
                localRepository.getBasedir(), localRepository.pathOfLocalRepositoryMetadata(this, remoteRepository));

        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
        // I'm fully aware that the file could just be moved using File.rename but
        // there are bugs in various JVM that have problems doing this across
        // different filesystem. So we'll incur the small hit to actually copy
        // here and be safe. jvz.
        // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

        try {
            Files.createDirectories(destination.toPath().getParent());
            Files.copy(file.toPath(), destination.toPath());
        } catch (IOException e) {
            throw new RepositoryMetadataStoreException("Error copying POM to the local repository.", e);
        }
    }

    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "project information for " + artifact.getArtifactId() + " " + artifact.getVersion();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean storedInArtifactVersionDirectory() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public String getBaseVersion() {
        return artifact.getBaseVersion();
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to e4093d4e12)

Solutions

1. Check disk space and quota on the local repository volume (df ~/.m2)
2. Fix ownership/permissions of the local repo: chown -R $(whoami) ~/.m2/repository or set -Dmaven.repo.local to a writable path
3. Stop concurrent Maven builds writing the same artifact, or give each build its own local repo
4. On Windows, exclude ~/.m2 from antivirus scanning or retry after the lock is released
5. If the repo dir is corrupted (half-written file), delete that artifact's directory and reinstall

Example fix

# before
docker run maven:3 mvn install   # runs as root, repo owned by other uid
# after
docker run -u $(id -u):$(id -g) -v $HOME/.m2:/var/maven/.m2 \
  -e MAVEN_CONFIG=/var/maven/.m2 maven:3 mvn install

File localRepo = new File(System.getProperty("maven.repo.local", System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.m2/repository"));
if (!localRepo.canWrite() || localRepo.getUsableSpace() < 50L * 1024 * 1024) {
    fail("local repository not writable or low on disk: " + localRepo);
}

try {
    metadata.storeInLocalRepository(localRepository, remoteRepository);
} catch (RepositoryMetadataStoreException e) {
    // filesystem issue: check perms/locks/disk, clean the artifact dir, retry once
}

When it happens

Trigger: During install of a project, copying the generated pom.xml into ~/.m2/repository/<path>/artifactId-version.pom fails: destination dir cannot be created (permissions), target file locked by another process (Windows AV, concurrent Maven run), disk full, or the local repo moved/unmounted.

Common situations: 'mvn install' on machines where ~/.m2 is read-only or owned by another user (common in Docker/CI images); two builds writing the same artifact concurrently; antivirus/indexers locking files on Windows; disk quota exhausted on shared CI hosts.

Related errors

• Could not create local repository at {}
• Cannot read module information.
• Range defies version ordering: {}
• Cannot read metadata from '{}': {}
• Error installing metadata: {}

AI-assisted analysis of apache/maven@e4093d4e12 (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8263b3b624704c76. Report an issue: GitHub.