title: How to build a multi-module Maven project without a main class in one of the modules
body: <p>I've been trying to find an answer to this issue in similar questions but I still don't know what is causing it.</p>
  
  <p>I have a multi-module maven project and I'm trying to run <code>mvn install</code> or <code>mvn package</code> and I get the following error</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>[INFO] app ................................................... SUCCESS
    [  1.025 s]</p>
    
    <p>[INFO] module-data ..................................... FAILURE [ 
    0.952 s]</p>
    
    <p>[INFO] module-app ...................................... SKIPPED</p>
    
    <p>[ERROR] Failed to execute goal
    org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-maven-plugin:2.1.1.RELEASE:repackage
    (repackage) on project project-data: Execution repackage of goal
    org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-maven-plugin:2.1.1.RELEASE:repackage
    failed: Unable to find main class -> [Help 1]</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>The <code>project-app</code> module has a java class in the src folder, whereas the <code>project-data</code> module does not have a main class.</p>
  
  <p>parent pom.xml</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
  &lt;project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"&gt;
      &lt;modelVersion&gt;4.0.0&lt;/modelVersion&gt;
      &lt;packaging&gt;pom&lt;/packaging&gt;
      &lt;modules&gt;
          &lt;module&gt;project-data&lt;/module&gt;
          &lt;module&gt;project-app&lt;/module&gt;
      &lt;/modules&gt;
      &lt;parent&gt;
          &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
          &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-parent&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;version&gt;2.1.1.RELEASE&lt;/version&gt;
          &lt;relativePath/&gt; &lt;!-- lookup parent from repository --&gt;
      &lt;/parent&gt;
      &lt;groupId&gt;com.example&lt;/groupId&gt;
      &lt;artifactId&gt;app&lt;/artifactId&gt;
      &lt;version&gt;0.0.1-SNAPSHOT&lt;/version&gt;
      &lt;name&gt;app&lt;/name&gt;
      &lt;description&gt;&lt;/description&gt;
  
      &lt;properties&gt;
          &lt;java.version&gt;1.8&lt;/java.version&gt;
      &lt;/properties&gt;
  
      &lt;dependencies&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-actuator&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-data-jpa&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-jdbc&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-web&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
  
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-devtools&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;runtime&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;com.h2database&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;h2&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;runtime&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.projectlombok&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;lombok&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;optional&gt;true&lt;/optional&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-test&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;test&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
      &lt;/dependencies&gt;
  
      &lt;build&gt;
          &lt;plugins&gt;
              &lt;plugin&gt;
                  &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
                  &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-maven-plugin&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;/plugin&gt;
          &lt;/plugins&gt;
      &lt;/build&gt;
  
  &lt;/project&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>project-data pom.xml</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
  &lt;project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
           xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"&gt;
      &lt;parent&gt;
          &lt;artifactId&gt;app&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;groupId&gt;com.example&lt;/groupId&gt;
          &lt;version&gt;0.0.1-SNAPSHOT&lt;/version&gt;
      &lt;/parent&gt;
      &lt;modelVersion&gt;4.0.0&lt;/modelVersion&gt;
  
      &lt;artifactId&gt;project-data&lt;/artifactId&gt;
  
      &lt;dependencies&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-data-jpa&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;com.h2database&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;h2&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;runtime&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.postgresql&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;postgresql&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;runtime&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.projectlombok&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;lombok&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;optional&gt;true&lt;/optional&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-test&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;test&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
      &lt;/dependencies&gt;
      &lt;build&gt;
          &lt;plugins&gt;
              &lt;plugin&gt;
                  &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
                  &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-maven-plugin&lt;/artifactId&gt;
                  &lt;executions&gt;
                      &lt;execution&gt;
                          &lt;goals&gt;
                              &lt;goal&gt;repackage&lt;/goal&gt;
                          &lt;/goals&gt;
                          &lt;configuration&gt;
                              &lt;skip&gt;true&lt;/skip&gt;
                          &lt;/configuration&gt;
                      &lt;/execution&gt;
                  &lt;/executions&gt;
              &lt;/plugin&gt;
          &lt;/plugins&gt;
      &lt;/build&gt;
  &lt;/project&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>project-app pom.xml</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?&gt;
  &lt;project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
           xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd"&gt;
      &lt;parent&gt;
          &lt;artifactId&gt;app&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;groupId&gt;com.example&lt;/groupId&gt;
          &lt;version&gt;0.0.1-SNAPSHOT&lt;/version&gt;
      &lt;/parent&gt;
      &lt;modelVersion&gt;4.0.0&lt;/modelVersion&gt;
  
      &lt;artifactId&gt;project-app&lt;/artifactId&gt;
  
      &lt;dependencies&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;project-data&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;com.example&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;version&gt;0.0.1-SNAPSHOT&lt;/version&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-actuator&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-thymeleaf&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-web&lt;/artifactId&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-devtools&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;runtime&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
          &lt;dependency&gt;
              &lt;groupId&gt;org.springframework.boot&lt;/groupId&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;spring-boot-starter-test&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;scope&gt;test&lt;/scope&gt;
          &lt;/dependency&gt;
      &lt;/dependencies&gt;
  
  
  &lt;/project&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I have something very similar to the structure of <a href="https://github.com/springframeworkguru/sfg-pet-clinic/tree/8f211c144d8408649886595cfd358d5184fa914b" rel="noreferrer">this project</a> (sfg-pet-clinic), however, after downloading and running <code>mvn package</code>, it works fine. I don't see much difference between the pom files of my project and this one so what could I be missing?</p>