The lifecycle mapping for the jdocbook packaging type is picked up from the plugin. Since you have the plugin defined under , this pom is not actually loading that plugin, just managing it for child poms. Just take the plugins definition out of the pluginManagement section, and then maven should be able to find the jdocbook packaging type. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4074426#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...