Install Maven

Maven is a build and dependency management tool. Instead of manually downloading JAR files for Selenium, TestNG, and every library — you list them in a pom.xml file and Maven downloads them automatically. Every professional automation project uses Maven (or Gradle).

Why Maven?

• Automatically downloads libraries (Selenium, TestNG, WebDriverManager) from the internet
• Manages library versions and updates
• Compiles your code with one command: mvn compile
• Runs all tests with one command: mvn test
• Standard project structure that every Java developer understands
• Works with CI/CD tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions)

Download

Go to: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi

Under "Files" → download the Binary zip archive (the file named apache-maven-3.9.x-bin.zip). Do NOT download the "Source" version — that is Maven's own source code, not the tool itself.

Install on Windows

1. Download apache-maven-3.9.x-bin.zip from https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
2. Extract (unzip) the downloaded file to a permanent location, for example: C:\Program Files\Apache\maven (right-click → Extract All)
3. You should now have a folder like C:\Program Files\Apache\maven\apache-maven-3.9.9\bin
4. Open Start menu → search "Environment Variables" → click "Edit the system environment variables"
5. Click "Environment Variables"
6. Under "System variables" → click "New": Variable name: MAVEN_HOME | Variable value: C:\Program Files\Apache\maven\apache-maven-3.9.9 (use your exact path)
7. Find Path in System variables → click "Edit" → click "New" → add: %MAVEN_HOME%\bin
8. Click OK → OK → OK
9. Close and reopen Command Prompt

mvn -version

Apache Maven 3.9.9
Maven home: C:\Program Files\Apache\maven\apache-maven-3.9.9
Java version: 17.0.x, vendor: Eclipse Adoptium
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: UTF-8

Install on Mac

# Easiest way — using Homebrew:
brew install maven

# Verify:
mvn -version

If you do not have Homebrew, manual install:

1. Download the Binary zip from https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi
2. Extract to /opt/maven or any permanent folder: sudo mkdir -p /opt/maven && sudo tar -xzf apache-maven-3.9.x-bin.tar.gz -C /opt/maven --strip-components=1
3. Add to your shell profile:

# Add these lines to ~/.zshrc:
echo 'export MAVEN_HOME=/opt/maven' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH=$MAVEN_HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.zshrc

# Reload:
source ~/.zshrc

# Verify:
mvn -version

Troubleshooting

Verify Complete Setup

At this point, all three tools should work. Run these commands:

java -version     # Should show JDK 17
javac -version    # Should show JDK 17
mvn -version      # Should show Maven 3.9.x with Java 17

If all three commands work, your development environment is ready. Next, you will create your first project.

Try It Yourself

Exercise 1: Run mvn -version and confirm it shows Java 17 in the output. If it shows a different Java version, your JAVA_HOME is pointing to the wrong JDK.

Exercise 2: Navigate to any empty folder and run mvn --help. Read the first few lines — you will see the available commands (compile, test, package, install). You will use these later.