Error "Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 6 or later" on Maven compile - eclipse

Question

I am getting the following error on $ mvn compile:
[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-compiler-plugin:3.1:compile (default-compile) on project Sym360: Compilation failure: Compilation failure:
[ERROR] Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 6 or later.
[ERROR] Target option 1.5 is no longer supported. Use 1.6 or later.
[ERROR] -> [Help 1]
Here is the code of my pom.xml:
<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/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<groupId>com.test.app</groupId>
<artifactId>Tset</artifactId>
<packaging>jar</packaging>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<name>Test</name>
<url>http://maven.apache.org</url>
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
<build>
<pluginManagement>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.22.1</version>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</pluginManagement>
</build>
<dependencies>
<!-https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.seleniumhq.selenium/selenium-
java -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
<artifactId>selenium-java</artifactId>
<version>3.14.0</version>
</dependency>
<!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.testng/testng -->
<dependency>
<groupId>org.testng</groupId>
<artifactId>testng</artifactId>
<version>6.14.3</version>
<scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
I tried to add properties in the pom.xml code, but still getting the same error.

Answer 1

What helped me was these lines in pom.xml file
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Answer 2

I had same issue, the problem is with properties. Check your JavaSE version in your project, it will be displayed beside JRE System Library folder in your project. If it is 1.5, then it will throw an error. Most probably you will have a updated version, so check the version and update it. I have updated it below based on your code.
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Answer 3

Also in one of my IntelliJ IDEA projects, in addition to all of answers above, another try works:
Just change Language level in Modules section of Project Structure [image below]

Answer 4

I had same issue and i have added below configuration in pom.xml and it works.
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.5.1</version>
<configuration>
<source>1.8</source>
<target>1.8</target>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>

Answer 5

I think you have wrong your pom.xml:
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
change to:
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
Now depending if you are using the command line use:
mvn clean compile
or either way(eclipse ide)
Right click on project Run with maven>build>Goal (compile)

Answer 6

In Eclipse This helped me:
Right Click on Project.
Click on Build path.
Click on Configure Build path.
It opens a Java Build path window.
Click on Java Compiler in the Left side.
It navigates to Java Compiler window in that to set the Compiler compliance level is set as according to your jre version(ex if java version is 1.8
then choose 1.8) as select.
Click on [Apply] button.
Click on [OK] button.
Right click on Project > Maven > Update the project.
Right click on Project > Run As > Maven install -- The pom.xml file is running and java jars are download and installed to project.
Right click on Project > Run As > Maven Test -- The pom.xml file is running and java jars are download and installed to project.
Then you got the Build Success message and your maven project is created successfully.

Answer 7

adding below code in pom will resolve the issue
<properties>
<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
<maven.compiler.source>1.7</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.7</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
<profiles>

Answer 8

I was facing the same issue and resolved it with the lines of code below:
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>

Answer 9

I fixed this by adding this in pom.xml file:
<properties>
<project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
<maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
<failOnMissingWebXml>false</failOnMissingWebXml>
</properties>

Answer 10

For the new Apache net Bean its a little bit different from the suggestion by SUPARNA SOMAN
Right Click on your Project
-Hover on "set configuration" and click customize configuration
-.A new dialogue box opens....
At the left corner where the categories are, Click on "Source"
At the select form on the page below, select your required version of JDK ----see image for this last step.the last step required to change jdk version

Answer 11

On MacOS I have multiple versions
user> ls /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/
jdk-11.0.4.jdk jdk-12.0.2.jdk jdk1.8.0_221.jdk
and JAVA_HOME was not defined properly so Maven used jdk-12. I have jdk-11,jdk-8, and jdk-12.
user> mvn -version
Apache Maven 3.6.1
Maven home: /usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.6.1/libexec
Java version: 12.0.2, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk-12.0.2.jdk/Contents/Home
Default locale: XXX, platform encoding: UTF-8
OS name: "mac os x", version: "10.14.6", arch: "x86_64", family: "mac"
So:
Define JAVA_HOME to use jdk-8.
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_221.jdk/Contents/Home
Try again, now maven is:
user> mvn -version
Maven home: /usr/local/Cellar/maven/3.6.1/libexec
Java version: 1.8.0_221, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_221.jdk/Contents/Home/jre
and the build is:
[INFO] BUILD SUCCESS

Answer 12

None of the solutions above worked for me.
For some reasons the file with the name of my project.iml had changed. Found the difference in the previous subversion repository submission...
In projectname.iml I found this line:
<component name="NewModuleRootManager" LANGUAGE_LEVEL="JDK_5">
And all I had to do was changing it to 11
<component name="NewModuleRootManager" LANGUAGE_LEVEL="JDK_11">

Answer 13

After so many years, happily seeing the same error ! :P
[ERROR] Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 7 or later.
[ERROR] Target option 5 is no longer supported. Use 7 or later.
pom.xml did not have any source or target declarations, so maven must have taken some archaic versions as default, rather than being clever enough to get it from the install JVM (which is currently on 18).
So, without knowing the original issue, I could also resolve it through the below snippet below. That declares a specific source and target version, which subpresses the problem.
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<source>18</source>
<target>18</target>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>

Answer 14

Some people have asked:
I understand that this works, but I don't understand why maven uses a default source value that it does not support? –
The answer is:
Maven doesn't know what version of the JDK you will use.
When used with JDK 1.8 Maven compiles work successfully.
When using newer versions of the JDK, it's not clear what version of the byte code you want to use. So Maven's has punted and continues use what it has used for many years.
At this day and age, it is difficult for Maven (as a generic build tool) to select a default byte code version that everyone will like.
So it's probably best to get used to putting the version of your source code and the byte code you want to generate in your pom.xml file.
You can argue (and I would agree) that maven should (by default) use a newer version of the maven-compiler-plugin but as I stated, whatever version was picked, someone would have a problem with it.
Example
For example, if you use JDK 11, you might very well be using Java 11 syntax and need -source 11 -target 11 when compiling your code.
Even the most recent release of the plugin maven-compiler-plugin:3.10.1 defaults to JDK 1.7 syntax which would result in compilation errors for Java 11 code.
A full description of the problem
Other's have said this, but to be complete. The default pom.xml doesn't specify the maven-compiler-plugin. To find out the version used you can use
mvn help:effective-pom | more
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.1</version>
You'll see that the maven-compiler-plugin:3.1 is being used.
You can see that this version generates a command with -target 1.5 -source 1.5 which generates an error when used with versions of Java newer than Java 1.8.
The following shows the error that occurs when using JDK 17.
mvn --version
Apache Maven 3.8.6 (84538c9988a25aec085021c365c560670ad80f63)
Maven home: D:\p\apache-maven-3.8.6
Java version: 17.0.2, vendor: Oracle Corporation, runtime: D:\p\jdk-17.0.2
Default locale: en_US, platform encoding: Cp1252
OS name: "windows 10", version: "10.0", arch: "amd64", family: "windows"
mvn clean install -X
. . .
[DEBUG] -d D:\Play\maven\helloworld\target\classes -classpath D:\Play\maven\helloworld\target\classes; -sourcepath D:\Play\maven\helloworld\src\main\java; -g -nowarn -target 1.5 -source 1.5
. . .
[ERROR] COMPILATION ERROR :
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------------------
[ERROR] Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 7 or later.
[ERROR] Target option 5 is no longer supported. Use 7 or later.
[INFO] 2 errors
The fix
The fix was to update the maven pom.xml file to specify either a newer maven-compiler-plugin. I tested with maven-compiler-plugin:3.10.1 and it uses -target 1.7 -source 1.7
The syntax is:
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.10.1</version>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
At the time of this writing version 3.10.1 was the latest version.
The other option is to specify the version of the byte code you want to generate, one way is to use this (as stated in another answer):
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.8</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.8</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
This will work even with the old version 3.1 plugin.

Answer 15

Here is the solution which helped me:
I had the same issue on error source option 5 is no longer supported, Use 6 or later
So i followed these instructions and problem SOLVED
Open Project Properties (File Menu)
Change the Source / Binary Format to the latest version (JDK 7 in my case)
Project Properties
Source / Binary Format
Clean and Build, Then Run the project

Answer 16

This is a message from a newer javac, e.g.:
$ java -version
openjdk version "11" 2018-09-25
$ javac -source 1.5 -target 1.5 Test.java
error: Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 6 or later.
error: Target option 1.5 is no longer supported. Use 1.6 or later.
So, apparently you're using a newer JDK version with a Maven version prior to 3.8.0 ("<source>/<target> ... NOTE: Since 3.8.0 the default value has changed from 1.5 to 1.6"). The maven-compiler-plugin:3.1 you use is from April 2013.
There are two possibilities:
Update your Maven version to the latest (I'd recommend that)
Setting the Java Version in Maven:
2.2. Java 9 and Beyond
...
<properties>
<maven.compiler.release>...</maven.compiler.release>
</properties>

Answer 17

If in Eclipse, Write click on project and go to properties. Search for maven and configure a jdk higher version (1.7 onwards) there and apply. Now try maven install.

Answer 18

In my case, running MacOS Big Sur and JDK version 15, I added the code below in pom.xml file shown below. I added the 15 for my JDK version.
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>15</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>15</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
I then re-ran $ mvn clean wildfly:deploy and it worked.

Answer 19

Both options work for me to resolved Source option 5 is no longer supported. Use 6 or later” on Maven compile
Open pom.xml file
Option1: add build tags
Option2: add properties tags
<project>
<groupId>com.pluralsight</groupId>
<artifactId>HelloWorld</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<packaging>jar</packaging>
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
<version>3.8.0</version>
<configuration>
<release>12</release>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
</project>
OR
<project>
<groupId>com.pluralsight</groupId>
<artifactId>HelloWorld</artifactId>
<version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
<modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
<packaging>jar</packaging>
<properties>
<maven.compiler.source>1.6</maven.compiler.source>
<maven.compiler.target>1.6</maven.compiler.target>
</properties>
</project>

Answer 20

I faced the same challenge, what I did was to go to:
File
Project structure
Module
Changed compile SDK to 30 (Latest at the time)
Build tools 30.0.3 (Latest)
Source compatibility (1.8 Java 8)
Target compatibility (1.8 Java 8)

Answer 21

Change the
<component name="NewModuleRootManager" LANGUAGE_LEVEL="JDK_1_5">
to
<component name="NewModuleRootManager" LANGUAGE_LEVEL="JDK_11">

Answer 22

Set updated java version from build path as per you installed

Answer 23

I solve the problem by finding that my $JAVA_HOME is empty. After setting it, compilation succeeded!