Use exec-maven-plugin to execute shell script on Windows

Your commandline is*:

[dependencies.sh, project-in-question.dependencies, target, third-parameter]

But on Windows the dependencies.sh is not an executable. To run it with cygwin you would have to run it like this*:

[c:\cygwin\bin\run.exe, dependencies.sh, project-in-question.dependencies, target, third-parameter]

Now I guess, that the others would not be happy with changing the pom.xml to that.

One possible solution should be to install "Windows Subsystem For Linux".

Another solution would be to create a dependencies.sh.bat containing something like:

c:\cygwin\bin\run.exe dependencies.sh %*

but with this solution you probably have to rename the dependencies.sh on your computer so that windows will pick the .bat file first.

Another compromise might be to change the execution to

<executable>sh</executable>
  <arguments>
    <argument>-c</argument>
    <argument>${project.basedir}/src/main/scripts/dependencies.sh ${project.build.directory}/${project.artifactId}.dependencies ${project.build.directory} project-in-question</argument>

And on your system have a sh.bat in your PATH with:

c:\cygwin\bin\run.exe sh %*

*I omitted the folders for better readability

Try using cmd as your executable, followed by /C as first argument and pathname of your shell script as next argument, followed by the rest of your arguments:

            <executable>cmd</executable>
            <arguments>
                <argument>/C</argument>
                <argument>${project.basedir}/src/main/scripts/dependencies.sh</argument>

I would add the cygwin\bin path to the Windows %PATH% environment variable, since Cygwin provides a bash.exe executable. Then modify the .pom to be platform independent:

           ...
                    <execution>
                        <id>dependencies</id>
                        <phase>compile</phase>
                        <goals>
                            <goal>exec</goal>
                        </goals>
                        <configuration>
                            <workingDirectory>${project.basedir}</workingDirectory>
                            <executable>bash</executable>
                            <arguments>
                                <argument>${project.basedir}/src/main/scripts/dependencies.sh</argument>
                                <argument>${project.build.directory}/${project.artifactId}.dependencies</argument>
                                <argument>${project.build.directory}</argument>
                                <argument>project-in-question</argument>
                            </arguments>
                        </configuration>
                    </execution>
           ...

As @Samuel Kirschner pointed out above you can also use Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) instead of Cygwin which automatically provides the bash executable on the Windows %PATH% and works with the .pom config given

For people in >= 2024 having issues executing script with git-bash.
It may be due to wsl2 being executed instead of git bash when running bash command.

Wsl2 also won't inherit parent's environment variables, which may cause the shell script to break when executed.

Here is a simple solution.

<profile>
    <id>os-windows</id>
    <activation>
        <os>
            <family>windows</family>
        </os>
    </activation>
    <properties>
        <!-- Workaround bash command executing wsl2 instead of git-bash -->
        <bash.path>C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe</bash.path>
    </properties>
</profile>
<profile>
    <id>os-unix</id>
    <activation>
        <os>
            <family>unix</family>
        </os>
    </activation>
    <properties>
        <!-- Running maven from wsl2 fall in unix family, which is fine -->
        <bash.path>bash</bash.path>
    </properties>
</profile>

Then simply specify the path when executing the plugin

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>example</id>
            <phase>install</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>exec</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <arguments>
                    <argument>--verbose</argument>
                </arguments>
                <environmentVariables>
                    <EXAMPLE_VAR>value</EXAMPLE_VAR>
                </environmentVariables>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
    <configuration>
        <executable>${bash.path}</executable>
        <commandlineArgs>-c ../example.sh</commandlineArgs>
        <environmentVariables>
            <VAR_ONE>Hello world</VAR_ONE>
            <VAR_TWO>example</VAR_TWO>
        </environmentVariables>
    </configuration>
</plugin>

If using wsl2 is required then here is a workaround for passing variables to the script in wsl2:

<configuration>
    <!-- bash defaults to wsl2 when it's installed -->
    <executable>bash</executable>
    <arguments>
        <argument>-c</argument>
        <argument>MY_VAR=${my.var.value} ./example.sh</argument>
        <!-- warn be aware of spaces in the value  -->
    </arguments>
</configuration>