[MRELEASE-890] Prompt for usernames and passwords when running interactively

**[Karl M. Davis](https://issues.apache.org/jira/secure/ViewProfile.jspa?name=karlmdavis)** opened **[MRELEASE-890](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MRELEASE-890?redirect=false)** and commented

I've been using the release plugin for years now, and also supporting a lot of other folks using it.

It occurred to me today, that one of the most common sources of frustration and problems with the release plugin has been authentication: either users never added `` entries to their `settings.xml` or their password expired and they forgot to update it. Looking back... this has probably been the cause of around half of all the troubleshooting I've helped folks with.

I think it'd really help the first-run experience for folks if the release plugin prompted users for their authentication credentials when they're needed: if they're missing in the `settings.xml` and if authentication failures are encountered. (Only when running interactively, of course.)

I imagine a lot of other folks' experience here might mirror mine, especially in Windows domain environments with obnoxious password expiration policies. Even if passwords aren't expiring, though, it seems like I'm setting up a development environment on a new machine for myself or someone else about once a month. And the `settings.xml` authentication credentials are an oft-overlooked step.

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**Affects:** 2.5.1

**Issue Links:**
- [SCM-1011](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/SCM-1011) Do not set --non-interactive for SVN provider by default
(_**"is blocked by"**_)
- [MRELEASE-1134](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MRELEASE-1134) Pass interactive flag to ScmProvider
(_**"is blocked by"**_)
- [MRELEASE-1156](https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/MRELEASE-1156) The release plugin should "pass on" batch mode

1 votes, 4 watchers

Start with the Maven release plugin's interactive execution and review the linked MRELEASE-1134, MRELEASE-1156, and SCM-1011 issues to understand the required flag and provider behavior. Done means credentials can be requested only interactively when settings.xml entries are missing or authentication fails, while batch-mode behavior remains unchanged.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.