apache / apache/maven-surefire
`surefire.forkNumber` collision when running Maven with parallel modules
- Dominant language
- Java
- Stars
- 461
- Forks
- 588
- Avg merge
- 1d 8h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 19
Description
### Affected version
3.5.3
### Bug description
When running Maven with parallel execution enabled (-T 2 verify), multiple modules are built and tested concurrently. We are using the maven-surefire-plugin with multiple forks configured:
```
org.apache.maven.plugins
maven-surefire-plugin
3.5.3
4
-ea -Xmx1500m -XX:+HeapDumpOnOutOfMemoryError
-Dsurefire.forkNumber=${surefire.forkNumber}
false
```
The project consists of multiple modules, but test forks appear to clash across modules. Specifically, different modules start test forks with the same fork identifier (e.g., fork-1) at overlapping times.
```
Wed Dec 17 11:08:39 UTC 2025 -------------Surefire TestDB fork-1 in `server-tests` started--------------
Wed Dec 17 11:38:00 UTC 2025 -------------Surefire TestDB fork-1 in `token-tests` started--------------
Wed Dec 17 11:38:21 UTC 2025 -------------Surefire TestDB fork-1 in `token-test` finished--------------
Wed Dec 17 11:39:49 UTC 2025 -------------Surefire TestDB fork-1 in `server-tests` finished--------------
```
Is this behavior expected?
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by reproducing the reported configuration with Maven parallel execution (-T 2 verify), forkCount 4, and reuseForks false, then trace how surefire.forkNumber is assigned across concurrently built modules. Compare the overlapping fork identifiers in the supplied logs and establish the expected uniqueness scope before deciding what behavior should be changed or documented.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- java
- Domain
- build-system, testing
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Needs clarification
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100