title: Custom Maven clean with fileset not working
body: <p>I have created an additional target directory called "dist" to which I am copying some build artifacts.  Because it is not in the default target directories, I add an appropriate  to the clean plugin configuration per <a href="http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-clean-plugin/examples/delete_additional_files.html" rel="nofollow">Delete Additional Files</a> instructions for the plugin, as follows:</p>
  
  <pre><code>        &lt;plugin&gt;
              &lt;artifactId&gt;maven-clean-plugin&lt;/artifactId&gt;
              &lt;version&gt;2.5&lt;/version&gt;
              &lt;configuration&gt;
                  &lt;fileset&gt;
                      &lt;followSymlinks&gt;false&lt;/followSymlinks&gt;
                      &lt;directory&gt;dist&lt;/directory&gt;
                      &lt;includes&gt;
                          &lt;include&gt;*&lt;/include&gt;
                      &lt;/includes&gt;
                  &lt;/fileset&gt;
              &lt;/configuration&gt;
          &lt;/plugin&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But the "dist" directory and its contents remains after any "mvn clean".  I've tried a number of variants, and checked the output of "mvn help:effective-pom" or the "mvn -X" debug output and, I find:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>The configuration is showing up in submodules' effective pom's.</li>
  <li>There is no error message</li>
  <li>There is <strong>no</strong> sign of "dist" directories or their contents in the debug output.</li>
  <li>Explicit references like <code>&lt;directory&gt;${basedir}/dist&lt;/directory&gt;</code> make no difference.</li>
  <li>Likewise, using more or less explicit <code>&lt;include&gt;</code> references like "<em>.jar" or "</em>*/*.txt" make no difference.</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>I'm using maven 3.0.3, clean plugin 2.5.  I tried 2.4, just in case. No difference.  Also, no permission problems.</p>
  
  <p>I've scanned dozens of examples in Google, and all merely repeat the documentation's instructions.  I am relatively new to Maven and still learning.  Am I blind to something obvious?  Thanks.</p>