Maven - configure the Release plugin to work with a Git repository

pom.xml

<plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>2.2.1</version>
  <configuration>
    <autoVersionSubmodules>true</autoVersionSubmodules>
    <!-- required for Git -->
    <localCheckout>true</localCheckout>
    <preparationGoals>clean verify</preparationGoals>
    <releaseProfiles>release</releaseProfiles>
    <goals>javadoc:jar site site-deploy deploy</goals>
  </configuration>
</plugin>