diff --git a/assembly/pom.xml b/assembly/pom.xml
index a9209ac..53ff030 100644
--- a/assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/assembly/pom.xml
@@ -58,13 +58,6 @@
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
     </plugins>
-    <extensions>
-      <extension>
-        <groupId>org.apache.maven.wagon</groupId>
-        <artifactId>wagon-ssh</artifactId>
-        <version>2.5</version>
-      </extension>
-    </extensions>
   </build>
   <profiles>
     <profile>
@@ -74,12 +67,12 @@
           <plugin>
             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
             <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
-            <version>2.2-beta-4</version>
+            <version>3.1.0</version>
             <executions>
               <execution>
                 <id>make-assembly</id>
                 <goals>
-                  <goal>attached</goal>
+                  <goal>single</goal>
                 </goals>
                 <phase>package</phase>
               </execution>
@@ -101,9 +94,31 @@
             </configuration>
           </plugin>
           <plugin>
+            <groupId>net.nicoulaj.maven.plugins</groupId>
+            <artifactId>checksum-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+            <version>1.6</version>
+            <executions>
+              <execution>
+                <goals>
+                  <goal>artifacts</goal>
+                </goals>
+              </execution>
+            </executions>
+            <configuration>
+                <attachChecksums>true</attachChecksums>
+            </configuration>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
+              <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+              <artifactId>maven-gpg-plugin</artifactId>
+              <configuration>
+                  <ascDirectory>${project.build.directory}/..</ascDirectory>
+              </configuration>
+          </plugin>
+          <plugin>
             <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
             <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-            <version>1.3</version>
+            <version>1.8</version>
             <executions>
               <execution>
                 <phase>deploy</phase>
@@ -127,26 +142,6 @@
               </execution>
             </executions>
           </plugin>
-          <plugin>
-            <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
-            <artifactId>wagon-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-            <version>1.0-beta-4</version>
-            <executions>
-              <execution>
-                <phase>deploy</phase>
-                <goals>
-                  <goal>upload</goal>
-                </goals>
-                <configuration>
-                  <fromDir>${project.build.directory}/assemblies</fromDir>
-                  <includes>**</includes>
-                  <toDir>${project.version}</toDir>
-                  <serverId>tiles.build</serverId>
-                  <url>scp://people.apache.org/www/people.apache.org/builds/tiles</url>
-                </configuration>
-              </execution>
-            </executions>
-          </plugin>
         </plugins>
       </build>
     </profile>
@@ -158,19 +153,16 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
       <artifactId>tiles-api</artifactId>
-      <version>${project.version}</version>
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
       <artifactId>tiles-core</artifactId>
-      <version>${project.version}</version>
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
       <artifactId>tiles-servlet</artifactId>
-      <version>${project.version}</version>
     </dependency>
 
     <dependency>
@@ -203,7 +195,6 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
       <artifactId>slf4j-jdk14</artifactId>
-      <version>1.7.6</version>
       <scope>runtime</scope>
     </dependency>
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 0a00de2..f023ddc 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>org.mvel</groupId>
                 <artifactId>mvel2</artifactId>
-                <version>2.0.11</version>
+                <version>2.3.2.Final</version>
             </dependency>
             <dependency>
                 <groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
@@ -311,6 +311,7 @@
     </build>
 
     <properties>
+        <maven.javadoc.failOnError>false</maven.javadoc.failOnError> <!-- remove with master-8 -->
         <tiles.osgi.symbolicName>org.apache.${project.artifactId}</tiles.osgi.symbolicName>
         <tiles.osgi.export>org.apache.tiles.*;version=${project.version}</tiles.osgi.export>
         <tiles.osgi.import>*</tiles.osgi.import>
diff --git a/src/site/apt/dev/release.apt b/src/site/apt/dev/release.apt
index fe4b4ce..5c5341a 100644
--- a/src/site/apt/dev/release.apt
+++ b/src/site/apt/dev/release.apt
@@ -29,11 +29,11 @@
 
   To create a release you have to install:
 
-  * {{{http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/index.html}Java 7}}. If you are using a newer
+  * {{{http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/overview/index.html}Java 9}}. If you are using a newer
   version of Java <<change JAVA_HOME environment variable>>
-  when calling Maven, so it points to an instance of Java 7;
+  when calling Maven, so it points to an instance of Java 9;
 
-  * {{{http://maven.apache.org/}Maven 3.0.5+}};
+  * {{{http://maven.apache.org/}Maven 3.2.2+}};
 
   * {{{http://www.gnupg.org/}GnuPG}};
 
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@
 cd target/
 svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/tiles tiles-dist-dev
 mkdir tiles-dist-dev/request/${version}
-cp checkout/assembly/target/assemblies/* tiles-dist-dev/${version}/
+cp checkout/assembly/target/assembly/* tiles-dist-dev/${version}/
 svn add tiles-dist-dev/${version}
 svn ci tiles-dist-dev/${version}
 -----------------------------------
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@
 requirement of the following specification versions:
 
 * Java Servlet 2.5 and JavaServer Pages (JSP) 2.1
-* Java Standard Edition (Java SE) 1.7
+* Java Standard Edition (Java SE) 1.8
 
 The release notes are available online at:
 
diff --git a/tiles-api/pom.xml b/tiles-api/pom.xml
index 59e3b52..5d1749d 100644
--- a/tiles-api/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-api/pom.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 
     <properties>
         <tiles.osgi.symbolicName>org.apache.tiles.api</tiles.osgi.symbolicName>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>5</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
     </properties>
 
     <build>
diff --git a/tiles-core/pom.xml b/tiles-core/pom.xml
index eed5636..8c376b1 100644
--- a/tiles-core/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-core/pom.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 
   <properties>
       <tiles.osgi.symbolicName>org.apache.tiles.core</tiles.osgi.symbolicName>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>25</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
   </properties>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/tiles-extras/pom.xml b/tiles-extras/pom.xml
index 1b820c7..1d471d6 100644
--- a/tiles-extras/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-extras/pom.xml
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 
   <properties>
   	<tiles.osgi.symbolicName>org.apache.tiles.extras</tiles.osgi.symbolicName>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>21</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
   </properties>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/tiles-mvel/pom.xml b/tiles-mvel/pom.xml
index edc227d..8169292 100644
--- a/tiles-mvel/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-mvel/pom.xml
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 
   <properties>
       <tiles.osgi.symbolicName>org.apache.tiles.mvel</tiles.osgi.symbolicName>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>4</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
   </properties>
 
   <build>
diff --git a/tiles-template/pom.xml b/tiles-template/pom.xml
index 742e693..016f599 100644
--- a/tiles-template/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-template/pom.xml
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@
     <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
     <version>3.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>2</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
   <build>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>
diff --git a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-alt/pom.xml b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-alt/pom.xml
index 6e96d1a..3c0275d 100644
--- a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-alt/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-alt/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
   <artifactId>tiles-test-alt</artifactId>
   <name>Tiles - Test webapp alternate configuration</name>
   <description>Alternate configuration for the test webapp.</description>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>3</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
diff --git a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-common/pom.xml b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-common/pom.xml
index 1df9600..94c4c67 100644
--- a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-common/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-common/pom.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
   <version>3.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
   <name>Tiles - Test webapp common classes</name>
   <description>Common classes between modules of the test webapp.</description>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>2</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
diff --git a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-db/pom.xml b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-db/pom.xml
index c49ccc0..7d7e0e9 100644
--- a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-db/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test-db/pom.xml
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@
   <artifactId>tiles-test-db</artifactId>
   <name>Tiles - Test webapp database configuration</name>
   <description>Tiles configuration that uses a database.</description>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>2</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.tiles</groupId>
diff --git a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test/pom.xml b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test/pom.xml
index 8ce1ac8..437d5f7 100644
--- a/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-test-pom/tiles-test/pom.xml
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
    <name>Tiles - Apps - Test</name>
    <description>Tiles Test web application: tests Tiles functionality.
    </description>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>8</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
 
    <dependencies>
       <dependency>
diff --git a/tiles-velocity/pom.xml b/tiles-velocity/pom.xml
index efc4be7e..ad5a1e6 100644
--- a/tiles-velocity/pom.xml
+++ b/tiles-velocity/pom.xml
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <description>Velocity Support in Tiles</description>
   <name>Tiles - Velocity Support</name>
+  <properties>
+      <!-- decrease this whenever possible -->
+      <checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>1</checkstyle.maxAllowedViolations>
+  </properties>
   <build>
     <plugins>
       <plugin>