You need to specify either a script or a file, if you want anything to happen.
<project> [...] <build> [...] <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>com.github.genthaler</groupId> <artifactId>beanshell-maven-plugin</artifactId> <version>1.4</version> <configuration> <script><![CDATA[ import org.codehaus.plexus.util.FileUtils; FileUtils.fileWrite( "touched.txt", "This is a Beanshell Maven Plugin POM test" ); ]]></script> </configuration> </plugin> [...] </plugins> [...] </build> [...] </project>