To reproduce the issue with a simple maven project : Follow the steps from the documentation on how to set up an offline repo Unzip the attached simple-drools-test.zip Edit simple-drools-test/settings.xml and set <url> to match the path of the offline repo Disconnect from the internet $ cd simple-drools-test $ mvn clean package -s settings.xml [ERROR] Failed to execute goal on project simple-drools-test: Could not resolve dependencies for project com.redhat.gss:simple-drools-test:jar:1.0-SNAPSHOT: Failed to collect dependencies at org.drools:drools-core:jar:7.26.0.Final-redhat-00005 -> org.kie.soup:kie-soup-project-datamodel-commons:jar:7.26.0.Final-redhat-00005 -> org.mvel:mvel2:jar:2.3.2.Final-redhat-1: Failed to read artifact descriptor for org.mvel:mvel2:jar:2.3.2.Final-redhat-1: Could not transfer artifact org.mvel:mvel2:pom:2.3.2.Final-redhat-1 from/to central (https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2): repo.maven.apache.org: Name or service not known: Unknown host repo.maven.apache.org: Name or service not known -> [Help 1] To reproduce the issue using business-central : Follow the steps from the documentation on how to set up an offline repo Edit standalone-full.xml and add <property name="kie.maven.settings.custom" value="/path/to/settings.xml"/> (same content as in attached project) Start the server Create a new project ERROR [org.guvnor.common.services.backend.exceptions.ExceptionUtilities] (default task-1) Exception thrown: org.apache.maven.project.ProjectBuildingException: 1 problem was encountered while building the effective model [FATAL] Non-readable POM : input contained no data @