diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 213fb9c3cc..420e22e85a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -38,58 +38,30 @@
 		<org.mockito.version>1.8.4</org.mockito.version>
 		<org.slf4j.version>1.5.10</org.slf4j.version>
 		<org.springframework.version>3.0.2.RELEASE</org.springframework.version>
+		<org.springframework.security.version>2.0.5.RELEASE</org.springframework.security.version>
+		<org.springframework.ws.version>1.5.8</org.springframework.ws.version>
 	</properties>
 	<profiles>
-		<profile>
-			<id>non-strict</id>
-			<properties>
-				<maven.test.failure.ignore>true</maven.test.failure.ignore>
-			</properties>
-		</profile>
-		<profile>
-			<id>fast</id>
-			<properties>
-				<maven.test.skip>true</maven.test.skip>
-				<maven.javadoc.skip>true</maven.javadoc.skip>
-			</properties>
-		</profile>
 		<profile>
 			<id>staging</id>
 			<distributionManagement>
 				<site>
 					<id>staging</id>
-					<url>file:///${user.dir}/target/staging</url>
+					<url>file:///${java.io.tmpdir}/target/site</url>
 				</site>
 				<repository>
 					<id>staging</id>
-					<url>file:///${user.dir}/target/staging</url>
+					<url>file:///${java.io.tmpdir}/target/repository</url>
 				</repository>
 				<snapshotRepository>
 					<id>staging</id>
-					<url>file:///${user.dir}/target/staging</url>
+					<url>file:///${java.io.tmpdir}/target/snapshotRepository</url>
 				</snapshotRepository>
 			</distributionManagement>
 		</profile>
-		<profile>
-			<id>release</id>
-			<build>
-				<plugins>
-					<plugin>
-						<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
-						<executions>
-							<execution>
-								<id>attach-sources</id>
-								<goals>
-									<goal>jar</goal>
-								</goals>
-							</execution>
-						</executions>
-					</plugin>
-				</plugins>
-			</build>
-		</profile>
 	</profiles>
 	<distributionManagement>
+		<!-- see 'staging' profile for dry-run deployment settings -->
 		<downloadUrl>http://static.springframework.org/spring-integration/site/downloads/releases.html</downloadUrl>
 		<repository>
 			<id>local</id>
@@ -236,6 +208,178 @@
 					</postProcess>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-source-plugin</artifactId>
+				<executions>
+					<execution>
+						<id>attach-sources</id>
+						<goals>
+							<goal>jar</goal>
+						</goals>
+					</execution>
+				</executions>
+			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
+				<artifactId>maven-dependency-plugin</artifactId>
+				<!-- copies a tightly-controlled set of dependencies into ${project.build.dir}/dependency
+					 in order to be added to the distribution jar during the assembly process.
+
+					 WARNING: any new dependencies added to project pom files over time must be added explicitly
+					 to this list if they are to make it into the distribution zip.  This section should be
+					 considered fragile. Ideally, we would use the 'copy-dependencies' goal of the
+					 maven-dependency-plugin, which automatically adds all project dependencies, but it does
+					 not offer enough fine-grained control over what jars are added and which are not.
+
+					 NOTE: an unfortunate side effect of this plugin is that it runs not just once, but for
+					 every module in the build.  This is annoying but harmless, and adds only a few seconds
+					 to the overall build time.  It also creates a false sense of size in the target directories
+					 but again this is probably negligible.
+
+					 see src/assembly/distribution.xml
+					 see http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-dependency-plugin/copy-mojo.html
+					 -->
+				<version>2.1</version>
+				<executions>
+					<execution>
+						<phase>package</phase>
+						<goals>
+							<goal>copy</goal>
+						</goals>
+						<configuration>
+							<artifactItems>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-asm</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-beans</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-context-support</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-expression</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-jdbc</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-jms</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-oxm</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-tx</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-web</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-webmvc</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-security-core</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.security.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework.ws</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-ws-core</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.ws.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.springframework.ws</groupId>
+									<artifactId>spring-xml</artifactId>
+									<version>${org.springframework.ws.version}</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>aopalliance</groupId>
+									<artifactId>aopalliance</artifactId>
+									<version>1.0</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>commons-codec</groupId>
+									<artifactId>commons-codec</artifactId>
+									<version>1.3</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>commons-collections</groupId>
+									<artifactId>commons-collections</artifactId>
+									<version>3.2</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>commons-httpclient</groupId>
+									<artifactId>commons-httpclient</artifactId>
+									<version>3.1</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>commons-lang</groupId>
+									<artifactId>commons-lang</artifactId>
+									<version>2.1</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>commons-logging</groupId>
+									<artifactId>commons-logging</artifactId>
+									<version>1.1.1</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+								<artifactItem>
+									<groupId>org.apache.ws.commons.schema</groupId>
+									<artifactId>XmlSchema</artifactId>
+									<version>1.3.2</version>
+								</artifactItem>
+							</artifactItems>
+						</configuration>
+					</execution>
+				</executions>
+			</plugin>
+			<plugin>
+				<!-- run `mvn package assembly:assembly` to trigger assembly creation.
+					 see http://www.sonatype.com/books/mvnref-book/reference/assemblies-set-dist-assemblies.html -->
+				<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
+				<version>2.2-beta-5</version>
+				<inherited>false</inherited>
+				<configuration>
+					<descriptors>
+						<descriptor>src/assembly/distribution.xml</descriptor>
+					</descriptors>
+					<appendAssemblyId>false</appendAssemblyId>
+				</configuration>
+			</plugin>
 		</plugins>
 		<pluginManagement>
 			<plugins>
@@ -306,7 +450,6 @@
 					</groups>
 					<excludePackageNames>org.springframework.integration.samples</excludePackageNames>
 					<links>
-						<!-- TODO: examine JavaDoc warnings and see what other api links are needed -->
 						<link>http://static.springframework.org/spring/docs/${org.springframework.version}/javadoc-api</link>
 						<link>http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api</link>
 					</links>
@@ -361,7 +504,6 @@
 		</pluginRepository>
 	</pluginRepositories>
 	<dependencies>
-		<!-- including log4j to quell respect src/test log4j.xml settings -->
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>log4j</groupId>
 			<artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
diff --git a/readme.txt b/readme.txt
index 024cb0d45d..dd75024828 100644
--- a/readme.txt
+++ b/readme.txt
@@ -1,31 +1,10 @@
-SPRING INTEGRATION 2.0.0 Milestone 5 (TBD, 2010)
---------------------------------------------------
+TODO: complete
 
-To find out what has changed since version 1.0.4 or 2.0 M3, see 'changelog.txt'
+project distribution zip file can be built by executing
 
-Please consult the documentation located within the 'docs/reference' directory of this
-release and also visit the official Spring Integration home at:
-http://www.springsource.org/spring-integration
+    src/main/scripts/build-distribution.sh
 
-There you will find links to the forum, issue tracker, and several other resources.
 
-To build and run the sample applications that are included with this distribution,
-view the README.txt file in the 'spring-integration-samples' directory.
+licensing, changelog and other project information can be found under
 
-To checkout the project from the SVN head and build from source, do the following
-(NOTE: this requires Maven 2.1.0):
-
-    svn co https://src.springsource.org/svn/spring-integration/trunk .
-    cd build-spring-integration
-    mvn package
-
-The result is available as a zip file in "target/artifacts"
-An expanded version is also available in "target/package-expanded"
-
-To build the JavaDoc, run `mvn javadoc:aggregate` from within the root directory. The
-result will be available in 'target/site/apidocs'.
-
-The projects are Maven enabled, so you should be able to import them into any IDE that
-has support for Maven (2.1.0 or greater). The SpringSource Tool Suite (STS) is
-ships with support for Maven projects, is free-of-charge and is the recommended IDE
-for use with Spring Integration (http://springsource.com/products/sts).
+    src/main/resources
diff --git a/spring-integration-security/pom.xml b/spring-integration-security/pom.xml
index 5ea09bfde4..3ed4ebb6b3 100644
--- a/spring-integration-security/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-security/pom.xml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.security</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-security-core</artifactId>
-			<version>2.0.5.RELEASE</version>
+			<version>${org.springframework.security.version}</version>
 			<scope>compile</scope>
 		</dependency>
 	</dependencies>
diff --git a/spring-integration-ws/pom.xml b/spring-integration-ws/pom.xml
index f87178b689..e42603b870 100644
--- a/spring-integration-ws/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-integration-ws/pom.xml
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>org.springframework.ws</groupId>
 			<artifactId>spring-ws-core</artifactId>
-			<version>1.5.8</version>
+			<version>${org.springframework.ws.version}</version>
 			<scope>compile</scope>
 		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
diff --git a/src/assembly/distribution.xml b/src/assembly/distribution.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8294d1f655
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/assembly/distribution.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<assembly>
+	<!-- distribution assembly descriptor. packages up jars, source jars, documentation,
+		 dependencies and other resources into a single archive suitable for download and
+		 standalone use.
+		 see pom.xml 'maven-assembly-plugin' declaration
+		 see src/main/scripts/build-distribution.sh
+		 see http://www.sonatype.com/books/mvnref-book/reference/assemblies-set-dist-assemblies.html -->
+	<id>distribution</id>
+	<formats>
+		<format>zip</format>
+	</formats>
+	<includeBaseDirectory>true</includeBaseDirectory>
+	<fileSets>
+		<fileSet>
+			<!-- adds readme and other textfiles to the root of the distribution archive -->
+			<directory>src/main/resources</directory>
+			<includes>
+				<include>changelog.txt</include>
+				<include>readme.txt</include>
+				<include>license.txt</include>
+				<include>notice.txt</include>
+			</includes>
+			<outputDirectory/>
+			<lineEnding>dos</lineEnding>
+		</fileSet>
+		<fileSet>
+			<!-- adds dependency jars to the distribution archive under the 'lib' directory
+				 see pom.xml 'maven-dependency-plugin' declaration -->
+			<directory>${project.build.directory}/dependency</directory>
+			<includes>
+				<include>**/*.jar</include>
+			</includes>
+			<outputDirectory>lib</outputDirectory>
+		</fileSet>
+		<fileSet>
+			<!-- adds reference manual (html and pdf) to the distribution archive under the
+				 'docs/reference' directory
+				 see pom.xml 'maven-javadoc-plugin' declaration -->
+			<directory>target/site/reference</directory>
+			<outputDirectory>docs/reference</outputDirectory>
+		</fileSet>
+		<fileSet>
+			<!-- adds javadoc html to the distribution archive under the 'docs/javadoc' directory
+				 see pom.xml 'maven-javadoc-plugin' declaration -->
+			<directory>target/site/apidocs</directory>
+			<outputDirectory>docs/javadoc</outputDirectory>
+		</fileSet>
+		<fileSet>
+			<!-- adds sample projects distribution archive under the 'samples' directory -->
+			<directory>spring-integration-samples</directory>
+			<outputDirectory>samples</outputDirectory>
+		</fileSet>
+	</fileSets>
+	<moduleSets>
+		<moduleSet>
+			<!-- adds module jars to the distribution archive under the 'dist' directory -->
+			<includes>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-core</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-event</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-file</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-http</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-httpinvoker</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-ip</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jdbc</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jms</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jmx</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-mail</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-rmi</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-security</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-stream</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-test</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-ws</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-xml</include>
+			</includes>
+			<binaries>
+				<outputDirectory>dist</outputDirectory>
+				<includeDependencies>false</includeDependencies>
+				<unpack>false</unpack>
+			</binaries>
+		</moduleSet>
+		<moduleSet>
+			<!-- adds module source jars to the distribution archive under the 'src' directory
+				 see pom.xml 'maven-source-plugin' declaration -->
+			<includes>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-core</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-event</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-file</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-http</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-httpinvoker</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-ip</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jdbc</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jms</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-jmx</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-mail</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-rmi</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-security</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-stream</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-test</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-ws</include>
+				<include>org.springframework.integration:spring-integration-xml</include>
+			</includes>
+			<binaries>
+				<attachmentClassifier>sources</attachmentClassifier>
+				<outputDirectory>src</outputDirectory>
+				<includeDependencies>false</includeDependencies>
+				<unpack>false</unpack>
+			</binaries>
+		</moduleSet>
+	</moduleSets>
+</assembly>
diff --git a/changelog.txt b/src/main/resources/changelog.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from changelog.txt
rename to src/main/resources/changelog.txt
diff --git a/license.txt b/src/main/resources/license.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from license.txt
rename to src/main/resources/license.txt
diff --git a/notice.txt b/src/main/resources/notice.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from notice.txt
rename to src/main/resources/notice.txt
diff --git a/src/main/resources/readme.txt b/src/main/resources/readme.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..024cb0d45d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/resources/readme.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+SPRING INTEGRATION 2.0.0 Milestone 5 (TBD, 2010)
+--------------------------------------------------
+
+To find out what has changed since version 1.0.4 or 2.0 M3, see 'changelog.txt'
+
+Please consult the documentation located within the 'docs/reference' directory of this
+release and also visit the official Spring Integration home at:
+http://www.springsource.org/spring-integration
+
+There you will find links to the forum, issue tracker, and several other resources.
+
+To build and run the sample applications that are included with this distribution,
+view the README.txt file in the 'spring-integration-samples' directory.
+
+To checkout the project from the SVN head and build from source, do the following
+(NOTE: this requires Maven 2.1.0):
+
+    svn co https://src.springsource.org/svn/spring-integration/trunk .
+    cd build-spring-integration
+    mvn package
+
+The result is available as a zip file in "target/artifacts"
+An expanded version is also available in "target/package-expanded"
+
+To build the JavaDoc, run `mvn javadoc:aggregate` from within the root directory. The
+result will be available in 'target/site/apidocs'.
+
+The projects are Maven enabled, so you should be able to import them into any IDE that
+has support for Maven (2.1.0 or greater). The SpringSource Tool Suite (STS) is
+ships with support for Maven projects, is free-of-charge and is the recommended IDE
+for use with Spring Integration (http://springsource.com/products/sts).
diff --git a/src/main/scripts/build-distribution.sh b/src/main/scripts/build-distribution.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..82dc35df5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/scripts/build-distribution.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+mvn -Dmaven.test.skip=true clean package javadoc:aggregate docbkx:generate-pdf docbkx:generate-html assembly:assembly