I am following instructions exactly as specified here:
http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-deploy-plugin/examples/deploy-ftp.html
(The only difference is that I'm using version 2.4 of wagon-ftp).
and then execute
mvn deploy
I just want to upload a single war file, however it uploads several other files, with pom, md5, sha1 extensions and buries them under one of my source directories.
I've been trying to look for the appropriate configuration to modify this behaviour with no luck yet.
wagon-plugins are for deploying artifacts to repositories, repositories need all those other files to function. If you are trying to ftp your .war file to a server for deployment, then use the correct plugin for your server, not the wagon-plugin.
The documentation for that plug starts off with
In order to deploy artifacts using FTP ...
mvn deploy is for deploying artifacts to a repository, thus all the other files that are needed for the repository to function are uploaded as well.