diff --git a/ci/scripts/build-project.sh b/ci/scripts/build-project.sh
index 08ee4e5c8d..da3c44e472 100755
--- a/ci/scripts/build-project.sh
+++ b/ci/scripts/build-project.sh
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ source $(dirname $0)/common.sh
 repository=$(pwd)/distribution-repository
 
 pushd git-repo > /dev/null
+run_maven -N clean verify
 run_maven -f spring-boot-project/pom.xml clean deploy -U -Dfull -DaltDeploymentRepository=distribution::default::file://${repository}
 popd > /dev/null
diff --git a/git/hooks/commit-msg b/git/hooks/commit-msg
new file mode 120000
index 0000000000..dee7d3fc93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/git/hooks/commit-msg
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../git/hooks/forward-merge
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index ec8b26764d..99c35f19bb 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 									<suppressionsLocation>src/checkstyle/checkstyle-suppressions.xml</suppressionsLocation>
 									<includeTestSourceDirectory>true</includeTestSourceDirectory>
 									<propertyExpansion>main.basedir=${main.basedir}</propertyExpansion>
+									<encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
 								</configuration>
 								<goals>
 									<goal>check</goal>
@@ -73,9 +74,10 @@
 									<configLocation>src/checkstyle/nohttp-checkstyle.xml</configLocation>
 									<suppressionsLocation>src/checkstyle/nohttp-checkstyle-suppressions.xml</suppressionsLocation>
 									<propertyExpansion>main.basedir=${main.basedir}</propertyExpansion>
+									<encoding>UTF-8</encoding>
 									<sourceDirectories>${basedir}</sourceDirectories>
 									<includes>**/*</includes>
-									<excludes>.git/**/*,target/**/,**/.flattened-pom.xml,**/*.class,**/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/build/**</excludes>
+									<excludes>**/.git/**/*,**/target/**/,**/.flattened-pom.xml,**/*.class,**/spring-boot-gradle-plugin/build/**</excludes>
 								</configuration>
 								<goals>
 									<goal>check</goal>