diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c3a688e159c..f8b39ded50d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -68,14 +68,6 @@ tags
 .cproject
 .project
 obj
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/core.*
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/TEST-*.txt
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/*.la
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/*.lo
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/*.o
-zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/generated/
-zookeeper-server/src/main/resources/lib/ant-eclipse-*
-zookeeper-server/src/main/resources/lib/ivy-*
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/Makefile.in
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/aclocal.m4
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/autom4te.cache/
@@ -88,7 +80,12 @@ zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/depcomp
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/install-sh
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/ltmain.sh
 zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/missing
-zookeeper-server/src/test/resources/
+zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/TEST-*.txt
+zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/generated/
+zookeeper-server/src/main/resources/lib/ant-eclipse-*
+zookeeper-server/src/main/resources/lib/ivy-*
+zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/version/Info.java
+zookeeper-server/src/main/java/org/apache/zookeeper/version/VersionInfoMain.java
 
 # Python
 *.py[cod]
diff --git a/README_packaging.md b/README_packaging.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fe731a7ff03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README_packaging.md
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+# README file for Packaging Notes
+
+The ZooKeeper project publishes releases as tarballs.  For ZooKeeper packages
+specific to your OS (such as rpm and deb), consider using Apache Bigtop:
+
+http://bigtop.apache.org/
+
+
+## Requirements
+
+- ant (recommended version 1.9.4 or later for concurrent JUnit test execution) or maven to build the java code
+- gcc, cppunit and python-setuptools are required to build C and python bindings.
+
+On RHEL machine:
+
+```
+yum install cppunit
+yum install python-setuptools
+```
+
+On Ubuntu:
+
+```
+apt-get install cppunit
+apt-get install python-setuptools
+```
+
+
+## Package build command (using maven)
+
+Commands to clean everything and build the tarball package without executing the tests: `mvn clean install -DskipTests`
+
+
+`zookeeper-assembly/target/apache-zookeeper-<version>-bin.tar.gz` tarball file structure layout:
+
+- `/bin`    - User executables
+- `/conf`   - Configuration files
+- `/lib`    - ZooKeeper JAR files and all the required java library dependencies
+- `/docs`   - Documents
+  
+Beside the binary tarball, you can find the whole original source project packaged into: 
+`zookeeper-assembly/target/apache-zookeeper-<version>.tar.gz`
+
+
+### Building the C client (using maven)
+
+To also build the C client, you need to activate the `full-build` profile:
+ 
+```
+mvn clean -Pfull-build
+mvn install -Pfull-build -DskipTests
+```
+
+Optional parameters you might consider when using maven:
+-  `-Pfull-build`         -   activates the full-build profile, causing the C client to be built
+-  `-DskipTests`          -   this parameter will skip both java and C++ unit test execution during the build
+-  `-Pc-test-coverage`    -   activates the test coverage calculation during the execution of C client tests
+
+Please note: if you don't provide the `-Pfull-build` parameter, then the C client will not be built, the C client tests
+will not be executed and the previous C client builds will no be cleaned up (e.g. with simply using `mvn clean`).
+
+The compiled C client can be found here: 
+- `zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/target/c/bin`                 - User executable
+- `zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/target/c/lib`                 - Native libraries
+- `zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/target/c/include/zookeeper`   - Native library headers
+
+
+## Package build command (using ant)
+
+**Command to build tarball package:** `ant tar`
+
+`zookeeper-<version>.tar.gz` tarball file structure layout:
+
+- `/bin`              - User executable
+- `/sbin`             - System executable
+- `/libexec`          - Configuration boot trap script
+- `/lib`              - Library dependencies
+- `/docs`             - Documents
+- `/share/zookeeper`  - Project files
+
+
+**Command to build tarball package with native components:** `ant package-native tar`
+
+`zookeeper-<version>-lib.tar.gz` tarball file structure layout:
+
+- `/bin`                 - User executable
+- `/lib`                 - Native libraries
+- `/include/zookeeper`   - Native library headers
+
diff --git a/README_packaging.txt b/README_packaging.txt
deleted file mode 100644
index 9776f74ca90..00000000000
--- a/README_packaging.txt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,45 +0,0 @@
-README file for Packaging Notes
-
-Requirement
------------
-
-ant (recommended version 1.9.4 or later for concurrent JUnit test execution)
-gcc, cppunit and python-setuptools are required to build 
-C and python bindings.
-
-On RHEL machine:
-
-yum install cppunit
-yum install python-setuptools
-
-On Ubuntu:
-
-apt-get --install cppunit
-apt-get --install python-setuptools
-
-Package build command
----------------------
-
-The ZooKeeper project publishes releases as tarballs.  For ZooKeeper packages
-specific to your OS (such as rpm and deb), consider using Apache Bigtop:
-
-http://bigtop.apache.org/
-
-Command to build tarball package: ant tar
-
-zookeeper-<version>.tar.gz tarball file structure layout
-
-  /bin                               - User executable
-  /sbin                              - System executable
-  /libexec                           - Configuration boot trap script
-  /lib                               - Library dependencies
-  /docs                              - Documents
-  /share/zookeeper                   - Project files
-
-Command to build tarball package with native components: ant package-native tar
-
-zookeeper-<version>-lib.tar.gz tarball file structure layout
-
-  /bin                               - User executable
-  /lib                               - Native libraries
-  /include/zookeeper                 - Native library headers
diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index b965084f008..ce9436100c7 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ xmlns:cs="antlib:com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.ant">
       <copy todir="${dist.dir}">
         <fileset file="CHANGES.txt"/>
         <fileset file="README.md"/>
-        <fileset file="README_packaging.txt"/>
+        <fileset file="README_packaging.md"/>
         <fileset file="build.xml"/>
         <fileset file="ivy.xml"/>
         <fileset file="ivysettings.xml"/>
@@ -1004,7 +1004,7 @@ xmlns:cs="antlib:com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.ant">
       <copy todir="${dist.dir}">
         <fileset file="CHANGES.txt"/>
         <fileset file="README.md"/>
-        <fileset file="README_packaging.txt"/>
+        <fileset file="README_packaging.md"/>
         <fileset file="build.xml"/>
         <fileset file="ivy.xml"/>
         <fileset file="ivysettings.xml"/>
@@ -1760,7 +1760,7 @@ xmlns:cs="antlib:com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.ant">
           <exclude name="**/wrappers*.opt"/>
           <exclude name="CHANGES.txt"/>
           <exclude name="**/README.md"/>
-          <exclude name="README_packaging.txt"/>
+          <exclude name="README_packaging.md"/>
           <exclude name="**/TODO"/>
           <exclude name="**/VERSION"/>
           <exclude name="**/ChangeLog"/>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 01c38115283..34abff47e20 100755
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -789,7 +789,7 @@
             <exclude>conf/configuration.xsl</exclude>
             <exclude>.travis.yml</exclude>
             <exclude>excludeFindBugsFilter.xml</exclude>
-            <exclude>README_packaging.txt</exclude>
+            <exclude>README_packaging.md</exclude>
             <exclude>src/main/resources/markdown/skin/*</exclude>
             <exclude>src/main/resources/markdown/html/*</exclude>
             <exclude>src/main/resources/markdown/images/*</exclude>
diff --git a/zookeeper-assembly/src/main/assembly/components.xml b/zookeeper-assembly/src/main/assembly/components.xml
index 2510db1ba85..e0df12bec16 100644
--- a/zookeeper-assembly/src/main/assembly/components.xml
+++ b/zookeeper-assembly/src/main/assembly/components.xml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
         <include>NOTICE.txt</include>
         <include>LICENSE.txt</include>
         <include>README.md</include>
-        <include>README_packaging.txt</include>
+        <include>README_packaging.md</include>
       </includes>
       <fileMode>${rw.file.permission}</fileMode>
     </fileSet>
diff --git a/zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/pom.xml b/zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/pom.xml
index 82948105d99..e3703f1f85d 100755
--- a/zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/pom.xml
+++ b/zookeeper-client/zookeeper-client-c/pom.xml
@@ -33,54 +33,33 @@
   <name>Apache ZooKeeper - Client - C</name>
   <description>ZooKeeper c client</description>
 
+  <profiles>
+    <profile>
+      <id>c-test-coverage</id>
+      <properties>
+        <c-test-coverage-arg>--enable-gcov</c-test-coverage-arg>
+      </properties>
+    </profile>
+    <profile>
+      <id>no-c-test-coverage</id>
+      <activation>
+        <activeByDefault>true</activeByDefault>
+      </activation>
+      <properties>
+        <c-test-coverage-arg> </c-test-coverage-arg>
+      </properties>
+    </profile>
+  </profiles>
+
   <build>
     <plugins>
-      <plugin>
-        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
-        <executions>
-          <execution>
-            <id>generate-sources</id>
-            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
-            <configuration>
-              <tasks>
-                <mkdir dir="target/c" />
-              </tasks>
-            </configuration>
-            <goals>
-              <goal>run</goal>
-            </goals>
-          </execution>
-          <execution>
-            <id>test-cppunit</id>
-            <phase>test</phase>
-            <configuration>
-              <!-- do not run cpp tests if tests are globally skipped -->
-              <skip>${skipTests}</skip> 
-              <tasks>
-                <exec dir="${basedir}/target/c" executable="make" failonerror="true">
-                  <env key="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="${env.LD_LIBRARY_PATH};/usr/lib" />
-                  <env key="PATH" path="${env.PATH};${basedir};" />
-                  <env key="CALLER" value="ANT" />
-                  <env key="CLOVER_HOME" value="${basedir}/../../zookeeper-server/target" />
-                  <env key="base_dir" value="${basedir}/../.." />
-                  <arg line="clean check" />
-                </exec>
-              </tasks>
-            </configuration>
-            <goals>
-              <goal>run</goal>
-            </goals>
-          </execution>
-        </executions>
-      </plugin>
-      <plugin>
+        <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
         <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
         <executions>
           <execution>
             <id>autoreconf</id>
-            <phase>test-compile</phase>
+            <phase>process-sources</phase>
             <goals>
               <goal>exec</goal>
             </goals>
@@ -97,7 +76,7 @@
           </execution>
           <execution>
             <id>configure</id>
-            <phase>test-compile</phase>
+            <phase>process-sources</phase>
             <goals>
               <goal>exec</goal>
             </goals>
@@ -110,34 +89,71 @@
               </environmentVariables>
               <arguments>
                 <argument>--prefix=${project.build.directory}/c</argument>
-                <argument>--enable-gcov</argument>
+                <argument>${c-test-coverage-arg}</argument>
               </arguments>
             </configuration>
           </execution>
-          <!--execution> TODO: Why is this not working?!
-            <id>test-cppunit</id>
-            <phase>test</phase>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-antrun-plugin</artifactId>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <id>generate-sources</id>
+            <phase>generate-sources</phase>
+            <configuration>
+              <tasks>
+                <mkdir dir="target/c" />
+              </tasks>
+            </configuration>
             <goals>
-              <goal>exec</goal>
+              <goal>run</goal>
             </goals>
+          </execution>
+          <execution>
+            <id>build-c-client</id>
+            <phase>compile</phase>
             <configuration>
-              <workingDirectory>${project.build.directory}/c</workingDirectory>
-              <executable>make</executable>
-              <environmentVariables>
-                <LD_LIBRARY_PATH>${env.LD_LIBRARY_PATH};/usr/lib</LD_LIBRARY_PATH>
-                <PATH>${env.PATH};${project.basedir};</PATH>
-                <CALLER>ANT</CALLER>
-                <CLOVER_HOME></CLOVER_HOME>
-                <base_dir>${project.basedir}/../..</base_dir>
-              </environmentVariables>
-              <arguments>
-                <argument>clean check</argument>
-              </arguments>
+              <tasks>
+                <exec dir="${basedir}/target/c" executable="make" failonerror="true">
+                  <env key="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="${env.LD_LIBRARY_PATH};/usr/lib" />
+                  <env key="PATH" path="${env.PATH};${basedir};" />
+                  <env key="CALLER" value="ANT" />
+                  <env key="CLOVER_HOME" value="${basedir}/../../zookeeper-server/target" />
+                  <env key="base_dir" value="${basedir}/../.." />
+                  <arg line="clean install" />
+                </exec>
+              </tasks>
+            </configuration>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>run</goal>
+            </goals>
+          </execution>
+          <execution>
+            <id>test-cppunit</id>
+            <phase>test</phase>
+            <configuration>
+              <!-- do not run cpp tests if tests are globally skipped -->
+              <skip>${skipTests}</skip>
+              <tasks>
+                <exec dir="${basedir}/target/c" executable="make" failonerror="true">
+                  <env key="LD_LIBRARY_PATH" value="${env.LD_LIBRARY_PATH};/usr/lib" />
+                  <env key="PATH" path="${env.PATH};${basedir};" />
+                  <env key="CALLER" value="ANT" />
+                  <env key="CLOVER_HOME" value="${basedir}/../../zookeeper-server/target" />
+                  <env key="base_dir" value="${basedir}/../.." />
+                  <arg line="check" />
+                </exec>
+              </tasks>
             </configuration>
-          </execution-->
+            <goals>
+              <goal>run</goal>
+            </goals>
+          </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
     </plugins>
   </build>
 
-</project>
\ No newline at end of file
+</project>