diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b25c15b81..bcc52fede 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 *~
+target/
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 02c8c239d..5892c47f9 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -29,4 +29,37 @@
 
     </modules>
 
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+
+            <!-- Assembly plugin - for easy distribution -->
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>2.4</version>
+
+                <!-- Build project archive -->
+                <configuration>
+                    <finalName>${project.artifactId}-${project.version}</finalName>
+                    <appendAssemblyId>false</appendAssemblyId>
+                    <descriptors>
+                        <descriptor>project-assembly.xml</descriptor>
+                    </descriptors>
+                </configuration>
+
+                <!-- Bind archive build to package phase -->
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>make-source-archive</id>
+                        <phase>package</phase>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>single</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+
+            </plugin>
+
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
+
 </project>
diff --git a/project-assembly.xml b/project-assembly.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ec1d7249b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project-assembly.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<assembly
+    xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/assembly/1.1.0"
+    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/plugins/maven-assembly-plugin/assembly/1.1.0
+    http://maven.apache.org/xsd/assembly-1.1.0.xsd">
+
+    <id>project</id>
+    <formats>
+        <format>tar.gz</format>
+    </formats>
+
+    <fileSets>
+        <fileSet>
+            <directory>${project.basedir}</directory>
+            <outputDirectory>/</outputDirectory>
+            <useDefaultExcludes>true</useDefaultExcludes>
+            <excludes>
+                <exclude>**/*.log</exclude>
+                <exclude>**/${project.build.directory}/**</exclude>
+            </excludes>
+        </fileSet>
+    </fileSets>
+
+</assembly>