Executable binary assembly in multi module project

[Zaza, Dominic [CIB-IT]]

I have a multi module project
 
i.e.
-top-level
  + client
  + server
  + model
  + api
  + common
  pom.xml
 
I wish to create an executable binary assembly for the server such that
I can run java -jar server.jar
 
I've added a configuration to the maven-jar-plugin to specify manifest 
mainClass , addClasspath, and classpathPrefix.
That works fine.
Now, I need to assemble the server code with all of its dependencies in one jar.
 
1.)  I've tried, at the parent pom.xml, to specify moduleSet to the assembly 
plugin for my server.
    Although I did generate a jar, I'm not able to specify scope to remove my 
test dependencies.
    Additionally, this is not my desired output since my server jar in bundled 
so the manifest file is one level too deep.
 
2.) I've tried to specify an assembly configuration at server/pom.xml file, 
however, when I'm in reactor mode, the assembly plugin
 doesn't find my descriptor file.
 
Help. Any suggestions on how to achieve this ?
 
Thanks in advance,
 Dominic