Properties properties = new Properties();
URL url = new App().getClass().getResource(PROPERTIES_FILE);
properties.load(url.openStream());
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-assembly-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.2</version>
<configuration>
<descriptorRefs>
<descriptorRef>jar-with-dependencies</descriptorRef>
</descriptorRefs>
<archive>
<manifest>
<mainClass>com.stackoverflow.App</mainClass>
</manifest>
<manifestEntries>
<Class-Path>.</Class-Path> <!-- HERE IS THE IMPORTANT BIT -->
</manifestEntries>
</archive>
</configuration>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>make-assembly</id> <!-- this is used for inheritance merges -->
<phase>package</phase> <!-- append to the packaging phase. -->
<goals>
<goal>single</goal> <!-- goals == mojos -->
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
java -cp .;filename.jar com.example.YourClassWithMain
URL root = getClass().getProtectionDomain().getCodeSource().getLocation();
URL propertiesFile = new URL(root, "filename.properties");
Properties properties = new Properties();
properties.load(propertiesFile.openStream());
Class-Path: .
<plugin>
<artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
<resources>
<resource>
<directory>src/main/java</directory>
<includes>
<include>**/*properties</include>
</includes>
</resource>
</resources>
</configuration>
<plugin>
<!-- Create a custom MANIFEST.MF file, setting the classpath. -->
<delete file="${project.base.dir}/resources/MANIFEST.MF" failonerror="false"/>
<manifest file="${project.base.dir}/resources/MANIFEST.MF">
<attribute name="Class-Path" value="." />
</manifest>
<!-- JAR the server-side code, using the custom manifest from above. -->
<jar destfile="services/${name}.aar" manifest="${project.base.dir}/resources/MANIFEST.MF">
[....]