We Keep Coding

What is the best way of adding a jar file to a maven project if we could not find it the maven central repository?

I need to add the package "uk.ac.shef.wit.simmetrics.similaritymetrics"
to my maven project but I am not able to find any remote repository which contains it. I have to add it via dependency to the project, but not successful yet.
-I already added the jar file to the referenced library but in that wat I get the following error:
package uk.ac.shef.wit.simmetrics.similaritymetrics does not exist.
-Adding it through following dependency to the Pom.xml also does not help
<dependency>
<groupId>uk.ac.shef.wit</groupId>
<artifactId>simmetrics</artifactId>
version>1.6.2</version>
<scope>system</scope>
<systemPath>LocalPath\simmetrics-1.6.2.jar</systemPath>
</dependency>
Any help is appreciated!!

If this is a small project that you intend to only build locally or on a few machines then the simplest way is follow directions at the site below to add a 3rd party jar. Those instructions will help you install it in your local repository. You will need to do that for all machines that you intend to run the build on.
https://maven.apache.org/guides/mini/guide-3rd-party-jars-local.html
If you plan to run it on many machines then the best thing to do is to install the artifact to your own private repository. If that is the case then I suggest you create a project for it in version control. Then upload the file as part of that project.

I appear to be the current maintainer of Simmetrics. You can add this dependency to your pom file.
<dependency>
<groupId>com.github.mpkorstanje</groupId>
<artifactId>simmetrics-core</artifactId>
<version>4.0.1</version>
</dependency>
Simmetrics has been given a much needed serious overhaul since 1.6.2. You may have to adjust your code accordingly. For source code and documentation see https://github.com/Simmetrics/simmetrics

Maven dependency for javax.ejb.jar into .m2 directory

I cant find javax.ejb.jar in my .m2 dirctory, I need this jar for import javax.ejb.Schedule; , here is my pom file entry.
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.ejb</groupId>
<artifactId>ejb-api</artifactId>
<version>3.0</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
I am not sure if it will work or not, or its a right way to do things. Can some one please help to make a change in the POM file so that it downloads javax.ejb.jar into the .m2 directory.
Updated
by .m2 I mean in the repository directory in the correct folder
hierarchy (What ever it is).
Why? We have multiple sub projects (In eclipse workspace), In order to resolve dependency we use M2_REPO/path/to/the/required_library_file.jar, Now theses projects are part of code bases, Every developer download the source code, Maven download all jar to the repository directory(of the developer using any OS/Platform). This relative path from M2_REPO helps developer to have consitenat code (for eclipse project). Otherwise everyone will be adding their own path.
If it still doesn't make sense, here is what I want, Please give me an entry for POM file which download the javax.ejb.jar file into .m2 directory what ever the sub path is.
I have to include this jar in every project manually (And every developer needs to them as well from what ever directory have glassfish (C: , D:, E:, or /home/glassfish/modules/)
D:\servers\glassfish-3.1.2\glassfish3\glassfish\modules\javax.ejb.jar
where rest of the jars in each project are included as M2_REPO/path/to/jar which makes less no changes in the code base to commit.
M2_REPO/javax/ejb/ejb-api/3.0/ejb-api-3.0.jar
M2_REPO/javax/enterprise/cdi-api/1.0-SP1/cdi-api-1.0-SP1.jar
M2_REPO/javax/inject/javax.inject/1/javax.inject-1.jar
etc etc

I think I hear what you mean now :)
The maven dependency you specify
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.ejb</groupId>
<artifactId>ejb-api</artifactId>
<version>3.0</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>
which you have in .m2/repository/javax/ueb/ejb-api/3.0/ejb-api-3.0.jar does not contain the class/interface javax.ejb.Schedule.
But you found the jar-file in your glassfish server, which does contain javax.ejb.Scheduleand its name is D:\servers\glassfish-3.1.2\glassfish3\glassfish\modules\javax.ejb.jar and now you ask how to get that into the pom?
Well, the Java EE APIs and their official jars in maven are somewhat a study in disharmony.
If you run a search on maven central you will find multiple jars containing exactly that class. You will probably note that all appserver vendors provide their own edition of every aspect of every api in every version.
You should be able to find a jar with the javax.ejb module from glassfish in version 3.1.2
http://search.maven.org/#artifactdetails|org.glassfish|javax.ejb|3.1.2|jar
in which case the dependency would be
<dependency>
<groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
<artifactId>javax.ejb</artifactId>
<version>3.1.2</version>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

I found another artifactId here, though maven has your version too.
A (very) weird maven caching problem? Then it might work tomorrow.
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.ejb</groupId>
<artifactId>javax.ejb-api</artifactId>
<version>3.2</version>
</dependency>
Though this is a new version, for compilation it should do.

You may need to provide the repository location in your pom.xml file or in .m2/settings.xml file for the required jar to get downloaded into .m2 directory.

The dependency is declared as provided what means that the container will provide it.
What container are you using? I think Tomcat/Jetty won't provide that jar as it seems so Java EE. In that case just change the scope to compile.
<dependency>
<groupId>javax.ejb</groupId>
<artifactId>ejb-api</artifactId>
<version>3.0</version>
<scope>compile</scope>
</dependency>
More info about dependency scopes:
http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-dependency-mechanism.html#Dependency_Scope

add external jar to our dependency

There is a jar file lets say "abc.jar" which maven dependency does not exist(ie created a jar by using java command of own classes). I want to add this jar as maven dependency so that at build time it will automatically copy that jar in lib folder as like other maven dependency. how i will do. please help .

Add it as a dependency with a system scope. See the docs here.
However, rather than adding it as a system dependency it might be better to mavenize the jar itself, then you can build and install it into your dependency management system.
Also, see this question: Can I add jars to maven 2 build classpath without installing them?

You can use the systemPath attribute in the dependency tag in the POM file of your project.
In your pom.xml, use the following snippet corresponding to abc.jar:
<dependencies>
<!-- Other dependencies -->
<dependency>
<groupId>abc</groupId>
<artifactId>x</artifactId>
<version>1.0</version>
<scope>system</scope>
<systemPath>{path_to_abc.jar}</systemPath>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
The scope parameter corresponding to this artifact must be set to system, for the artifact to be picked up from the specified systemPath.
Hope this helps!

A normal maven dependency is always resolved by looking into a repository. So you must put your JAR file into a repository.
You could install your JAR into your local repository. Have a look at the install plugin. The install-file goal is your friend.
If other developers also need this JAR (because they are working with the same project), they either need to install it locally too, or - better - you deploy the JAR to a remote repository. Have a look at the deploy plugin. Here the deploy-file goal is your friend. For deploying artifacts, you need a repository manager like Nexus or Artifactory.
However, a dependency could also have the system scope (look at the other answers).

Is there a maven repository for flash-selenium.jar?

I recently moved to maven project and since then I found adding dependencies very difficult. Before that I just needed to download the jar and add to library folder .
Now I am searching flash-selenium.jar dependency but I failed to find any. So I added it manually in my C:.m2\repository\org\seleniumhq\selenium\flash-selenium folder but still it is giving error. So how can I use this jar in my maven project?Its a request to people those have 1500 points here , could you please create a label for selenium flash related problems. Thanks

There's no flash-selenium dependency in maven central, but there are other artifacts like:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.seleniumhq.selenium</groupId>
<artifactId>selenium</artifactId>
<version>2.0rc2</version>
</dependency>
the complete list:
http://search.maven.org/#search|ga|1|selenium
Maybe some of this fits what you need.

Add a dependency in Maven

How do I take a jar file that I have and add it to the dependency system in maven 2? I will be the maintainer of this dependency and my code needs this jar in the class path so that it will compile.

You'll have to do this in two steps:
1. Give your JAR a groupId, artifactId and version and add it to your repository.
If you don't have an internal repository, and you're just trying to add your JAR to your local repository, you can install it as follows, using any arbitrary groupId/artifactIds:
mvn install:install-file -DgroupId=com.stackoverflow... -DartifactId=yourartifactid... -Dversion=1.0 -Dpackaging=jar -Dfile=/path/to/jarfile
You can also deploy it to your internal repository if you have one, and want to make this available to other developers in your organization. I just use my repository's web based interface to add artifacts, but you should be able to accomplish the same thing using mvn deploy:deploy-file ....
2. Update dependent projects to reference this JAR.
Then update the dependency in the pom.xml of the projects that use the JAR by adding the following to the element:
<dependencies>
...
<dependency>
<groupId>com.stackoverflow...</groupId>
<artifactId>artifactId...</artifactId>
<version>1.0</version>
</dependency>
...
</dependencies>

You can also specify a dependency not in a maven repository. Could be usefull when no central maven repository for your team exist or if you have a CI server
<dependency>
<groupId>com.stackoverflow</groupId>
<artifactId>commons-utils</artifactId>
<version>1.3</version>
<scope>system</scope>
<systemPath>${basedir}/lib/commons-utils.jar</systemPath>
</dependency>

Actually, on investigating this, I think all these answers are incorrect. Your question is misleading because of our level of understanding of maven. And I say our because I'm just getting introduced to maven.
In Eclipse, when you want to add a jar file to your project, normally you download the jar manually and then drop it into the lib directory. With maven, you don't do it this way. Here's what you do:
Go to mvnrepository
Search for the library you want to add
Copy the dependency statement into your pom.xml
rebuild via mvn
Now, maven will connect and download the jar along with the list of dependencies, and automatically resolve any additional dependencies that jar may have had. So if the jar also needed commons-logging, that will be downloaded as well.

I'd do this:
add the dependency as you like in your pom:
<dependency>
<groupId>com.stackoverflow...</groupId>
<artifactId>artifactId...</artifactId>
<version>1.0</version>
</dependency>
run mvn install it will try to download the jar and fail. On the process, it
will give you the complete command of installing the jar with the error message. Copy that command and run it! easy huh?!

I'll assume that you're asking how to push a dependency out to a "well-known repository," and not simply asking how to update your POM.
If yes, then this is what you want to read.
And for anyone looking to set up an internal repository server, look here (half of the problem with using Maven 2 is finding the docs)