JMH Unable to find the resource: /META-INF/BenchmarkList

Finally found it out. There was a problem with missing exec-maven-plugin plugin

<plugin>
    <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
    <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
    <executions>
        <execution>
            <id>run-benchmarks</id>
            <phase>integration-test</phase>
            <goals>
                <goal>exec</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
                <classpathScope>test</classpathScope>
                <executable>java</executable>
                <arguments>
                    <argument>-classpath</argument>
                    <classpath />
                    <argument>org.openjdk.jmh.Main</argument>
                    <argument>.*</argument>
                </arguments>
            </configuration>
        </execution>
    </executions>
</plugin>

This could happen when your compiler plugin has not processed the JMH related annotations. For me, Gill's answer with the maven-compiler-plugin's <annotationProcessorPaths> update worked.

pom.xml must have the below dependencies and configurations to Java Micro-benchmark Harness (JMH) Framework

<properties>
    <jmh.version>1.21</jmh.version>
</properties>
<dependencies>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
    <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId>
    <version>${jmh.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
    <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId>
    <version>${jmh.version}</version>
</dependency>
<dependency>
  <groupId>junit</groupId>
  <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
  <version>4.11</version>
  <scope>test</scope>
</dependency>
</dependencies>
<build>
<finalName>java-jmh</finalName>
<plugins>
    <plugin>    
        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
        <configuration>
            <source>1.8</source>
            <target>1.8</target>
            <annotationProcessorPaths>
                <path>
                    <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
                    <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId>
                    <version>${jmh.version}</version>
                </path>
            </annotationProcessorPaths>
        </configuration>
    </plugin>
    <plugin>
        <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
        <artifactId>exec-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <executions>
            <execution>
                <id>run-benchmarks</id>
                <phase>integration-test</phase>
                <goals>
                    <goal>exec</goal>
                </goals>
                <configuration>
                    <classpathScope>test</classpathScope>
                    <executable>java</executable>
                    <arguments>
                        <argument>-classpath</argument>
                        <classpath />
                        <argument>org.openjdk.jmh.Main</argument>
                        <argument>.*</argument>
                    </arguments>
                </configuration>
            </execution>
        </executions>
    </plugin>
</plugins>

After this go to command line and run the command $mvn clean install

If anyone is using Gradle, add the jmh-gradle-plugin to your plugins block:

plugins {
    id 'java'
    id 'me.champeau.jmh' version '0.6.6'
}

Then add all of the following in your dependencies block (check the latest version of JMH on Maven here):

dependencies {
    jmh 'org.openjdk.jmh:jmh-core:1.35'
    jmh 'org.openjdk.jmh:jmh-generator-annprocess:1.35'

    // this is the line that solves the missing /META-INF/BenchmarkList error
    jmhAnnotationProcessor 'org.openjdk.jmh:jmh-generator-annprocess:1.35'
}

Then just use the following to run your benchmarks through Gradle:

./gradlew jmh

Running through your IDE

If you also want to run the benchmarks from within your IDE instead of through Gradle, you can do either of the following:

Option 1 - main method

Just use a main method with no additional configuration and your IDE will respect your annotation configuration:

@BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime)
@OutputTimeUnit(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
@State(Scope.Benchmark)
@Fork(value = 1)
@Warmup(iterations = 5, timeUnit = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, time = 5000)
@Measurement(iterations = 5, timeUnit = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, time = 5000)
public class MyBenchmark {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws RunnerException {
        Options options = new OptionsBuilder()
            .include(MyBenchmark.class.getSimpleName())
            .build();
        new Runner(options).run();
    }

    // benchmarks omitted
}

Option 2 - Install JMH Plugin

If you're using IntelliJ, install the JMH Java Microharness Benchmark Plugin from the Preferences > Plugins section, then you can omit your main method altogether and IntelliJ will give you a run button next to your class name: