# \[gatling-maven-plugin version 4.2.6\] user defined simulationClass could not be loaded

**URL:** <https://community.gatling.io/t/gatling-maven-plugin-version-4-2-6-user-defined-simulationclass-could-not-be-loaded/7143>\
**Category:** Gatling (Open-Source)\
**Created:** [September 10, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://community.gatling.io/t/gatling-maven-plugin-version-4-2-6-user-defined-simulationclass-could-not-be-loaded/7143 "2022-09-10T13:52:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![r.hanumanthappa](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.gatling.io/r.hanumanthappa/32/1022_2.png) [@r.hanumanthappa](https://community.gatling.io/u/r.hanumanthappa)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://community.gatling.io/t/gatling-maven-plugin-version-4-2-6-user-defined-simulationclass-could-not-be-loaded/7143/1 "2022-09-10T13:52:21Z")

</div>

Dear All,

I have configured the simulation class in the gatling maven plugin configurations as below under the tag

```auto
<plugin>
        <groupId>io.gatling</groupId>
        <artifactId>gatling-maven-plugin</artifactId>
        <version>${gatling-maven-plugin.version}</version>
        <executions>
          <execution>
            <phase>test</phase>
            <goals>
              <goal>test</goal>
            </goals>
            <configuration>
              <configFolder>src/test/resources</configFolder>
              <resultsFolder>target/gatling/results</resultsFolder>
              <simulationClass>src/test/java/load/tests/simulations/TestData.java</simulationClass>
              <propagateSystemProperties>true</propagateSystemProperties>
            </configuration>
          </execution>
        </executions>
      </plugin>

```

When I try to execute the tests with command

```auto
mvn -e -Dgatling.simulationClass=load.tests.simulations.TestData

```

I get the below error

```auto
java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: src/test/java/load/tests/simulations/TestData.java

Wrapped by: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: User defined Simulation class src/test/java/load/tests/simulations/TestData.java could not be loaded
:
:
Caused by: org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoExecutionException: Gatling failed.
Caused by: io.gatling.plugin.util.Fork$ForkException

```

Could you please take a look and guide me to resolve the issue?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![slandelle](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.gatling.io/slandelle/32/4_2.png) [@slandelle](https://community.gatling.io/u/slandelle)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://community.gatling.io/t/gatling-maven-plugin-version-4-2-6-user-defined-simulationclass-could-not-be-loaded/7143/2 "2022-09-10T13:59:15Z")

</div>

Please read the [gatling-maven-plugin documentation](https://gatling.io/docs/gatling/reference/current/extensions/maven_plugin/).

`simulationClass` takes a Fully Qualified Class Name, not the relative location of the source file.

Why are you setting this incorrect value in your pom.xml? `<simulationClass>src/test/java/load/tests/simulations/TestData.java</simulationClass>`