Gradle still downloads dependencies already available in local repo

Question

I have set gradle up to use a local maven repository (gmaven_stable file) using the "offline.gradle" file method in the ".gradle\init.d" directory.

I constantly update the local maven repo with already downloaded files in the gradle dependency cache (.gradle\caches\modules-2\files-2.1).

However, I have realized that gradle still downloads some dependencies during "gradle sync" and "compile time" most of which I am already having in my local maven repo. Dependencies like "junit" , "google play services" and many others are always downloaded whenever I hit "Build" or "Run" button in Android Studio.

I would much appreciate if I would be guided to stop this behaviour in gradle. I am spending a lot of time gathering dependencies to build my local maven repo because of low and costly internet access in my area. It is quite annoying whenever that scarce internet I have access to is used by "Gradle" to re-download those dependencies I have already cached in my local maven repo.

Answer 1

Gradle has a built-in option that will avoid network access:

The --offline command line switch tells Gradle to always use dependency modules from the cache, regardless if they are due to be checked again. When running with offline, Gradle will never attempt to access the network to perform dependency resolution. If required modules are not present in the dependency cache, build execution will fail.

https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/dynamic_versions.html#sec:offline-mode

I constantly update the local maven repo with already downloaded files in the gradle dependency cache (.gradle\caches\modules-2\files-2.1).

You should not be manually messing with Gradle's internal cache folder. Instead, you place your JARs in a folder else where you can access them such as your home directory. Then, you can configure a flat directory repository:

repositories {
    flatDir {
        dirs("mylibs")
    }

}

https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/declaring_repositories.html#sub:flat_dir_resolver

You will also need to download and define various Gradle plugins that are used in your project as well and configure them the same way as the application repositories:

// settings.gradle.kts

pluginManagement {
    repositories {
        flatDir {
            dirs("mylibs")
        }
    }
}