One time NPE when running build

A build failed on a CI server with a script that hasn’t changed in a long time. Gradle 1.2.

Line 130 of java-common.gradle is

apply plugin: ‘checkstyle’

  • David
FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.
  * Where:
Script '/tmp/hudson/workspace/job/gradle/java-common.gradle' line: 130
  * What went wrong:
A problem occurred evaluating script.
> java.lang.NullPointerException (no error message)
  * Try:
Run with --debug option to get more log output.
  * Exception is:
org.gradle.api.GradleScriptException: A problem occurred evaluating script.
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.internal.DefaultScriptRunnerFactory$ScriptRunnerImpl.run(DefaultScriptRunnerFactory.java:54)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultScriptPluginFactory$ScriptPluginImpl.apply(DefaultScriptPluginFactory.java:127)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.applyScript(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:82)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.access$000(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:32)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction$1.run(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:54)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.execute(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:114)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.DefaultScript.apply(DefaultScript.java:87)
 at org.gradle.api.Script$apply.callCurrent(Unknown Source)
 at java_5pr5sok44ie2bn49attme0q7hu.run(/tmp/hudson/workspace/job/gradle/java.gradle:23)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.internal.DefaultScriptRunnerFactory$ScriptRunnerImpl.run(DefaultScriptRunnerFactory.java:52)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultScriptPluginFactory$ScriptPluginImpl.apply(DefaultScriptPluginFactory.java:127)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.applyScript(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:82)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.access$000(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:32)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction$1.run(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:54)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.execute(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:114)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.apply(AbstractProject.java:841)
 at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor215.invoke(Unknown Source)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:90)
 at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:233)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:361)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:877)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.PogoMetaClassSite.callCurrent(PogoMetaClassSite.java:66)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.callCurrent(AbstractCallSite.java:141)
 at build_6l1ust2cqnpr5jsq5vbkqf92jc$_run_closure1.doCall(/tmp/hudson/workspace/job/build.gradle:44)
 at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor214.invoke(Unknown Source)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:90)
 at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:233)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.metaclass.ClosureMetaClass.invokeMethod(ClosureMetaClass.java:272)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:877)
 at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:412)
 at groovy.lang.Closure.call(Closure.java:425)
 at org.gradle.util.ConfigureUtil.configure(ConfigureUtil.java:141)
 at org.gradle.util.ConfigureUtil.configure(ConfigureUtil.java:90)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.configure(AbstractProject.java:861)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.configure(AbstractProject.java:866)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:90)
 at groovy.lang.MetaMethod.doMethodInvoke(MetaMethod.java:233)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1047)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:877)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.BeanDynamicObject$MetaClassAdapter.invokeMethod(BeanDynamicObject.java:216)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.BeanDynamicObject.invokeMethod(BeanDynamicObject.java:122)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.CompositeDynamicObject.invokeMethod(CompositeDynamicObject.java:147)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.BasicScript.methodMissing(BasicScript.java:83)
 at sun.reflect.GeneratedMethodAccessor27.invoke(Unknown Source)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.reflection.CachedMethod.invoke(CachedMethod.java:90)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMissingMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:804)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokePropertyOrMissing(MetaClassImpl.java:1096)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:1049)
 at groovy.lang.MetaClassImpl.invokeMethod(MetaClassImpl.java:877)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.PogoMetaClassSite.callCurrent(PogoMetaClassSite.java:66)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.CallSiteArray.defaultCallCurrent(CallSiteArray.java:46)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.callCurrent(AbstractCallSite.java:133)
 at org.codehaus.groovy.runtime.callsite.AbstractCallSite.callCurrent(AbstractCallSite.java:145)
 at build_6l1ust2cqnpr5jsq5vbkqf92jc.run(/tmp/hudson/workspace/job/build.gradle:43)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.internal.DefaultScriptRunnerFactory$ScriptRunnerImpl.run(DefaultScriptRunnerFactory.java:52)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultScriptPluginFactory$ScriptPluginImpl.apply(DefaultScriptPluginFactory.java:127)
 at org.gradle.configuration.BuildScriptProcessor.evaluate(BuildScriptProcessor.java:38)
 at org.gradle.configuration.LifecycleProjectEvaluator.evaluate(LifecycleProjectEvaluator.java:43)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.evaluate(AbstractProject.java:463)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.evaluate(AbstractProject.java:75)
 at org.gradle.configuration.ProjectEvaluationConfigurer.execute(ProjectEvaluationConfigurer.java:23)
 at org.gradle.configuration.ProjectEvaluationConfigurer.execute(ProjectEvaluationConfigurer.java:21)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultBuildConfigurer$1.execute(DefaultBuildConfigurer.java:38)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultBuildConfigurer$1.execute(DefaultBuildConfigurer.java:35)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.configure(AbstractProject.java:439)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.project.AbstractProject.allprojects(AbstractProject.java:434)
 at org.gradle.configuration.DefaultBuildConfigurer.configure(DefaultBuildConfigurer.java:35)
 at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.doBuildStages(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:142)
 at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.doBuild(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:113)
 at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.run(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:81)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExecuteBuildAction.run(ExecuteBuildAction.java:38)
 at org.gradle.launcher.exec.InProcessGradleLauncherActionExecuter.execute(InProcessGradleLauncherActionExecuter.java:39)
 at org.gradle.launcher.exec.InProcessGradleLauncherActionExecuter.execute(InProcessGradleLauncherActionExecuter.java:25)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.RunBuildAction.run(RunBuildAction.java:50)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ActionAdapter.execute(ActionAdapter.java:30)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ActionAdapter.execute(ActionAdapter.java:22)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$ParseAndBuildAction.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:200)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$ParseAndBuildAction.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:173)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$WithLogging.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:169)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$WithLogging.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:138)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExceptionReportingAction.execute(ExceptionReportingAction.java:33)
 at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExceptionReportingAction.execute(ExceptionReportingAction.java:22)
 at org.gradle.launcher.Main.doAction(Main.java:48)
 at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.EntryPoint.run(EntryPoint.java:45)
 at org.gradle.launcher.Main.main(Main.java:39)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.ProcessBootstrap.runNoExit(ProcessBootstrap.java:50)
 at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.ProcessBootstrap.run(ProcessBootstrap.java:32)
 at org.gradle.launcher.GradleMain.main(GradleMain.java:26)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
 at org.gradle.wrapper.BootstrapMainStarter.start(BootstrapMainStarter.java:33)
 at org.gradle.wrapper.WrapperExecutor.execute(WrapperExecutor.java:130)
 at org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain.main(GradleWrapperMain.java:48)
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
 at org.gradle.api.internal.ClassGeneratorBackedInstantiator.newInstance(ClassGeneratorBackedInstantiator.java:36)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.configurations.DefaultConfigurationContainer.doCreate(DefaultConfigurationContainer.java:61)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.configurations.DefaultConfigurationContainer.doCreate(DefaultConfigurationContainer.java:36)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.AbstractNamedDomainObjectContainer.create(AbstractNamedDomainObjectContainer.java:46)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.AbstractNamedDomainObjectContainer.create(AbstractNamedDomainObjectContainer.java:41)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.configurations.DefaultConfigurationContainer.add(DefaultConfigurationContainer.java:71)
 at org.gradle.api.artifacts.ConfigurationContainer$add.call(Unknown Source)
 at org.gradle.api.plugins.quality.internal.AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.createConfigurations(AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.groovy:67)
 at org.gradle.api.plugins.quality.internal.AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.apply(AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.groovy:35)
 at org.gradle.api.plugins.quality.internal.AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.apply(AbstractCodeQualityPlugin.groovy)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.providePlugin(DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.java:107)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.addPluginInternal(DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.java:71)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.apply(DefaultProjectsPluginContainer.java:37)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.applyPlugin(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:101)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.access$200(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:32)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction$3.run(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:72)
 at org.gradle.api.internal.plugins.DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.execute(DefaultObjectConfigurationAction.java:114)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.DefaultScript.apply(DefaultScript.java:87)
 at org.gradle.api.Script$apply.callCurrent(Unknown Source)
 at java_common_43b44dcvdqvk9k6al1lpddfkjm.run(/tmp/hudson/workspace/job/gradle/java-common.gradle:130)
 at org.gradle.groovy.scripts.internal.DefaultScriptRunnerFactory$ScriptRunnerImpl.run(DefaultScriptRunnerFactory.java:52)
 ... 108 more
    BUILD FAILED

This is no longer a one time occurrence.

Same basic scenario, this time the offending line was a different ‘apply plugin’ statement (for eclipse-wtp).

Anyone else having this problem? Any idea on what might be causing it, or how to prevent it from happening?

Thanks, David