Allow overriding the default Gradle library repository through a new system property

[akiraly]

Expected Behavior

Allow overriding the default Gradle library repository through a new system property system property - for example called org.gradle.internal.gradle.libs.repo.override. Previously overriding was only possible through the GRADLE_LIBS_REPO_OVERRIDE environment variable.

The system property can be more useful because it can be defined in the build itself (either through gradle.properties or programmatically)

Current Behavior (optional)

Currently overriding is only possible through the GRADLE_LIBS_REPO_OVERRIDE environment variable. This is not ideal because it has to communicated and setup/maintained manually by each team member on his/her machine.

Context

IDE-s (like Intellij) automatically try to download the library files in certain situations (for example when using convenience plugins). The IDE will hang for hours (!) when the default library url is not accessible (for example behind a corporate firewall).

This new system property can be useful for every project which needs to override the default Gradle library repository (typical in corporate settings, behind a firm firewall). While the environment variable works it is not convenient: each developer has to define the environment variable manually in his/her dev environment. The system property is more practical because it can be defined inside the build and kept together with the rest of the build configuration in the source repository.

Additional information: I already opened a PoC PR (#26743) for this but maybe I should have started with an issue first, hence why I am submitting this now.

[cobexer]

Thank you for your interest in Gradle!

This issue will be closed as a duplicate of

• Central configuration option for GRADLE_LIBS_REPO_OVERRIDE #25840

Please add your use case and 👍 to that issue.

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