build.gradle

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:2.3.3'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        maven {
            url "https://maven.google.com"
        }

    }
}

// helper method to make the server start in background
// required, as the running the server would block the
// task, details see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31434928/android-gradle-task-google-appengine
task startServerInBackground(dependsOn: ':joke_backend:appengineRun'){
    description 'starts the server in background mode'
    project(":joke_backend").afterEvaluate { backend ->
        backend.extensions.appengine.daemon = true
    }
}

task testOnServer(){
    description 'starts the backend server in background, runs the instrumented android tests, and shuts down the server'
    dependsOn('startServerInBackground')
    dependsOn(':app:connectedAndroidTest')
    dependsOn(':joke_backend:appengineStop')
}

// specify the order of tasks
tasks.getByPath(':app:connectedAndroidTest').mustRunAfter startServerInBackground
tasks.getByPath(':joke_backend:appengineStop').mustRunAfter(':app:connectedAndroidTest')