SonarSource/sonarqube · error · GradleException

sonar.properties file by default must not provide any user…

Error message

sonar.properties file by default must not provide any user configuration.

What it means

The verifySonarProperties task checks that the packaged default conf/sonar.properties in sonar-application contains only comments and blank lines. SonarQube ships a clean default config; any uncommented user setting in that source file aborts the build with this GradleException.

Solutions

Revert sonar.properties to comments-only: prefix any active setting with '#'
Test configuration on your installed instance's conf/sonar.properties, not the packaged template
If a default must change intentionally, update the verification task/build expectations deliberately, keeping the shipped file commented

Example fix

// before (sonar.properties)
sonar.web.port=9001
// after (sonar.properties)
#sonar.web.port=9001

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// shell: fail fast if shipped sonar.properties has active lines
grep -vE '^\s*(#|$)' sonar-application/src/main/assembly/conf/sonar.properties \
  && { echo "sonar.properties must contain only comments"; exit 1; } || true

Prevention

Never uncomment lines in the packaged conf/sonar.properties template
Configure real instances via their own conf/sonar.properties, not the source template
Review diffs to sonar.properties before committing — every line must start with '#' or be empty

When it happens

Trigger: Editing src/main/assembly/conf/sonar.properties and adding a non-comment, non-empty line (e.g. uncommenting sonar.jdbc.username=... or sonar.web.port=...), then running a build that depends on verifySonarProperties.

Common situations: Developers editing the shipped default file to test configuration instead of their local instance's conf; accidentally uncommenting a line while reading the template; automated scripts rewriting the file.

Understand the failure class

Background: "Invalid value" and "allowed values are" config errors: what your library rejected and how to fix it — this error's family across 41 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of SonarSource/sonarqube@184c821202 (2026-09-09). Data as JSON: /api/errors/952b5edb29295c87. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at sonar-application/build.gradle:101

    jdbc_mssql 'com.microsoft.sqlserver:mssql-jdbc'
    jdbc_mssql_entra 'com.microsoft.azure:msal4j'
    jdbc_postgresql 'org.postgresql:postgresql'

    webapp 'org.sonarsource.sonarqube:webapp-assets'

}

// declare dependencies in configuration bundledPlugin to be packaged in lib/extensions
apply from: 'bundled_plugins.gradle'

//verify if sonar.properties files does not have any external input
task verifySonarProperties(type: Verify) {
  def propertiesFile = file('src/main/assembly/conf/sonar.properties')
  propertiesFile.withReader { reader ->
    def line
    while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
      if (!line.startsWith('#') && !line.isEmpty()) {
        throw new GradleException('sonar.properties file by default must not provide any user configuration.')
      }
    }
  }
}


tasks.register('generateLicenseReport', WriteDependencyLicensesTask) {
  configurationName = 'appLicenses'
  outputDir = layout.buildDirectory.dir('reports/dependency-license')
}

tasks.register('downloadJres') {
  inputs.file(layout.projectDirectory.dir('src/main/resources/jres-metadata.json').asFile).withPathSensitivity(PathSensitivity.RELATIVE)
  outputs.dir(layout.buildDirectory.file('jres'))
  outputs.cacheIf { true }

  doFirst {
    // Clean the output directory before downloading so stale JREs from previous versions don't accumulate.

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