Add task to download protoc (protobuf compiler) to root-level build/ directory

build.gradle

@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+plugins {
+    id "com.google.osdetector" version "1.4.0"
+}
 
 subprojects { proj ->
     proj.afterEvaluate {
@@ -8,3 +11,44 @@ subprojects { proj ->
         }
     }
 }
+
+// Script to create a copy of the protobuf compiler jar in the top-level build directory
+// (will make it easier to configure the intellij protobuf plugin)
+repositories {
+    mavenLocal();
+    mavenCentral();
+}
+
+
+project.ext.protocLocation = 'com.google.protobuf:protoc:3.+'
+
+// Copied from Google's protobuf plugin code
+File getProtocDep(protocLocation) {
+    // create a project configuration dependency for the artifact
+    Configuration config = project.configurations.create("protobufToolsLocator") {
+        visible = false
+        transitive = false
+        extendsFrom = []
+    }
+
+    def groupId, artifact, version
+    (groupId, artifact, version) = protocLocation.split(":")
+    def notation = [group: groupId,
+                    name: artifact,
+                    version: version,
+                    classifier: project.osdetector.classifier,
+                    ext: 'exe']
+    Dependency dep = project.dependencies.add(config.name, notation)
+
+    File file = config.fileCollection(dep).singleFile
+
+    return file
+}
+
+
+task getprotoc(type: Copy) {
+    from getProtocDep(project.ext.protocLocation)
+    rename { file -> return "protoc" }
+    into "${buildDir}/"
+}
+