Reproducing sample for http://forums.gradle.org/gradle/topics/failed_to_connect_to_daemon_in_test_code

build.gradle

import org.gradle.tooling.*

buildscript {
    repositories {
        mavenCentral()
        maven {
            url 'http://repo.gradle.org/gradle/libs-releases-local'
        }
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'org.gradle:gradle-tooling-api:1.6'
    }
}

String jreHomeInJdk = 'C:\\Program Files\\Java\\jdk1.6.0_29\\jre'

task jdkTask {
  doLast {
      ProjectConnection connection = GradleConnector.newConnector().forProjectDirectory(projectDir).connect()
      try {
          def builder = connection.model(org.gradle.tooling.model.idea.IdeaProject)
          builder.setJavaHome(new File(jreHomeInJdk))
          println builder.get()
      } finally {
          connection.close()
      }
  }
}