Force Bazel to use local java only - bazel

Question

I'd like to use bazel in a locked-down environment, one without uncontrolled internet access. I'd like to force bazel to use the locally installed java, instead of downloading one. I could not figure out the required combination of flags - this is what I tried:
$ java -version
java version "1.8.0_171"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_171-b11)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.171-b11, mixed mode)
$ javac -version
javac 1.8.0_171
$ bazel clean --expunge
$ bazel info release
release 0.24.1
$ bazel build //hello
# This builds a 'hello world' cpp file.
# This rule also downloads some rules, would be nice to avoid it as
INFO: Build completed successfully, 6 total actions well
$ bazel test --nofetch //hello:hello_test
ERROR: /home/erenon/.cache/bazel/_bazel_erenon/afacf41c7e3fc3f4ea7510d344b4de38/external/bazel_tools/tools/jdk/BUILD:218:1: no such package '#remote_java_tools//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #remote_java_tools not found and fetching repositories is disabled. and referenced by '#bazel_tools//tools/jdk:JacocoCoverageRunner'
ERROR: Analysis of target '//hello:hello_test' failed; build aborted: no such package '#remote_java_tools//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #remote_java_tools not found and fetching repositories is disabled.
INFO: Elapsed time: 0.160s
INFO: 0 processes.
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (3 packages loaded, 27 targets configured)
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (3 packages loaded, 27 targets configured)
I get the same results with a more intricate command line:
$ bazel test --nofetch --define=ABSOLUTE_JAVABASE=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64 --host_javabase=#local_jdk//:jdk --javabase=#local_jdk//:jdk --host_java_toolchain=#bazel_tools//tools/jdk:toolchain_hostjdk8 --java_toolchain=#bazel_tools//tools/jdk:toolchain_hostjdk8 //hello:hello_test
INFO: Build options --define, --host_java_toolchain, --host_javabase, and 2 more have changed, discarding analysis cache.
ERROR: /home/erenon/.cache/bazel/_bazel_erenon/afacf41c7e3fc3f4ea7510d344b4de38/external/bazel_tools/tools/jdk/BUILD:218:1: no such package '#remote_java_tools//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #remote_java_tools not found and fetching repositories is disabled. and referenced by '#bazel_tools//tools/jdk:JacocoCoverageRunner'
ERROR: Analysis of target '//hello:hello_test' failed; build aborted: no such package '#remote_java_tools//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #remote_java_tools not found and fetching repositories is disabled.
INFO: Elapsed time: 0.215s
INFO: 0 processes.
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (0 packages loaded, 50 targets configured)
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (0 packages loaded, 50 targets configured)
I tried every combination of the java flags, no luck. I also tried to enable every incompatible change (--all_incompatible_changes), which yields to a different result:
INFO: Build options --incompatible_allow_python_version_transitions, --incompatible_auto_configure_host_platform, --incompatible_cc_coverage, and 24 more have changed, discarding analysis cache.
ERROR: While resolving toolchains for target //hello:hello_test: com.google.devtools.build.lib.packages.BuildFileNotFoundException: no such package '#local_config_platform//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #local_config_platform not found and fetching repositories is disabled.
ERROR: Analysis of target '//hello:hello_test' failed; build aborted: com.google.devtools.build.lib.packages.BuildFileNotFoundException: no such package '#local_config_platform//': to fix, run
bazel fetch //...
External repository #local_config_platform not found and fetching repositories is disabled.
INFO: Elapsed time: 0.228s
INFO: 0 processes.
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (1 packages loaded, 0 targets configured)
FAILED: Build did NOT complete successfully (1 packages loaded, 0 targets configured)
It now looks for #local_config_platform.
Is there a bazel target which I can build from source and includes these dependencies?
Is there a different command line, which enables bazel test --nofetch?

Answer 1

It appear that bootstrapping bazel from source can solve the issue. After downloading bazel-<version>-dist.zip from GitHub, in the unzipped folder:
env EXTRA_BAZEL_ARGS="--host_javabase=#local_jdk//:jdk" bash ./compile.sh
The compiled output is placed into output/bazel. This is a self-contained Bazel binary, without an embedded JDK.
https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/install-compile-source.html