Could not load Gradle version information

copied from https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-docs/issues/1462#issuecomment-407154201
Reported by @SevastianGioanca who cannot get the gradle installed.

java version 1.8.0_181
Ubuntu 18.04
Linux & Java newbie here...I'm having the same problem with the tutorial. I noticed the following pops up in the OUTPUT view (Language Support for Java) when first loading the project in VS Code:
``[Warn - 9:07:20 PM] Jul 23, 2018 9:07:19 PM Could not load Gradle version information
Cannot download published Gradle versions.
org.gradle.api.UncheckedIOException: Cannot download published Gradle versions.
at com.gradleware.tooling.toolingutils.distribution.PublishedGradleVersions.downloadVersionInformation(PublishedGradleVersions.java:175)
at com.gradleware.tooling.toolingutils.distribution.PublishedGradleVersions.tryToDownloadAndCacheVersions(PublishedGradleVersions.java:159)
at com.gradleware.tooling.toolingutils.distribution.PublishedGradleVersions.create(PublishedGradleVersions.java:119)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.util.gradle.PublishedGradleVersionsWrapper$LoadVersionsJob.run(PublishedGradleVersionsWrapper.java:66)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:60)
Caused by: javax.net.ssl.SSLException: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Alerts.java:208)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1964)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1921)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.handleException(SSLSocketImpl.java:1904)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1420)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1397)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(HttpsClient.java:559)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:185)
at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream0(HttpURLConnection.java:1564)
at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1492)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getInputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:263)
at com.gradleware.tooling.toolingutils.distribution.PublishedGradleVersions.downloadVersionInformation(PublishedGradleVersions.java:172)
... 4 more
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:91)
at sun.security.validator.Validator.getInstance(Validator.java:181)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.getValidator(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:312)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrustedInit(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:171)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:184)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:124)
at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.serverCertificate(ClientHandshaker.java:1596)
at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.processMessage(ClientHandshaker.java:216)
at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.processLoop(Handshaker.java:1052)
at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.process_record(Handshaker.java:987)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(SSLSocketImpl.java:1072)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1385)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1413)
... 11 more
Caused by: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.setTrustAnchors(PKIXParameters.java:200)
at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.(PKIXParameters.java:120)
at java.security.cert.PKIXBuilderParameters.(PKIXBuilderParameters.java:104)
at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:89)
... 23 more

[Error - 9:07:21 PM] Jul 23, 2018 9:07:19 PM Initialization failed
Could not install Gradle distribution from 'https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.6-bin.zip'.
org.gradle.tooling.GradleConnectionException: Could not install Gradle distribution from 'https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.6-bin.zip'.
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.DistributionFactory$ZippedDistribution.getToolingImplementationClasspath(DistributionFactory.java:137)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.loader.CachingToolingImplementationLoader.create(CachingToolingImplementationLoader.java:40)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.loader.SynchronizedToolingImplementationLoader.create(SynchronizedToolingImplementationLoader.java:43)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.connection.LazyConsumerActionExecutor.onStartAction(LazyConsumerActionExecutor.java:101)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.connection.LazyConsumerActionExecutor.run(LazyConsumerActionExecutor.java:83)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.connection.CancellableConsumerActionExecutor.run(CancellableConsumerActionExecutor.java:45)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.connection.ProgressLoggingConsumerActionExecutor.run(ProgressLoggingConsumerActionExecutor.java:58)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.connection.RethrowingErrorsConsumerActionExecutor.run(RethrowingErrorsConsumerActionExecutor.java:38)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.async.DefaultAsyncConsumerActionExecutor$1$1.run(DefaultAsyncConsumerActionExecutor.java:55)
at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ExecutorPolicy$CatchAndRecordFailures.onExecute(ExecutorPolicy.java:63)
at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ManagedExecutorImpl$1.run(ManagedExecutorImpl.java:46)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149)
at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624)
at org.gradle.internal.concurrent.ThreadFactoryImpl$ManagedThreadRunnable.run(ThreadFactoryImpl.java:55)
at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.BlockingResultHandler.getResult(BlockingResultHandler.java:46)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.DefaultModelBuilder.get(DefaultModelBuilder.java:50)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.DefaultProjectConnection.getModel(DefaultProjectConnection.java:41)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.workspace.internal.ConnectionAwareLauncherProxy.newModelBuilder(ConnectionAwareLauncherProxy.java:64)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.workspace.internal.DefaultModelProvider.fetchModel(DefaultModelProvider.java:68)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.workspace.internal.DefaultModelProvider.supportsCompositeBuilds(DefaultModelProvider.java:165)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.workspace.internal.DefaultModelProvider.fetchModels(DefaultModelProvider.java:75)
at org.eclipse.buildship.core.workspace.internal.DefaultModelProvider.fetchEclipseGradleProjects(DefaultModelProvider.java:99)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.GradleProjectImporter.startSynchronization(GradleProjectImporter.java:152)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.GradleProjectImporter.importDir(GradleProjectImporter.java:99)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.GradleProjectImporter.lambda$0(GradleProjectImporter.java:91)
at java.util.ArrayList.forEach(ArrayList.java:1257)
at java.util.Collections$UnmodifiableCollection.forEach(Collections.java:1080)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.GradleProjectImporter.importToWorkspace(GradleProjectImporter.java:91)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.ProjectsManager.importProjects(ProjectsManager.java:132)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.ProjectsManager.access$1(ProjectsManager.java:126)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.ProjectsManager$2.run(ProjectsManager.java:120)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.core.BatchOperation.executeOperation(BatchOperation.java:38)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.core.JavaModelOperation.run(JavaModelOperation.java:733)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Workspace.run(Workspace.java:2289)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.Workspace.run(Workspace.java:2316)
at org.eclipse.jdt.core.JavaCore.run(JavaCore.java:5733)
at org.eclipse.jdt.core.JavaCore.run(JavaCore.java:5690)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.managers.ProjectsManager.initializeProjects(ProjectsManager.java:113)
at org.eclipse.jdt.ls.core.internal.handlers.InitHandler$1.runInWorkspace(InitHandler.java:217)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.resources.InternalWorkspaceJob.run(InternalWorkspaceJob.java:39)
at org.eclipse.core.internal.jobs.Worker.run(Worker.java:60)
Caused by: javax.net.ssl.SSLException: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at sun.security.ssl.Alerts.getSSLException(Alerts.java:208)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1964)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.fatal(SSLSocketImpl.java:1921)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.handleException(SSLSocketImpl.java:1904)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1420)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1397)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsClient.afterConnect(HttpsClient.java:559)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.connect(AbstractDelegateHttpsURLConnection.java:185)
at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream0(HttpURLConnection.java:1564)
at sun.net.www.protocol.http.HttpURLConnection.getInputStream(HttpURLConnection.java:1492)
at sun.net.www.protocol.https.HttpsURLConnectionImpl.getInputStream(HttpsURLConnectionImpl.java:263)
at org.gradle.wrapper.Download.downloadInternal(Download.java:66)
at org.gradle.wrapper.Download.download(Download.java:51)
at org.gradle.tooling.internal.consumer.DistributionInstaller$1.run(DistributionInstaller.java:128)
Caused by: java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:91)
at sun.security.validator.Validator.getInstance(Validator.java:181)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.getValidator(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:312)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrustedInit(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:171)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:184)
at sun.security.ssl.X509TrustManagerImpl.checkServerTrusted(X509TrustManagerImpl.java:124)
at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.serverCertificate(ClientHandshaker.java:1596)
at sun.security.ssl.ClientHandshaker.processMessage(ClientHandshaker.java:216)
at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.processLoop(Handshaker.java:1052)
at sun.security.ssl.Handshaker.process_record(Handshaker.java:987)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.readRecord(SSLSocketImpl.java:1072)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.performInitialHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1385)
at sun.security.ssl.SSLSocketImpl.startHandshake(SSLSocketImpl.java:1413)
... 9 more
Caused by: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.setTrustAnchors(PKIXParameters.java:200)
at java.security.cert.PKIXParameters.(PKIXParameters.java:120)
at java.security.cert.PKIXBuilderParameters.(PKIXBuilderParameters.java:104)
at sun.security.validator.PKIXValidator.(PKIXValidator.java:89)
... 21 more

Reproduce the Ubuntu 18.04 and Java 8 setup, then trace the Gradle import through GradleProjectImporter and the published-version download reported in the stack trace. Confirm that the project initializes and the Gradle distribution loads without the trustAnchors error.