settingsFile << "include 'a', 'b', 'c'"
        file('a/build.gradle') << """
            configurations { conf }
            dependencies { conf project(path: ":b", configuration: "conf") }
            task resolveConf {
                doLast {
                    //resolves at execution time, forcing 'b' to get configured
                    configurations.conf.files
                }
            }
        """