diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionArchiveSetupPlugin.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionArchiveSetupPlugin.java
index 182c8145b0db2..a633d16667646 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionArchiveSetupPlugin.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/InternalDistributionArchiveSetupPlugin.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import org.gradle.api.NamedDomainObjectContainer;
 import org.gradle.api.Project;
 import org.gradle.api.artifacts.type.ArtifactTypeDefinition;
+import org.gradle.api.attributes.Attribute;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.BasePlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.tasks.AbstractCopyTask;
 import org.gradle.api.tasks.Sync;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ public class InternalDistributionArchiveSetupPlugin implements InternalPlugin {
 
     public static final String DEFAULT_CONFIGURATION_NAME = "default";
     public static final String EXTRACTED_CONFIGURATION_NAME = "extracted";
+    public static final String COMPOSITE_CONFIGURATION_NAME = "composite";
     private NamedDomainObjectContainer<DistributionArchive> container;
 
     @Override
@@ -75,6 +77,12 @@ private void registerAndConfigureDistributionArchivesExtension(Project project)
                 extractedConfiguration.setCanBeResolved(false);
                 extractedConfiguration.getAttributes().attribute(ARTIFACT_FORMAT, ArtifactTypeDefinition.DIRECTORY_TYPE);
                 sub.getArtifacts().add(EXTRACTED_CONFIGURATION_NAME, distributionArchive.getExpandedDistTask());
+                // The "composite" configuration is specifically used for resolving transformed artifacts in an included build
+                var compositeConfiguration = sub.getConfigurations().create(COMPOSITE_CONFIGURATION_NAME);
+                compositeConfiguration.setCanBeResolved(false);
+                compositeConfiguration.getAttributes().attribute(ARTIFACT_FORMAT, ArtifactTypeDefinition.DIRECTORY_TYPE);
+                compositeConfiguration.getAttributes().attribute(Attribute.of("composite", Boolean.class), true);
+                sub.getArtifacts().add(COMPOSITE_CONFIGURATION_NAME, distributionArchive.getArchiveTask());
                 sub.getTasks().register("extractedAssemble", task ->
                 // We keep extracted configuration resolvable false to keep
                 // resolveAllDependencies simple so we rely only on its build dependencies here.
diff --git a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
index 8458ffe3e7fe4..1be66342c3e95 100644
--- a/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
+++ b/build-tools-internal/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/internal/test/DistroTestPlugin.java
@@ -13,20 +13,20 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.ElasticsearchDistribution;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.ElasticsearchDistribution.Platform;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.ElasticsearchDistributionType;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.Jdk;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.JdkDownloadPlugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.Version;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.VersionProperties;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.InternalDistributionDownloadPlugin;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.Jdk;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.JdkDownloadPlugin;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.conventions.GUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.conventions.util.Util;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.docker.DockerSupportPlugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.docker.DockerSupportService;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.info.BuildParams;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.InternalDistributionDownloadPlugin;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.SystemPropertyCommandLineArgumentProvider;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.util.GradleUtils;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.conventions.util.Util;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.vagrant.VagrantBasePlugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.vagrant.VagrantExtension;
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.conventions.GUtils;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.test.SystemPropertyCommandLineArgumentProvider;
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.util.GradleUtils;
 import org.gradle.api.Action;
 import org.gradle.api.NamedDomainObjectContainer;
 import org.gradle.api.Plugin;
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
 import org.gradle.api.Task;
 import org.gradle.api.artifacts.Configuration;
 import org.gradle.api.artifacts.dsl.DependencyHandler;
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.type.ArtifactTypeDefinition;
+import org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.ArtifactAttributes;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.JavaBasePlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.provider.Provider;
 import org.gradle.api.specs.Specs;
@@ -310,9 +312,9 @@ private static Object convertPath(
 
     private static Configuration configureExamplePlugin(Project project) {
         Configuration examplePlugin = project.getConfigurations().create(EXAMPLE_PLUGIN_CONFIGURATION);
+        examplePlugin.getAttributes().attribute(ArtifactAttributes.ARTIFACT_FORMAT, ArtifactTypeDefinition.ZIP_TYPE);
         DependencyHandler deps = project.getDependencies();
-        Map<String, String> examplePluginProject = Map.of("path", ":example-plugins:custom-settings", "configuration", "zip");
-        deps.add(EXAMPLE_PLUGIN_CONFIGURATION, deps.project(examplePluginProject));
+        deps.add(EXAMPLE_PLUGIN_CONFIGURATION, deps.create("org.elasticsearch.examples:custom-settings:1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"));
         return examplePlugin;
     }
 
diff --git a/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.java b/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.java
index fa7cc4d5beb25..3bd9860f2d0fd 100644
--- a/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.java
+++ b/build-tools/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/gradle/plugin/PluginBuildPlugin.java
@@ -29,7 +29,10 @@
 import org.gradle.api.Project;
 import org.gradle.api.Task;
 import org.gradle.api.Transformer;
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.Configuration;
+import org.gradle.api.artifacts.type.ArtifactTypeDefinition;
 import org.gradle.api.file.RegularFile;
+import org.gradle.api.internal.artifacts.ArtifactAttributes;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.BasePlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.JavaPlugin;
 import org.gradle.api.plugins.JavaPluginExtension;
@@ -238,7 +241,8 @@ public Object doCall() {
         project.getTasks().named(BasePlugin.ASSEMBLE_TASK_NAME).configure(task -> task.dependsOn(bundle));
 
         // also make the zip available as a configuration (used when depending on this project)
-        project.getConfigurations().create("zip");
+        Configuration configuration = project.getConfigurations().create("zip");
+        configuration.getAttributes().attribute(ArtifactAttributes.ARTIFACT_FORMAT, ArtifactTypeDefinition.ZIP_TYPE);
         project.getArtifacts().add("zip", bundle);
 
         return bundle;
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 05b492be8043d..62fc02dc75d02 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -167,12 +167,14 @@ if (project.gradle.startParameter.taskNames.find { it.startsWith("checkPart") }
   bwc_tests_enabled = false
 }
 
-allprojects {
+subprojects {
   // common maven publishing configuration
   group = 'org.elasticsearch'
   version = VersionProperties.elasticsearch
   description = "Elasticsearch subproject ${project.path}"
+}
 
+allprojects {
   // We disable this plugin for now till we shaked out the issues we see
   // e.g. see https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/72169
   // apply plugin:'elasticsearch.internal-test-rerun'
@@ -367,6 +369,7 @@ tasks.register("branchConsistency") {
 }
 
 tasks.named("wrapper").configure {
+  dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('example-plugins').task(':wrapper')
   distributionType = 'ALL'
   doLast {
     final DistributionLocator locator = new DistributionLocator()
@@ -407,11 +410,13 @@ gradle.projectsEvaluated {
 tasks.named("precommit") {
   dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('build-tools').task(':precommit')
   dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('build-tools-internal').task(':precommit')
+  dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('example-plugins').task(':precommit')
 }
 
 tasks.named("checkPart1").configure {
   dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('build-tools').task(':check')
   dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('build-tools-internal').task(':check')
+  dependsOn gradle.includedBuild('example-plugins').task(':check')
 }
 
 tasks.named("assemble").configure {
diff --git a/plugins/examples/NOTICE.txt b/plugins/examples/NOTICE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..449dd78db87c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/NOTICE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+Elasticsearch
+Copyright 2009-2021 Elasticsearch
+
+This product includes software developed by The Apache Software
+Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
+
+This product includes software developed by
+Joda.org (http://www.joda.org/).
diff --git a/plugins/examples/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt b/plugins/examples/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5851192fd8d4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,655 @@
+                     Server Side Public License
+                     VERSION 1, OCTOBER 16, 2018
+
+                    Copyright © 2018 MongoDB, Inc.
+
+  Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this
+  license document, but changing it is not allowed.
+
+                       TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+  0. Definitions.
+
+  “This License” refers to Server Side Public License.
+
+  “Copyright” also means copyright-like laws that apply to other kinds of
+  works, such as semiconductor masks.
+
+  “The Program” refers to any copyrightable work licensed under this
+  License.  Each licensee is addressed as “you”. “Licensees” and
+  “recipients” may be individuals or organizations.
+
+  To “modify” a work means to copy from or adapt all or part of the work in
+  a fashion requiring copyright permission, other than the making of an
+  exact copy. The resulting work is called a “modified version” of the
+  earlier work or a work “based on” the earlier work.
+
+  A “covered work” means either the unmodified Program or a work based on
+  the Program.
+
+  To “propagate” a work means to do anything with it that, without
+  permission, would make you directly or secondarily liable for
+  infringement under applicable copyright law, except executing it on a
+  computer or modifying a private copy. Propagation includes copying,
+  distribution (with or without modification), making available to the
+  public, and in some countries other activities as well.
+
+  To “convey” a work means any kind of propagation that enables other
+  parties to make or receive copies. Mere interaction with a user through a
+  computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.
+
+  An interactive user interface displays “Appropriate Legal Notices” to the
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+
+    a) The work must carry prominent notices stating that you modified it,
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+    requirement modifies the requirement in section 4 to “keep intact all
+    notices”.
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+  compliance by third parties with this License.
+
+  An “entity transaction” is a transaction transferring control of an
+  organization, or substantially all assets of one, or subdividing an
+  organization, or merging organizations. If propagation of a covered work
+  results from an entity transaction, each party to that transaction who
+  receives a copy of the work also receives whatever licenses to the work
+  the party's predecessor in interest had or could give under the previous
+  paragraph, plus a right to possession of the Corresponding Source of the
+  work from the predecessor in interest, if the predecessor has it or can
+  get it with reasonable efforts.
+
+  You may not impose any further restrictions on the exercise of the rights
+  granted or affirmed under this License. For example, you may not impose a
+  license fee, royalty, or other charge for exercise of rights granted
+  under this License, and you may not initiate litigation (including a
+  cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that any patent claim
+  is infringed by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing
+  the Program or any portion of it.
+
+  11. Patents.
+
+  A “contributor” is a copyright holder who authorizes use under this
+  License of the Program or a work on which the Program is based. The work
+  thus licensed is called the contributor's “contributor version”.
+
+  A contributor's “essential patent claims” are all patent claims owned or
+  controlled by the contributor, whether already acquired or hereafter
+  acquired, that would be infringed by some manner, permitted by this
+  License, of making, using, or selling its contributor version, but do not
+  include claims that would be infringed only as a consequence of further
+  modification of the contributor version. For purposes of this definition,
+  “control” includes the right to grant patent sublicenses in a manner
+  consistent with the requirements of this License.
+
+  Each contributor grants you a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free
+  patent license under the contributor's essential patent claims, to make,
+  use, sell, offer for sale, import and otherwise run, modify and propagate
+  the contents of its contributor version.
+
+  In the following three paragraphs, a “patent license” is any express
+  agreement or commitment, however denominated, not to enforce a patent
+  (such as an express permission to practice a patent or covenant not to
+  sue for patent infringement). To “grant” such a patent license to a party
+  means to make such an agreement or commitment not to enforce a patent
+  against the party.
+
+  If you convey a covered work, knowingly relying on a patent license, and
+  the Corresponding Source of the work is not available for anyone to copy,
+  free of charge and under the terms of this License, through a publicly
+  available network server or other readily accessible means, then you must
+  either (1) cause the Corresponding Source to be so available, or (2)
+  arrange to deprive yourself of the benefit of the patent license for this
+  particular work, or (3) arrange, in a manner consistent with the
+  requirements of this License, to extend the patent license to downstream
+  recipients. “Knowingly relying” means you have actual knowledge that, but
+  for the patent license, your conveying the covered work in a country, or
+  your recipient's use of the covered work in a country, would infringe
+  one or more identifiable patents in that country that you have reason
+  to believe are valid.
+
+  If, pursuant to or in connection with a single transaction or
+  arrangement, you convey, or propagate by procuring conveyance of, a
+  covered work, and grant a patent license to some of the parties receiving
+  the covered work authorizing them to use, propagate, modify or convey a
+  specific copy of the covered work, then the patent license you grant is
+  automatically extended to all recipients of the covered work and works
+  based on it.
+
+  A patent license is “discriminatory” if it does not include within the
+  scope of its coverage, prohibits the exercise of, or is conditioned on
+  the non-exercise of one or more of the rights that are specifically
+  granted under this License. You may not convey a covered work if you are
+  a party to an arrangement with a third party that is in the business of
+  distributing software, under which you make payment to the third party
+  based on the extent of your activity of conveying the work, and under
+  which the third party grants, to any of the parties who would receive the
+  covered work from you, a discriminatory patent license (a) in connection
+  with copies of the covered work conveyed by you (or copies made from
+  those copies), or (b) primarily for and in connection with specific
+  products or compilations that contain the covered work, unless you
+  entered into that arrangement, or that patent license was granted, prior
+  to 28 March 2007.
+
+  Nothing in this License shall be construed as excluding or limiting any
+  implied license or other defenses to infringement that may otherwise be
+  available to you under applicable patent law.
+
+  12. No Surrender of Others' Freedom.
+
+  If conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or
+  otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not
+  excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot use,
+  propagate or convey a covered work so as to satisfy simultaneously your
+  obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then
+  as a consequence you may not use, propagate or convey it at all. For
+  example, if you agree to terms that obligate you to collect a royalty for
+  further conveying from those to whom you convey the Program, the only way
+  you could satisfy both those terms and this License would be to refrain
+  entirely from conveying the Program.
+
+  13. Offering the Program as a Service.
+
+  If you make the functionality of the Program or a modified version
+  available to third parties as a service, you must make the Service Source
+  Code available via network download to everyone at no charge, under the
+  terms of this License. Making the functionality of the Program or
+  modified version available to third parties as a service includes,
+  without limitation, enabling third parties to interact with the
+  functionality of the Program or modified version remotely through a
+  computer network, offering a service the value of which entirely or
+  primarily derives from the value of the Program or modified version, or
+  offering a service that accomplishes for users the primary purpose of the
+  Program or modified version.
+
+  “Service Source Code” means the Corresponding Source for the Program or
+  the modified version, and the Corresponding Source for all programs that
+  you use to make the Program or modified version available as a service,
+  including, without limitation, management software, user interfaces,
+  application program interfaces, automation software, monitoring software,
+  backup software, storage software and hosting software, all such that a
+  user could run an instance of the service using the Service Source Code
+  you make available.
+
+  14. Revised Versions of this License.
+
+  MongoDB, Inc. may publish revised and/or new versions of the Server Side
+  Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in
+  spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new
+  problems or concerns.
+
+  Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program
+  specifies that a certain numbered version of the Server Side Public
+  License “or any later version” applies to it, you have the option of
+  following the terms and conditions either of that numbered version or of
+  any later version published by MongoDB, Inc. If the Program does not
+  specify a version number of the Server Side Public License, you may
+  choose any version ever published by MongoDB, Inc.
+
+  If the Program specifies that a proxy can decide which future versions of
+  the Server Side Public License can be used, that proxy's public statement
+  of acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you to choose that
+  version for the Program.
+
+  Later license versions may give you additional or different permissions.
+  However, no additional obligations are imposed on any author or copyright
+  holder as a result of your choosing to follow a later version.
+
+  15. Disclaimer of Warranty.
+
+  THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY
+  APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT
+  HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY
+  OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
+  THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
+  PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM
+  IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF
+  ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.
+
+  16. Limitation of Liability.
+
+  IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING
+  WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS
+  THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING
+  ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF
+  THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+  LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU
+  OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER
+  PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE
+  POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
+
+  17. Interpretation of Sections 15 and 16.
+
+  If the disclaimer of warranty and limitation of liability provided above
+  cannot be given local legal effect according to their terms, reviewing
+  courts shall apply local law that most closely approximates an absolute
+  waiver of all civil liability in connection with the Program, unless a
+  warranty or assumption of liability accompanies a copy of the Program in
+  return for a fee.
+
+                        END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
+
+
+
+
+
+Elastic License 2.0
+
+URL: https://www.elastic.co/licensing/elastic-license
+
+## Acceptance
+
+By using the software, you agree to all of the terms and conditions below.
+
+## Copyright License
+
+The licensor grants you a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide,
+non-sublicensable, non-transferable license to use, copy, distribute, make
+available, and prepare derivative works of the software, in each case subject to
+the limitations and conditions below.
+
+## Limitations
+
+You may not provide the software to third parties as a hosted or managed
+service, where the service provides users with access to any substantial set of
+the features or functionality of the software.
+
+You may not move, change, disable, or circumvent the license key functionality
+in the software, and you may not remove or obscure any functionality in the
+software that is protected by the license key.
+
+You may not alter, remove, or obscure any licensing, copyright, or other notices
+of the licensor in the software. Any use of the licensor’s trademarks is subject
+to applicable law.
+
+## Patents
+
+The licensor grants you a license, under any patent claims the licensor can
+license, or becomes able to license, to make, have made, use, sell, offer for
+sale, import and have imported the software, in each case subject to the
+limitations and conditions in this license. This license does not cover any
+patent claims that you cause to be infringed by modifications or additions to
+the software. If you or your company make any written claim that the software
+infringes or contributes to infringement of any patent, your patent license for
+the software granted under these terms ends immediately. If your company makes
+such a claim, your patent license ends immediately for work on behalf of your
+company.
+
+## Notices
+
+You must ensure that anyone who gets a copy of any part of the software from you
+also gets a copy of these terms.
+
+If you modify the software, you must include in any modified copies of the
+software prominent notices stating that you have modified the software.
+
+## No Other Rights
+
+These terms do not imply any licenses other than those expressly granted in
+these terms.
+
+## Termination
+
+If you use the software in violation of these terms, such use is not licensed,
+and your licenses will automatically terminate. If the licensor provides you
+with a notice of your violation, and you cease all violation of this license no
+later than 30 days after you receive that notice, your licenses will be
+reinstated retroactively. However, if you violate these terms after such
+reinstatement, any additional violation of these terms will cause your licenses
+to terminate automatically and permanently.
+
+## No Liability
+
+*As far as the law allows, the software comes as is, without any warranty or
+condition, and the licensor will not be liable to you for any damages arising
+out of these terms or the use or nature of the software, under any kind of
+legal claim.*
+
+## Definitions
+
+The **licensor** is the entity offering these terms, and the **software** is the
+software the licensor makes available under these terms, including any portion
+of it.
+
+**you** refers to the individual or entity agreeing to these terms.
+
+**your company** is any legal entity, sole proprietorship, or other kind of
+organization that you work for, plus all organizations that have control over,
+are under the control of, or are under common control with that
+organization. **control** means ownership of substantially all the assets of an
+entity, or the power to direct its management and policies by vote, contract, or
+otherwise. Control can be direct or indirect.
+
+**your licenses** are all the licenses granted to you for the software under
+these terms.
+
+**use** means anything you do with the software requiring one of your licenses.
+
+**trademark** means trademarks, service marks, and similar rights.
diff --git a/plugins/examples/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/build.gradle
index bb1e265995433..d2517f0e1d0f9 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/build.gradle
@@ -1,50 +1,47 @@
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.info.BuildParams
-// Subprojects aren't published so do not assemble
-subprojects { p ->
-  p.tasks.matching { it.name.equals('assemble') }.configureEach {
-    enabled = false
-  }
-  if (BuildParams.inFipsJvm) {
-    p.tasks.configureEach {
-      enabled = false
+import org.elasticsearch.gradle.VersionProperties
+
+buildscript {
+  repositories {
+    maven {
+      url = 'https://snapshots.elastic.co/maven/'
     }
+    mavenCentral()
   }
+  dependencies {
+    classpath "org.elasticsearch.gradle:build-tools:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  }
+}
 
-  // configure project dependencies for yaml rest test plugin.
-  // plugin defaults to external available artifacts
-  p.getPluginManager().withPlugin("elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test", new Action<AppliedPlugin>() {
-    @Override
-    void execute(AppliedPlugin appliedPlugin) {
-        p.dependencies.add("yamlRestTestImplementation", project(":test:framework"))
-        p.dependencies.add("restTestSpecs", p.dependencies.project(path:':rest-api-spec', configuration:'basicRestSpecs'))
-    }
-  })
-
-  // configure project dependencies for java rest test plugin.
-  // plugin defaults to external available artifacts
-  p.getPluginManager().withPlugin("elasticsearch.java-rest-test", new Action<AppliedPlugin>() {
-    @Override
-    void execute(AppliedPlugin appliedPlugin) {
-      p.dependencies.add("javaRestTestImplementation", project(":test:framework"))
+subprojects {
+  apply plugin: 'java'
+
+  sourceCompatibility = 11
+  targetCompatibility = 11
+
+  repositories {
+    // Only necessary when building plugins against SNAPSHOT versions of Elasticsearch
+    maven {
+      url = 'https://snapshots.elastic.co/maven/'
     }
-  })
-}
 
-configure(project('painless-whitelist')) {
-  configurations.all {
-    resolutionStrategy.dependencySubstitution {
-      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.plugin:elasticsearch-scripting-painless-spi') with project(':modules:lang-painless:spi')
-      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.test:logger-usage') with project(':test:logger-usage')
+    // Same for Lucene, add the snapshot repo based on the currently used Lucene version
+    def luceneVersion = VersionProperties.getLucene()
+    if (luceneVersion.contains('-snapshot')) {
+      def matcher = luceneVersion =~ /[0-9\.]+-snapshot-([a-z0-9]+)/
+      assert matcher.matches() : "Invalid Lucene snapshot version '${luceneVersion}'"
+      maven {
+        url = "https://s3.amazonaws.com/download.elasticsearch.org/lucenesnapshots/${matcher.group(1)}"
+      }
     }
+
+    mavenCentral()
   }
 }
 
-configure(project('security-authorization-engine')) {
-  configurations.all {
-    resolutionStrategy.dependencySubstitution {
-      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.plugin:x-pack-core') with project(':x-pack:plugin:core')
-      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-high-level-client') with project(':client:rest-high-level')
-      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.test:logger-usage') with project(':test:logger-usage')
-    }
-  }
+tasks.register('check') {
+  dependsOn subprojects.collect { it.tasks.named('check') }
+}
+
+tasks.register('precommit') {
+  dependsOn subprojects.collect { it.tasks.named('classes') }
 }
diff --git a/plugins/examples/custom-settings/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/custom-settings/build.gradle
index db6c0d3eba296..b9c9e37598cce 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/custom-settings/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/custom-settings/build.gradle
@@ -5,14 +5,14 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'custom-settings'
   description 'An example plugin showing how to register custom settings'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.customsettings.ExampleCustomSettingsPlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/examples/custom-significance-heuristic/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/custom-significance-heuristic/build.gradle
index 3f892f506784d..4f4bf325e756f 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/custom-significance-heuristic/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/custom-significance-heuristic/build.gradle
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'custom-significance-heuristic'
   description 'An example plugin showing how to write and register a custom significance heuristic'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.customsigheuristic.CustomSignificanceHeuristicPlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
diff --git a/plugins/examples/custom-suggester/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/custom-suggester/build.gradle
index 58061ce01af8f..b2be253fb7e40 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/custom-suggester/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/custom-suggester/build.gradle
@@ -5,20 +5,17 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'custom-suggester'
   description 'An example plugin showing how to write and register a custom suggester'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.customsuggester.CustomSuggesterPlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
 
 testClusters.all {
   numberOfNodes = 2
 }
-
-// this plugin has no unit tests, only rest tests
-tasks.named("test").configure { enabled = false }
diff --git a/plugins/examples/gradle.properties b/plugins/examples/gradle.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7e11c8077f808
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/gradle.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#
+# Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+# or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+# 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+# in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+# Side Public License, v 1.
+#
+version=1.0.0-SNAPSHOT
+group=org.elasticsearch.examples
diff --git a/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar b/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..7454180f2ae88
Binary files /dev/null and b/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar differ
diff --git a/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..ffed3a254e91d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+distributionPath=wrapper/dists
+distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-7.2-bin.zip
+zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
+zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
diff --git a/plugins/examples/gradlew b/plugins/examples/gradlew
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000000..1b6c787337ffb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/gradlew
@@ -0,0 +1,234 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+#
+# Copyright © 2015-2021 the original authors.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+##############################################################################
+#
+#   Gradle start up script for POSIX generated by Gradle.
+#
+#   Important for running:
+#
+#   (1) You need a POSIX-compliant shell to run this script. If your /bin/sh is
+#       noncompliant, but you have some other compliant shell such as ksh or
+#       bash, then to run this script, type that shell name before the whole
+#       command line, like:
+#
+#           ksh Gradle
+#
+#       Busybox and similar reduced shells will NOT work, because this script
+#       requires all of these POSIX shell features:
+#         * functions;
+#         * expansions «$var», «${var}», «${var:-default}», «${var+SET}»,
+#           «${var#prefix}», «${var%suffix}», and «$( cmd )»;
+#         * compound commands having a testable exit status, especially «case»;
+#         * various built-in commands including «command», «set», and «ulimit».
+#
+#   Important for patching:
+#
+#   (2) This script targets any POSIX shell, so it avoids extensions provided
+#       by Bash, Ksh, etc; in particular arrays are avoided.
+#
+#       The "traditional" practice of packing multiple parameters into a
+#       space-separated string is a well documented source of bugs and security
+#       problems, so this is (mostly) avoided, by progressively accumulating
+#       options in "$@", and eventually passing that to Java.
+#
+#       Where the inherited environment variables (DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS,
+#       and GRADLE_OPTS) rely on word-splitting, this is performed explicitly;
+#       see the in-line comments for details.
+#
+#       There are tweaks for specific operating systems such as AIX, CygWin,
+#       Darwin, MinGW, and NonStop.
+#
+#   (3) This script is generated from the Groovy template
+#       https://github.com/gradle/gradle/blob/master/subprojects/plugins/src/main/resources/org/gradle/api/internal/plugins/unixStartScript.txt
+#       within the Gradle project.
+#
+#       You can find Gradle at https://github.com/gradle/gradle/.
+#
+##############################################################################
+
+# Attempt to set APP_HOME
+
+# Resolve links: $0 may be a link
+app_path=$0
+
+# Need this for daisy-chained symlinks.
+while
+    APP_HOME=${app_path%"${app_path##*/}"}  # leaves a trailing /; empty if no leading path
+    [ -h "$app_path" ]
+do
+    ls=$( ls -ld "$app_path" )
+    link=${ls#*' -> '}
+    case $link in             #(
+      /*)   app_path=$link ;; #(
+      *)    app_path=$APP_HOME$link ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+APP_HOME=$( cd "${APP_HOME:-./}" && pwd -P ) || exit
+
+APP_NAME="Gradle"
+APP_BASE_NAME=${0##*/}
+
+# Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS='"-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"'
+
+# Use the maximum available, or set MAX_FD != -1 to use that value.
+MAX_FD=maximum
+
+warn () {
+    echo "$*"
+} >&2
+
+die () {
+    echo
+    echo "$*"
+    echo
+    exit 1
+} >&2
+
+# OS specific support (must be 'true' or 'false').
+cygwin=false
+msys=false
+darwin=false
+nonstop=false
+case "$( uname )" in                #(
+  CYGWIN* )         cygwin=true  ;; #(
+  Darwin* )         darwin=true  ;; #(
+  MSYS* | MINGW* )  msys=true    ;; #(
+  NONSTOP* )        nonstop=true ;;
+esac
+
+CLASSPATH=$APP_HOME/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+
+# Determine the Java command to use to start the JVM.
+if [ -n "$JAVA_HOME" ] ; then
+    if [ -x "$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java" ] ; then
+        # IBM's JDK on AIX uses strange locations for the executables
+        JAVACMD=$JAVA_HOME/jre/sh/java
+    else
+        JAVACMD=$JAVA_HOME/bin/java
+    fi
+    if [ ! -x "$JAVACMD" ] ; then
+        die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: $JAVA_HOME
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+    fi
+else
+    JAVACMD=java
+    which java >/dev/null 2>&1 || die "ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+
+Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+location of your Java installation."
+fi
+
+# Increase the maximum file descriptors if we can.
+if ! "$cygwin" && ! "$darwin" && ! "$nonstop" ; then
+    case $MAX_FD in #(
+      max*)
+        MAX_FD=$( ulimit -H -n ) ||
+            warn "Could not query maximum file descriptor limit"
+    esac
+    case $MAX_FD in  #(
+      '' | soft) :;; #(
+      *)
+        ulimit -n "$MAX_FD" ||
+            warn "Could not set maximum file descriptor limit to $MAX_FD"
+    esac
+fi
+
+# Collect all arguments for the java command, stacking in reverse order:
+#   * args from the command line
+#   * the main class name
+#   * -classpath
+#   * -D...appname settings
+#   * --module-path (only if needed)
+#   * DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, JAVA_OPTS, and GRADLE_OPTS environment variables.
+
+# For Cygwin or MSYS, switch paths to Windows format before running java
+if "$cygwin" || "$msys" ; then
+    APP_HOME=$( cygpath --path --mixed "$APP_HOME" )
+    CLASSPATH=$( cygpath --path --mixed "$CLASSPATH" )
+
+    JAVACMD=$( cygpath --unix "$JAVACMD" )
+
+    # Now convert the arguments - kludge to limit ourselves to /bin/sh
+    for arg do
+        if
+            case $arg in                                #(
+              -*)   false ;;                            # don't mess with options #(
+              /?*)  t=${arg#/} t=/${t%%/*}              # looks like a POSIX filepath
+                    [ -e "$t" ] ;;                      #(
+              *)    false ;;
+            esac
+        then
+            arg=$( cygpath --path --ignore --mixed "$arg" )
+        fi
+        # Roll the args list around exactly as many times as the number of
+        # args, so each arg winds up back in the position where it started, but
+        # possibly modified.
+        #
+        # NB: a `for` loop captures its iteration list before it begins, so
+        # changing the positional parameters here affects neither the number of
+        # iterations, nor the values presented in `arg`.
+        shift                   # remove old arg
+        set -- "$@" "$arg"      # push replacement arg
+    done
+fi
+
+# Collect all arguments for the java command;
+#   * $DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS, $JAVA_OPTS, and $GRADLE_OPTS can contain fragments of
+#     shell script including quotes and variable substitutions, so put them in
+#     double quotes to make sure that they get re-expanded; and
+#   * put everything else in single quotes, so that it's not re-expanded.
+
+set -- \
+        "-Dorg.gradle.appname=$APP_BASE_NAME" \
+        -classpath "$CLASSPATH" \
+        org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain \
+        "$@"
+
+# Use "xargs" to parse quoted args.
+#
+# With -n1 it outputs one arg per line, with the quotes and backslashes removed.
+#
+# In Bash we could simply go:
+#
+#   readarray ARGS < <( xargs -n1 <<<"$var" ) &&
+#   set -- "${ARGS[@]}" "$@"
+#
+# but POSIX shell has neither arrays nor command substitution, so instead we
+# post-process each arg (as a line of input to sed) to backslash-escape any
+# character that might be a shell metacharacter, then use eval to reverse
+# that process (while maintaining the separation between arguments), and wrap
+# the whole thing up as a single "set" statement.
+#
+# This will of course break if any of these variables contains a newline or
+# an unmatched quote.
+#
+
+eval "set -- $(
+        printf '%s\n' "$DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS $JAVA_OPTS $GRADLE_OPTS" |
+        xargs -n1 |
+        sed ' s~[^-[:alnum:]+,./:=@_]~\\&~g; ' |
+        tr '\n' ' '
+    )" '"$@"'
+
+exec "$JAVACMD" "$@"
diff --git a/plugins/examples/gradlew.bat b/plugins/examples/gradlew.bat
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..107acd32c4e68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/gradlew.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+@rem
+@rem Copyright 2015 the original author or authors.
+@rem
+@rem Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+@rem you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+@rem You may obtain a copy of the License at
+@rem
+@rem      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+@rem
+@rem Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+@rem distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+@rem WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+@rem See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+@rem limitations under the License.
+@rem
+
+@if "%DEBUG%" == "" @echo off
+@rem ##########################################################################
+@rem
+@rem  Gradle startup script for Windows
+@rem
+@rem ##########################################################################
+
+@rem Set local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" setlocal
+
+set DIRNAME=%~dp0
+if "%DIRNAME%" == "" set DIRNAME=.
+set APP_BASE_NAME=%~n0
+set APP_HOME=%DIRNAME%
+
+@rem Resolve any "." and ".." in APP_HOME to make it shorter.
+for %%i in ("%APP_HOME%") do set APP_HOME=%%~fi
+
+@rem Add default JVM options here. You can also use JAVA_OPTS and GRADLE_OPTS to pass JVM options to this script.
+set DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS="-Xmx64m" "-Xms64m"
+
+@rem Find java.exe
+if defined JAVA_HOME goto findJavaFromJavaHome
+
+set JAVA_EXE=java.exe
+%JAVA_EXE% -version >NUL 2>&1
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%" == "0" goto execute
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:findJavaFromJavaHome
+set JAVA_HOME=%JAVA_HOME:"=%
+set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%/bin/java.exe
+
+if exist "%JAVA_EXE%" goto execute
+
+echo.
+echo ERROR: JAVA_HOME is set to an invalid directory: %JAVA_HOME%
+echo.
+echo Please set the JAVA_HOME variable in your environment to match the
+echo location of your Java installation.
+
+goto fail
+
+:execute
+@rem Setup the command line
+
+set CLASSPATH=%APP_HOME%\gradle\wrapper\gradle-wrapper.jar
+
+
+@rem Execute Gradle
+"%JAVA_EXE%" %DEFAULT_JVM_OPTS% %JAVA_OPTS% %GRADLE_OPTS% "-Dorg.gradle.appname=%APP_BASE_NAME%" -classpath "%CLASSPATH%" org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain %*
+
+:end
+@rem End local scope for the variables with windows NT shell
+if "%ERRORLEVEL%"=="0" goto mainEnd
+
+:fail
+rem Set variable GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE if you need the _script_ return code instead of
+rem the _cmd.exe /c_ return code!
+if  not "" == "%GRADLE_EXIT_CONSOLE%" exit 1
+exit /b 1
+
+:mainEnd
+if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" endlocal
+
+:omega
diff --git a/plugins/examples/painless-whitelist/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/painless-whitelist/build.gradle
index a625a45715d4b..8e41e8b6bd83e 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/painless-whitelist/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/painless-whitelist/build.gradle
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
@@ -13,17 +13,15 @@ esplugin {
   description 'An example whitelisting additional classes and methods in painless'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.painlesswhitelist.MyWhitelistPlugin'
   extendedPlugins = ['lang-painless']
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
 
 dependencies {
-  compileOnly "org.elasticsearch.plugin:elasticsearch-scripting-painless-spi:${versions.elasticsearch}"
+  compileOnly "org.elasticsearch.plugin:elasticsearch-scripting-painless-spi:${elasticsearchVersion}"
 }
 
 testClusters.all {
   testDistribution = 'DEFAULT'
   setting 'xpack.security.enabled', 'false'
 }
-
-tasks.named("test").configure { enabled = false }
diff --git a/plugins/examples/rescore/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/rescore/build.gradle
index 6c676a86fc5f0..0e93212c870a3 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/rescore/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/rescore/build.gradle
@@ -5,13 +5,13 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'example-rescore'
   description 'An example plugin implementing rescore and verifying that plugins *can* implement rescore'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.rescore.ExampleRescorePlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
diff --git a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/rest-handler/build.gradle
index dd15e77e07cc1..ead4f78a3bd15 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/rest-handler/build.gradle
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.info.BuildParams
-
 /*
  * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
  * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
@@ -7,29 +5,13 @@ import org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.info.BuildParams
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'rest-handler'
   description 'An example plugin showing how to register a REST handler'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.resthandler.ExampleRestHandlerPlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
-
-// No unit tests in this example
-tasks.named("test").configure { enabled = false }
-
-def fixture = tasks.register("exampleFixture", org.elasticsearch.gradle.internal.test.AntFixture) {
-  dependsOn sourceSets.javaRestTest.runtimeClasspath
-  env 'CLASSPATH', "${-> project.sourceSets.javaRestTest.runtimeClasspath.asPath}"
-  executable = "${BuildParams.runtimeJavaHome}/bin/java"
-  args 'org.elasticsearch.example.resthandler.ExampleFixture', baseDir, 'TEST'
-}
-
-tasks.named("javaRestTest").configure {
-  dependsOn fixture
-  nonInputProperties.systemProperty 'external.address', "${-> fixture.get().addressAndPort}"
-}
diff --git a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixture.java b/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixture.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 9d536604e14cd..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixture.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
- * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
- * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
- * Side Public License, v 1.
- */
-package org.elasticsearch.example.resthandler;
-
-import org.elasticsearch.test.fixture.AbstractHttpFixture;
-
-import java.io.IOException;
-import java.util.Objects;
-
-import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
-
-public class ExampleFixture extends AbstractHttpFixture {
-
-    private final String message;
-
-    private ExampleFixture(final String workingDir, final String message) {
-        super(workingDir);
-        this.message = Objects.requireNonNull(message);
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected Response handle(final Request request) throws IOException {
-        if ("GET".equals(request.getMethod()) && "/".equals(request.getPath())) {
-            return new Response(200, TEXT_PLAIN_CONTENT_TYPE, message.getBytes(UTF_8));
-        }
-        return null;
-    }
-
-    public static void main(final String[] args) throws Exception {
-        if (args == null || args.length != 2) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("ExampleFixture <working directory> <echo message>");
-        }
-
-        final ExampleFixture fixture = new ExampleFixture(args[0], args[1]);
-        fixture.listen();
-    }
-}
diff --git a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixtureIT.java b/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixtureIT.java
deleted file mode 100644
index 24e78dfc389b8..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/examples/rest-handler/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/example/resthandler/ExampleFixtureIT.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,52 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
- * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
- * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
- * Side Public License, v 1.
- */
-
-package org.elasticsearch.example.resthandler;
-
-import org.elasticsearch.mocksocket.MockSocket;
-import org.elasticsearch.test.ESTestCase;
-
-import java.io.BufferedReader;
-import java.io.BufferedWriter;
-import java.io.InputStreamReader;
-import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
-import java.net.InetAddress;
-import java.net.Socket;
-import java.net.URL;
-import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.List;
-
-import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasItems;
-
-public class ExampleFixtureIT extends ESTestCase {
-
-    public void testExample() throws Exception {
-        final String externalAddress = System.getProperty("external.address");
-        assertNotNull("External address must not be null", externalAddress);
-
-        final URL url = new URL("http://" + externalAddress);
-        final InetAddress address = InetAddress.getByName(url.getHost());
-        try (
-            Socket socket = new MockSocket(address, url.getPort());
-            BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(socket.getOutputStream(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
-            BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(socket.getInputStream(), StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
-        ) {
-            writer.write("GET / HTTP/1.1\r\n");
-            writer.write("Host: elastic.co\r\n\r\n");
-            writer.flush();
-
-            final List<String> lines = new ArrayList<>();
-            String line;
-            while ((line = reader.readLine()) != null) {
-                lines.add(line);
-            }
-            assertThat(lines, hasItems("HTTP/1.1 200 OK", "TEST"));
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/plugins/examples/script-expert-scoring/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/script-expert-scoring/build.gradle
index c9d79f7aa7674..3e0101b4e7a17 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/script-expert-scoring/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/script-expert-scoring/build.gradle
@@ -5,16 +5,13 @@
  * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
  * Side Public License, v 1.
  */
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.yaml-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
   name 'script-expert-scoring'
   description 'An example script engine to use low level Lucene internals for expert scoring'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.expertscript.ExpertScriptPlugin'
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
-
-tasks.named("test").configure { enabled = false }
-
diff --git a/plugins/examples/security-authorization-engine/build.gradle b/plugins/examples/security-authorization-engine/build.gradle
index 6bfba35595ae6..a12c426c4565c 100644
--- a/plugins/examples/security-authorization-engine/build.gradle
+++ b/plugins/examples/security-authorization-engine/build.gradle
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.internal-es-plugin'
+apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.esplugin'
 apply plugin: 'elasticsearch.java-rest-test'
 
 esplugin {
@@ -6,21 +6,38 @@ esplugin {
   description 'An example spi extension plugin for security that implements an Authorization Engine'
   classname 'org.elasticsearch.example.AuthorizationEnginePlugin'
   extendedPlugins = ['x-pack-security']
-  licenseFile rootProject.file('licenses/SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
+  licenseFile rootProject.file('SSPL-1.0+ELASTIC-LICENSE-2.0.txt')
   noticeFile rootProject.file('NOTICE.txt')
 }
 
+sourceSets {
+  javaRestTest {
+    // let the javaRestTest see the classpath of main
+    compileClasspath += sourceSets.main.output
+    runtimeClasspath += sourceSets.main.output
+  }
+}
+
+if (!gradle.includedBuilds) {
+  configurations.all {
+    resolutionStrategy.dependencySubstitution {
+      // Temporary workaround for https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/77602
+      substitute module('org.elasticsearch:server') using module("org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:${elasticsearchVersion}")
+      substitute module('org.elasticsearch.client:rest') using module("org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-client:${elasticsearchVersion}")
+    }
+  }
+}
+
 dependencies {
-  compileOnly "org.elasticsearch.plugin:x-pack-core:${versions.elasticsearch}"
-  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.plugin:x-pack-core:${versions.elasticsearch}"
-  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-high-level-client:${versions.elasticsearch}"
-  // let the javaRestTest see the classpath of main
-  javaRestTestImplementation project.sourceSets.main.runtimeClasspath
+  compileOnly "org.elasticsearch.plugin:x-pack-core:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.plugin:x-pack-core:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-high-level-client:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-client:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:${elasticsearchVersion}"
+  javaRestTestImplementation "org.elasticsearch.test:framework:${elasticsearchVersion}"
 }
-//no unit tests
-tasks.named("test").configure { enabled = false }
+
 tasks.named("javaRestTest").configure {
-  dependsOn "buildZip"
   systemProperty 'tests.security.manager', 'false'
 }
 
diff --git a/plugins/examples/settings.gradle b/plugins/examples/settings.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9461c9e20e049
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/examples/settings.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+ * Side Public License, v 1.
+ */
+
+includeBuild '../../'
+
+// Include all subdirectories as example projects
+rootDir.listFiles().findAll { it.directory && new File(it, 'build.gradle').exists() }.each { subDir ->
+  include ":${subDir.name}"
+}
+
+gradle.rootProject {
+  ext {
+    // Fetch Elasticsearch version from outer build
+    if (gradle.includedBuilds) {
+      new File(rootDir.parentFile.parentFile, 'build-tools-internal/version.properties').withInputStream { is ->
+        def props = new Properties()
+        props.load(is)
+        elasticsearchVersion = "${props.get('elasticsearch')}-SNAPSHOT"
+      }
+    } else {
+        // In a composite we substitute these dependencies so the version doesn't matter
+        elasticsearchVersion = '0.0.1-SNAPSHOT'
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+gradle.projectsEvaluated {
+  if (gradle.includedBuilds) {
+    gradle.allprojects {
+      configurations.all {
+        resolutionStrategy.dependencySubstitution {
+          // When using composite builds we need to tell Gradle to use the project names since we rename the published artifacts
+          substitute module('org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch') using module("org.elasticsearch:server:${elasticsearchVersion}")
+          substitute module('org.elasticsearch.client:elasticsearch-rest-client') using module("org.elasticsearch.client:rest:${elasticsearchVersion}")
+          substitute module('org.elasticsearch.distribution.integ-test-zip:elasticsearch') using variant(module("org.elasticsearch.distribution.integ-test-zip:integ-test-zip:${elasticsearchVersion}")) {
+            attributes {
+              attribute(Attribute.of("composite", Boolean.class), true)
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index 0d7edd6638cc6..7dea0e8721077 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ plugins {
 includeBuild "build-conventions"
 includeBuild "build-tools"
 includeBuild "build-tools-internal"
+includeBuild("plugins/examples") {
+  name = "example-plugins"
+}
 
 rootProject.name = "elasticsearch"
 
@@ -83,6 +86,7 @@ void addSubProjects(String path, File dir) {
   if (dir.isDirectory() == false) return;
   if (dir.name == 'buildSrc') return;
   if (new File(dir, 'build.gradle').exists() == false) return;
+  if (new File(dir, 'settings.gradle').exists()) return;
   if (findProject(dir) != null) return;
 
   final String projectName = "${path}:${dir.name}"
@@ -95,16 +99,6 @@ void addSubProjects(String path, File dir) {
   }
 }
 
-
-// include example plugins first, so adding plugin dirs below won't muck with :example-plugins
-File examplePluginsDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'plugins/examples')
-for (File example : examplePluginsDir.listFiles()) {
-  if (example.isDirectory() == false) continue;
-  if (example.name.startsWith('build') || example.name.startsWith('.')) continue;
-  addSubProjects(':example-plugins', example)
-}
-project(':example-plugins').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'plugins/examples')
-
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'libs'))
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'modules'))
 addSubProjects('', new File(rootProject.projectDir, 'plugins'))