this
How can I use git as the scm provider in sonarqube 5.0 ( using sonar-runner )
led me to this
https://docs.sonarqube.org/display/SONAR/SCM+support
so I set
sonar.scm.disabled=true
changed file
sonar-project.properties
EDIT
That one change to the sonar-project.properties does change whether the sonar-scanner builds successfully or in failure. My best guess is because my project isn't versioned via commits to any platform. It's just a few local files in my IDE and system, and some how its related to disabling sonar.scm function.
#sonar-project.properties file
sonar.projectKey=my:project
sonar.projectName=My project
sonar.projectVersion=1.0
# Path is relative to the sonar-project.properties file.
#Replace "\" by "/" on Windows.
#This property is optional if sonar.modules is set.
sonar.sources=/Users/.../Desktop/homeWork
sonar.java.binaries=/Users/.../Desktop/homeWork/build/libs/
sonar.scm.disabled=true