Optional configuration loading for better testing

Change-Id: I517516bc32a3f230bc2f98721a9de25096eb2cf3
Add target/ to .gitignore

Change-Id: I9b99d542e69eb81cd4178b82f33e825f875f0e60
Better task failure signaling

Change-Id: I2eeea23a9707fe0673ce741bd6b4a25e76e6866a