FValkyrie_17's Infosec Notes
  • 1nf05EC N0TE5
  • Networking and Network Security
    • Security Models
    • Host Discovery
    • Port Scanning - Service and OS Discovery
    • Port Scanning - Common Firewall and IDS Evasion
    • Naming/Name Service and Directory Service
    • DNS
      • DNS Basics
      • DNS Pentest
    • NetBIOS
      • NetBIOS Basics
      • NetBIOS Pentest
    • BGP(Border Gateway Protocol) and AS Numbers (Autonomous System Numbers)
    • MS-RPC (Remote Procedure Call)
    • SMB (Server Message Block)
      • Basics of SMB
      • SMB Pentesting
    • LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)
      • LDAP Working
      • LDAP Exploitation
    • RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) and VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
    • Telnet (Teletype Network Protocol)
    • FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
    • NFS (Network File System)
    • SSH (Secure Socket Shell)
      • Port Forwarding Primer
    • SQL servers
      • MS-SQL (Microsoft SQL Service)
      • MySQL
    • Hydra Cheat Sheet
    • SMTP
    • SLP (Service Location Protocol)
    • SNMP
      • SNMP Basics
      • SNMP Pentest
    • NTP
    • File Transfer Primers
    • Regex 101
  • Make your dumb netcat shell interactive and awesome
  • Metasploit Primer
    • Important Terminologies
    • Working with Metasploit Database
  • Reverse Engineering 101
    • x86-64 assembly tutorial
      • Introduction to x86-64
  • Web Application Security
    • Security Policies
      • Same Origin Policy
      • Security Headers
        • CSP (Content Security Policy)
        • HSTS (Strict-Transport-Security Header)
        • X-Content-Type-Options
        • X-Frame-Options
        • Referrer-Policy
    • Authentication Bypass
  • Linux Privilege Escalation
    • Permissions in Linux
    • Enumeration
    • Using files with SUID/SGID permission set
    • Using Kernel Exploits
    • Using Service Exploits
    • Exploiting Weak File Permissions
    • Exploiting Sudo
    • Cron Jobs
  • windows privilege escalation
    • Windows Basics
    • PsTools Primer
    • Persistence Techniques
  • Android application security testing
    • Setting it Up
      • Installing Android SDK and emulator
      • Setting up Frida-Server on Android Device
  • HTB writeups
    • Archetype (HTB Starting Point 2x1)
    • Oopsie (HTB Starting Point 2x2)
    • Lame
    • Jerry
  • THM writeups
    • Vulnuniversity
  • Preparation Notes
    • CEH Practical Prep Notes
Powered by GitBook
On this page
  • Download the SDK tools
  • Move it to the Correct location
  • Install platform-tools and emulator
  • Add to /etc/environment
  • Install necessary platform, build-tools and system-images
  • List all build tools and system images
  • Choosing platform, build-tools and system-image
  • Download and Installation
  • Troubleshoot

Was this helpful?

  1. Android application security testing
  2. Setting it Up

Installing Android SDK and emulator

Guided steps to install android SDK on any Ubuntu or Debian system

PreviousSetting it UpNextSetting up Frida-Server on Android Device

Last updated 10 months ago

Was this helpful?

Download the SDK tools

Firstly download the CLI tools from the Command Line Tools Only section from . I have it saved in my Downloads section/directory.

Move it to the Correct location

Now we need to unzip it. Remember to change the zip file name with your specific one.

cd Downloads                      # Or wherever you have downloaded the CLI tools zip
unzip commandlinetools-linux-10406996_latest.zip

Now we need to copy the cmdline-tools to /opt/android-sdk/ directory. This is going to be our system wide android SDK root. 

sudo mkdir /opt/android-sdk
sudo cp -r Downloads/cmdline-tools/ /opt/android-sdk/tools/

Yes this is going to throw warnings as we are using our custom directory, but since these opensource projects are maintained by Google, using custom directory configurations is much better as Google is shit and changes such configuration in almost every goddamn releases.

Install platform-tools and emulator

We are going to use the sdkmanager to install the platform-tools and emulator. Now run:

cd /opt/android-sdk/tools/bin/
sudo ./sdkmanager platform-tools emulator --sdk_root=../../../android-sdk

Add to /etc/environment

Now that we have the three necessary components, we need to add them to the /etc/environment file.

Modify the PATH variable to have the following along with it's original content.

/opt/android-sdk/emulator:/opt/android-sdk/platform-tools:/opt/android-sdk/tools/bin:

Add the following variables:

ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="/opt/android-sdk"
ANDROID_HOME="/opt/android-sdk"

Save the changes, logout and log back in for the changes to take effect.

After this you will have access to commands like sdkmanager, avdmanager, emulator etc.

Install necessary platform, build-tools and system-images

List all build tools and system images

sdkmanager --list --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME

The output for the above command will be like:

Available Packages:
  Path                                                                                     | Version       | Description                                                         
  -------                                                                                  | -------       | -------                                                             
  add-ons;addon-google_apis-google-15                                                      | 3             | Google APIs                                                         
  add-ons;addon-google_apis-google-16                                                      | 4             | Google APIs                                                         
  add-ons;addon-google_apis-google-17                                                      | 4             | Google APIs                                      
  build-tools;27.0.0                                                                       | 27.0.0        | Android SDK Build-Tools 27                                          
  build-tools;27.0.1                                                                       | 27.0.1        | Android SDK Build-Tools 27.0.1                                      
  build-tools;27.0.2                                                                       | 27.0.2        | Android SDK Build-Tools 27.0.2                                      
  build-tools;27.0.3                                                                       | 27.0.3        | Android SDK Build-Tools 27.0.3               
  cmake;3.10.2.4988404                                                                     | 3.10.2        | CMake 3.10.2.4988404                                                
  cmake;3.18.1                                                                             | 3.18.1        | CMake 3.18.1                                                        
  cmake;3.22.1                                                                             | 3.22.1        | CMake 3.22.1                                                        
  cmake;3.6.4111459                                                                        | 3.6.4111459   | CMake 3.6.4111459                                                   
  cmdline-tools;1.0                                                                        | 1.0           | Android SDK Command-line Tools                                      
  cmdline-tools;10.0                                                                       | 10.0          | Android SDK Command-line Tools                                      
  cmdline-tools;11.0                                                                       | 11.0          | Android SDK Command-line Tools                                      
  cmdline-tools;12.0                                                                       | 12.0          | Android SDK Command-line Tools                                  
  ndk-bundle                                                                               | 22.1.7171670  | NDK                                                                                                  | 25.1.8937393  | NDK (Side by side) 25.1.8937393                                     
  ndk;25.2.9519653                                                                         | 25.2.9519653  | NDK (Side by side) 25.2.9519653                                     
  ndk;26.0.10792818                                                                        | 26.0.10792818 | NDK (Side by side) 26.0.10792818                                    
  ndk;26.1.10909125                                                                        | 26.1.10909125 | NDK (Side by side) 26.1.10909125                                    
  ndk;26.2.11394342                                                                        | 26.2.11394342 | NDK (Side by side) 26.2.11394342                                    
  platform-tools                                                                           | 35.0.0        | Android SDK Platform-Tools                                                
  platforms;android-27                                                                     | 3             | Android SDK Platform 27                                             
  platforms;android-28                                                                     | 6             | Android SDK Platform 28                                             
  platforms;android-29                                                                     | 5             | Android SDK Platform 29                                             
  platforms;android-30                                                                     | 3             | Android SDK Platform 30                                             
  platforms;android-31                                                                     | 1             | Android SDK Platform 31                                             
  platforms;android-32                                                                     | 1             | Android SDK Platform 32                                             
  platforms;android-33                                                                     | 3             | Android SDK Platform 33                                                 
  platforms;android-TiramisuPrivacySandbox                                                 | 9             | Android SDK Platform TiramisuPrivacySandbox                         
  platforms;android-UpsideDownCakePrivacySandbox                                           | 3             | Android SDK Platform UpsideDownCakePrivacySandbox                   
  platforms;android-VanillaIceCream                                                        | 1             | Android SDK Platform VanillaIceCream                                
  skiaparser;1                                                                             | 6             | Layout Inspector image server for API 29-30                         
  skiaparser;2                                                                             | 3             | Layout Inspector image server for API S                             
  skiaparser;3                                                                             | 3             | Layout Inspector image server for API 31-34                         
  sources;android-15                                                                       | 2             | Sources for Android 15                                              
  sources;android-27                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 27                                              
  sources;android-28                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 28                                              
  sources;android-29                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 29                                              
  sources;android-30                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 30                                              
  sources;android-31                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 31                                              
  sources;android-32                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 32                                              
  sources;android-33                                                                       | 1             | Sources for Android 33                                              
  sources;android-34                                                                       | 2             | Sources for Android 34                                              
  system-images;android-10;default;armeabi-v7a                                             | 5             | ARM EABI v7a System Image                                           
  system-images;android-10;default;x86                                                     | 5             | Intel x86 Atom System Image                                         
  system-images;android-10;google_apis;armeabi-v7a                                         | 6             | Google APIs ARM EABI v7a System Image                               
  system-images;android-10;google_apis;x86                                                 | 6             | Google APIs Intel x86 Atom System Image                             
  system-images;android-14;default;armeabi-v7a                                             | 2             | ARM EABI v7a System Image

Choosing platform, build-tools and system-image

Choose the platform, build tools and system-image from the sdkmanager list. Make sure the versions are same. For ex:

  • For android-27 we can choose:

platforms;android-27
sources;android-27
build-tools;27.0.3                  # The latest versions are more stable
system-images;android-27;google_apis;x86

Note: x86 and x86_64 images are best for emulation. The arm64-v8a architecture is damn slow requires at least 32GB ram to emulate properly and can only be done up to android-27 only.

Download and Installation

Download the 4 requirements using the commands given below. Make sure to replace the <> texts with proper versions by referring to the sdkmanager list.

sdkmanager "system-images;<ANDROID-VERSION>;<OPTIONAL-GOOGLE-APIS-FLAG>;<ARCH>" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "platforms;<ANDROID-VERSION>" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "sources;<ANDROID-VERSION>" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "build-tools;<BUILD-TOOL-VERSION>" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME

For eg:- for android-27 with google-apis we have:

sdkmanager "system-images;android-27;google_apis;x86" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "platforms;android-27" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "sources;android-27" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME
sdkmanager "build-tools;27.0.3" --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME

Now create a device using avdmanager using:

avdmanager create avd -n <DEVICE-NAME> -k "system-images;<ANDROID-VERSION>;<OPTIONAL-GOOGLE-APIS-FLAG>;<ARCH>" --device "<DEVICE-SPEC" --force

For eg:

avdmanager create avd -n android27x86 -k "system-images;android-27;google_apis;x86" --device "pixel_4" --force

Now run the emulator using:

emulator @<DEVICE-NAME> -writable-system

For eg:

emulator @android27x86 -writable-system

Troubleshoot

If you get errors like:

INFO    | Android emulator version 32.1.15.0 (build_id 10696886) (CL:N/A)
INFO    | AVD android27x86 has path /home/fvalkyrie/.android/avd/android27x86.avd
INFO    | trying to check whether /opt/android-sdk is a valid sdk root
WARNING | /opt/android-sdk/android-sdk/system-images/android-27/google_apis/x86/ is not a valid directory.
WARNING | emulator has searched the above paths but found no valid sdk root directory.
PANIC: Broken AVD system path. Check your ANDROID_SDK_ROOT value [/opt/android-sdk]!

This happens because of emulator configuration. To change this go to /home/.android/avd/<DEVICE-NAME>.avd and change the config.ini file as follows:

  • Go to the line shown below and remove the android/ portion.

image.sysdir.1=android-sdk/system-images/android-27/google_apis/x86/ #OLD
image.sysdir.1=system-images/android-27/google_apis/x86/ #NEW

this should fix your startup configuration.

https://developer.android.com/studio