Setting up Frida-Server on Android Device

How to setup Frida Server on a rooted android device

Install Frida Tools

pip install frida-tools

Setup Frida server

Download Frida Server

1. Spin up your AVD.

emulator @avdname -writable-system

2. Find your AVD architecture using:

adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abi

3. Download the correct version of Frida server from release-page. Click on show more options to get the entire list and download the version by matching the architecture.

4. Unpack the contents using:

unxz frida-server.xz        # Change the filename 

Install Frida Server on Android Virtual Device

On non-production emulator (AVD without google-apis)

Use the following commands to push the frida server to the AVD.

adb root # might be required
adb push frida-server /data/local/tmp/                # Change the filename
adb shell "chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/frida-server"    # Change the filename

Start Frida Server using the command:

adb shell "/data/local/tmp/frida-server &"            # Change the filename 

On production emulator (AVD with google-apis)

adb push frida-server /data/local/tmp/                # Change the filename
adb shell "su -c chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/frida-server"   # Change the filename

Start Frida Server using the command:

adb shell "su -c /data/local/tmp/frida-server -D &"      # Change the filename

The flag -D is used to run the server in background (Daemon mode).

Check Installation

Now to check if Frida server is running run the following on a separate terminal.

frida-ps -U

This should list all running processes.