AndroidStudioEmulator-cmdConfig

To run Android on our PCs there are several options, being Android Studio one of them. However, Android Studio was created for Android developers and has a complex GUI with lots of features. Therefore, consumes lots of resources even without running the embedded emulator. To test apps and the files they generate, we don’t need the Android Studio GUI.

This page explains how to set up and run the Android Studio Emulator without the Android Studio GUI using the command line tools.

   
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Table of Contents

Credits

This page is heavely based on:

Therefore, credits should go to its author.

1. Preperation

  1. Download the latest version of Android Command Line Tools for your Operating System (OS), scroll down to the command line section.

  2. Extract the downloaded archive and make a new folder named latest inside cmdline-tools directory. Copy and paste all files from cmdline-tools folder to latest folder. Your final directory layout should look like this:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME$ tree -F -L 2 cmdline-tools
cmdline-tools/
└── latest/
    ├── bin/
    ├── lib/
    ├── NOTICE.txt
    └── source.properties

NOTE:

$ANDROID_HOME is any directory where you want to install the files and should be replaced by the actual directory where the files were installed. For example, on Linux $ANDROID_HOME can be /opt/Android/

2. Linux specific set up

Install adb tools:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME$ sudo apt install adb

3. Windows specific set up

  1. Follow the steps listed here: https://dev.to/koscheyscrag/how-to-install-android-emulator-without-installing-android-studio-3lce until step 11.

  2. After step 11. follow the steps from 4. Commands to create an Android Virtual Device (AVD)

4. Commands to create an Android Virtual Device (AVD)

These commands are the same for both Linux and Windows. However, for Windows

NOTE:

The $ represents the command prompt and must not be typed

4.1 Install Required Packages

Go to the $ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin folder and run the following command to update the repository:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./sdkmanager --update

Install packages required for the Android emulator to work:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/tools/bin$ ./sdkmanager platform-tools emulator

4.2 Select the correct system-image to use

Next we need to select a system image to load in the Android emulator. To get a list of latest downloadable system images (this page has a list of all API numbers, lets use API version 30 (Android 11, we want to avoid the latest and more secure Android version), run the command:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./sdkmanager --list | grep "system-images;android-30" | grep x86_64

  system-images;android-30;default;x86_64                                                  | 10           | Intel x86_64 Atom System Image
  system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64                                              | 11           | Google APIs Intel x86_64 Atom System Image
  system-images;android-30;google_apis_playstore;x86_64                                    | 10           | Google Play Intel x86_64 Atom System Image

For the best performance choose a system-image for the x86_64 architecture: system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64.

NOTE:

We want root access to the folders inside the emulator, therefore we cannot select a system-image with _playstore

To find the build tools for API version 30 do:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./sdkmanager --list | grep "build-tools;30"

  build-tools;30.0.0                                                                       | 30.0.0       | Android SDK Build-Tools 30
  build-tools;30.0.1                                                                       | 30.0.1       | Android SDK Build-Tools 30.0.1
  build-tools;30.0.2                                                                       | 30.0.2       | Android SDK Build-Tools 30.0.2
  build-tools;30.0.3                                                                       | 30.0.3       | Android SDK Build-Tools 30.0.3

4.3 Download and install the selected system-image

Download the packages using the same API level number you selected in the step above. For example:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./sdkmanager "platforms;android-30" "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64" "build-tools;30.0.3"

4.4 Create a new AVD

“Android Virtual Device” (AVD) is a set of configuration parameters that defines values for a virtual device that will emulate a real Android hardware device.

To create a new AVD, we need to use the system image we downloaded in the step above. Run the following command:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./avdmanager create avd -n "AFD2_API_30" -k "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64"

NOTE:

“AFD2_API_30” is the name we have chosen for our AVD

Confirm that the AVD has been successfully created using the command below:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./avdmanager list avd
Available Android Virtual Devices:
    Name: AFD2_API_30
    Path: /home/user/.android/avd/AFD2_API_30.avd
  Target: Google APIs (Google Inc.)
          Based on: Android 11.0 (R) Tag/ABI: google_apis/x86_64
  Sdcard: 512 MB

Note the path of AVD in the output above. At the same path (/home/user/.android/avd/AFD2_API_30.avd/ in this example), we can find a config.ini file that can be used to change configuration parameters of the AVD. Edit the file config.ini and change the value to yes:

hw.keyboard=yes

NOTE:

If you don’t do this change, the Android buttons (home, back, and overview) won’t work and you won’t be able to operate the Android running in the emulator.

Optionally, you can enable also the cameras by setting these values in config.ini:

hw.camera.back = webcam0
hw.camera.front = webcam0

For more information about the parameters and their values read this page.

4.5 Run the AVD

To run an AVD do the following commands:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ cd $ANDROID_HOME/emulator/
user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/emulator$ ./emulator -avd "AFD2_API_30"

NOTE

You might need to add your username to the kvm group:

$ sudo gpasswd -a $USER kvm

After this command you need to logout, and login again for the changes to take effect.

Below are several print screens of Android running inside the emulator.

Android home screen Settings screen
Android home screen Android settings screen

4.6 Update emulator and SDK tools

From time to time you might need to update the installed tools. To update de emulator do the following commands:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME$ cd $ANDROID_HOME/tools/
user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/tools$ ./android update sdk

To update the SDK do the following commands:

user@linux:ANDROID_HOME$ cd $ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
user@linux:ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin$ ./sdkmanager --update

NOTE

The android command seems to be deprecated in favor of sdkmanager, however, some functionalities weren’t ported yet into the new tool.

5. Exercise

After setting up the Android Studio Emulator and making sure it’s working, do the exercise listed here