Table of Contents

Set up a virtual Android environment

These instructions apply only to the Linux lab machines in HH 310.

For long Terminal commands, I recommend copying and pasting from this page into a Terminal.

Part 1. Install needed Android SDK components.

On your assigned lab machine, start a Terminal and change to the /usr/local/android/sdk directory: 

cd /usr/local/android/sdk

Run the Android SDK Manager GUI: 

tools/android

In the Android SDK Manager GUI, check the box for “Android 4.1.2 (API 16)” and click on the “Install packages…” packages. Accept the license agreements and proceed to install.

Part 2. Create Android Virtual Devices (AVD) and try running them.

After you've installed everything from Part 1, choose the “Tools” menu in the Android SDK Manager GUI and choose “Manage AVDs…” Create a new AVD with a name you can remember. It should also have the following characteristics:

After you create an AVD, select it and press the “Start…” button. There may be a lengthy wait before a virtual Android device appears on your display.

Create a second AVD like your first AVD, but one that uses CPU/ABI = ARM (armeabi-v7a). This ARM-based AVD will be used to boot the kernel from the Compile and run the Android goldfish kernel tutorial.

(My AVDs are named TestAVDintel and TestAVDarm to avoid any confusion.)

Your Android AVDs are defined and set up in your UNIX home directories. To see them, run the following command in a Terminal: 

ls ~/.android/avd

In the ~/.android/avd directory you should see a .ini file for every AVD you currently have defined.

Part 3. Set up environment variables for Android tools future ease-of-use

NOTE: Do this part only once.

Add the Android program directories to the system $PATH environment variable for ease of access (you won't need to type /usr/local/android/sdk/tools/ before every command). To update the $PATH environment variable, run the following commands in a Terminal: 

echo '' >> ~/.bashrc
echo '# CS-438/505 Android PATH setup, FA13' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/android/sdk/tools:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/android/sdk/platform-tools:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc

If you want to see the changes that have been made by the above 4 commands, run the following command: 

cat ~/.bashrc

Part 4. Start your AVD from the command line.

NOTE: For the changes from Part 3 to take effect, you must start a new Terminal.

Try to start one of your AVDs from the Terminal. If your AVD's name is TestAVD, your command will look like this: 

emulator -avd TestAVDintel