How to setup Android SDK on Linux ubuntu(Ubuntu 10.10 in our case)

Friends, You know very well that Android is the buzzword nowadays and it is just rocking all the way in mobile arena. Being open source and as the learning curve is pretty easy we cannot stop ourselves being avid admirer of Android. Everything is just going great with Android for now. As a developer or tester you must have installed Android SDK on windows OS and it must be pretty easy for you  going along with it. But have you ever wondered how can we develop the android apps in Linux OR one step behind How to install Android SDK on Linux?

Well, there was a requirement in our project where we have been asked to develop the project in Linux than our traditional platform Windows. We literally had to start from scratch and we faced quite a lot problems while installing Android SDK on Linux since both of us were newbie in Linux. So here in this article we are going to tell you something interesting. We are going to explain the step by step process of how to install Android on your Linux machine. I hope you will like it as it is pretty interesting. So let’s get started.

The main components required are:

• Android SDK setup, Eclipse ( A development environment for java and now android)
• ADT plugin for eclipse
• JDK(Java Development Kit)&
• JRE(Java runtime Environment).

Please note that you may not need to install eclipse & ADT plug in if you are just going to use the setup for testing.

I hope you have a basic idea about Linux command line &.bash. If not just have a look atthem before starting.

Step by Step Guide to Install Android SDK on Linux:-

1)      Download JDK and JRE:

➢ download Jdk1.6 and jre1.6:

Download following installation files from Sun java site.

✔ jdk-6u23-linux-i586.bin

✔ jre-6u23-linux-i586.bin

➢ Install JRE and JDK

➢ Set JAVA_HOME / PATH variables Under Linux Bash Profile:

In linux, unlike windows all the environment variables and the corresponding paths are saved in a special file known as .bashrc file. This file is hidden. It is stored in your root folder. So after going into root folder, click on “View option-> show hidden files”.

The.bashrc file will now be visible. Open this file and add following lines at the bottom:-

e.g. If your path is set to /usr/java/jdk1.5.0_07/bin/java, set it as follows:

export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_07/bin/java

export PATH=$PATH:/usr/java/jdk1.5.0_07/bin

——————————————————————————————————

2) Download and install Android SDK for linux:

URL: – http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r08-linux_86.tgz

After downloading, unzip the file and save it at appropriate location and also set the

path at very bottom of .bashrc file as:

export PATH=${PATH}:/home/”Your loginfolder”/android-sdk_r08-

linux_86/android-sdk-linux_86/platform-tools

——————————————————————————————————

3) Download ADT 8.0.1.

URL: – http://dl.google.com/android/ADT-8.0.1.zip

——————————————————————————————————

4) Download Eclipse 3.6 (Helios)

Eclips 3.6 can be downloaded from eclips site  (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/?tab=developer)

I have installed Eclipse 3.6 on my PC but in forums they have suggested to use

Eclipse 3.5 rather than 3.6.So here is the download link for Eclipse 3.5:-

http://archive.eclipse.org/technology/epp/downloads/release/galileo/R/eclipse-

java-galileo-linux-gtk.tar.gz

——————————————————————————————————

5) Configure Eclipse:

• Now set the path of jdk in the eclipse.
• Edit Eclipse.ini file.
• Add lines given below just above “-vmargs”.

-vm

/home/”Your loginfolder”/Downloads/New/new1/jdk1.6.0_23/bin/java

——————————————————————————————————

6) Installing the ADT Plugin in Eclipse

• Start Eclipse, then select Help > Install New Software.
• Click Add in the top-right corner.
• In the Add Site dialog, click Archive.
• Browse and select the downloaded zip file.
• Enter a name for the local update site (e.g., “Android Plugin”) in the “Name”  field.
• Click OK.
• In the Available Software dialog, select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Next.
• In the next window, you’ll see a list of the tools to be downloaded. Click Next.
• Read and accept the license agreements, then click Finish.
• When the installation completes, restart Eclipse.

——————————————————————————————————

7) Now we have only installed the Android setup. We Now launch SDK manager and

Download the current version of android for which we need to build/test the  Application.

Set Sdk path in Eclipse: – If you have installed eclipse, you need to set up the path

Of android SDK in the eclipse. Do it as follows.

• Select Window > Preferences… to open the Preferences panel (Mac OS X Eclipse > Preferences).
• Select Android from the left panel.
• For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse… and locate your downloaded SDK directory.
• Click Apply, then OK.

——————————————————————————————————

8 ) Go to android SDK>tools>emulator

The Emulator WILL NOT start.  This is because you need to change the file

Permission as executable to let the OS know that it is an executable. Otherwise it

Won’t recognize. So:-

• Go to the android installation directory->tools->Emulator.
• Right click on emulator icon.

That’s it! You are now ready to play with the Android on Linux. Let us know if you have any query.