How to build an executable for Android shell

Question

Sometimes I need to run a command or script on my device, but they are not available or don't exist.

Can we add some additional commands to Android device's shell, except those commands that are already available on it?

For example, add screenrecord command to my device (my device has Android API lower than 19), which this is unavailable on it.

I know how to get the list of available commands on the device with adb shell

adb shell ls /system/bin 

but I want to add more custom commands and scripts, to do some special and work.

Is there any way to do it? Or it's impossible?

Answer 1

The answer provides a sequence of steps for building an executable for Android shell through both Eclipse (outdated) and Android Studio (4.1+ by the time of this writing). The last includes ndk-build and CMake.

---

I. PREPARE SOURCE CODE

As an example consider mycommand.c:

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    printf("My Command!\n");
    return 0;
}

---

II. BUILD EXECUTABLE

Eclipse (might be outdated)

In assumption that NDK location is set in Eclipse, create a new Android Application Project and do the following steps.

1. Add native support. Right click on the project in Project Explorer > Android Tools > Add Native Support > Finish

2. Add source code, i.e. put mycommand.c under project_root/jni folder.

3. Edit Android.mk under project_root/jni as follows:

   LOCAL_PATH := $(call my-dir)
   
   include $(CLEAR_VARS)
   
   LOCAL_MODULE     := mycommand
   LOCAL_SRC_FILES  := mycommand.c
   
   include $(BUILD_EXECUTABLE)
   

4. Create Application.mk * under the project_root/jni folder:

   APP_ABI := all
   

5. Build executable and find it under project_root/libs/<abi>/mycommand.

*Binaries for all supported CPU architectures are generated here. Use adb shell cat /proc/cpuinfo to find out the CPU architecture and set APP_ABI as per Supported ABIs.

---

Android Studio and ndk-build

The steps are as follows.

1. Add mycommand.c, Android.mk (same as in the Eclipse section above) to the /app/src/main/cpp folder.

2. Edit build.gradle:

   android {
       ...
       defaultConfig {
           ...
           externalNativeBuild {
               ndkBuild {
                   targets "mycommand"
                   // use a specific ABI filter if needed
                   // abiFilters "armeabi-v7a"
               }
           }
       }
       externalNativeBuild {
           ndkBuild {
               path "src/main/cpp/Android.mk"
           }
       }
   }
   

3. Build project and find the executable under /app/.externalNativeBuild/ndkBuild/debug/obj/local/<abi>/mycommand

---

Android Studio and CMake

1. Create a project using the Native C++ template.

2. Add mycommand.c to the /app/src/main/cpp folder and edit CMakeLists.txt:

   cmake_minimum_required(VERSION x.x.x)
   
   add_executable(mycommand
                  mycommand.c )
   

3. Edit build.gradle:

   android {
       ...
       defaultConfig {
           ...
           externalNativeBuild {
               cmake {
                   targets "mycommand"
                   // use a specific ABI filter if needed
                   // abiFilters "armeabi-v7a"
               }
           }
       }
       ...
       externalNativeBuild {
           cmake {
               path "src/main/cpp/CMakeLists.txt"
           }
       }
   }
   

4. Build project and find the executable under /app/build/intermediates/cmake/debug/obj/<abi>/mycommand

---

III. PUSH BINARY INTO DEVICE

Push mycommand binary from where it is located into your device. Keep in mind that files on SD card aren't executable by default, so the binary should be pushed into the device's internal storage. Depending of whether device is rooted or not you have the following options:

• On non-rooted device you can push the binary to /data/local/tmp:

   adb push mycommand /data/local/tmp
  

• On rooted device you can push the binary to SD card and then copy it to /system/bin (after remounting the partition in read-write mode) along with the other executable files:

   adb push mycommand /path/to/sdcard
   adb shell
   su
   mount -o rw,remount /system
   cp /path/to/sdcard/mycommand /system/bin
  

---

IV. SET EXECUTABLE PERMISSION (optional)

Set the permission of the binary to be executable (this might not be needed in case of /data/local/tmp). Below chmod 555(r-xr-xr-x) is used:

adb shell chmod 555 /path/to/mycommand

---

V. RUN COMMAND

Now you can shell into your device (with adb shell) and execute the command.

• On non-rooted device use the absolute path to the command:

   $ /data/local/tmp/mycommand
   My Command!
  

• On rooted device, in case the binary has been copied to /system/bin, you can call it by the file name:

   $ mycommand
   My Command!
  

Answer 2

If in case you are getting this error:

error: only position independent executables (PIE) are supported when you created the executable using CMake,

add these lines to app gradle

default config
{
..........
..........
externalNativeBuild
{
 cmake 
  { 
   targets "my_command"
   abiFilters "armeabi-v7a"
   arguments "-DANDROID_PIE=ON" //important
  }
 }
...........
}