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Android development tools installation -
Tutorial
Lars Vogel
Version 8.5
Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2013 Lars Vogel
04.01.2014
How to install the Android development tools
This document describes how to install and configure the Android development tools.
Table of Contents
1. Installation of the Android development tools
2. Requirements
2.1. System requirements
2.2. Requirements for using a 64-bit Linux
2.3. Linux and OpenGL - Failed to load libGL.so
3. Install Android Developer Tools
3.1. Download packaged Android Developer
Tools
3.2. Stand-alone ADT installation
3.3. Update an existing Eclipse IDE
4. Install Android SDK version
4.1. Using the Android SDK manager
4.2. Install support library
5. Accessing the Android SDK code in Eclipse
5.1. Installation
5.2. Connect source to the Eclipse IDE
5.3. Validate
6. Android Studio
6.1. Android Studio based on IntelliJ IDEA
6.2. Installation
7. Updating an Eclipse IDE for Android development
7.1. Install ADT Plug-ins and Android SDK
7.2. Manual installation of the Android SDK
8. Support free vogella tutorials
8.1. Thank you
8.2. Questions and Discussion
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1. Installation of the Android development
tools
Google provides tools to develop Android applications. You can choose between Eclipse or IntelliJ based tools.
This guide describes both approaches, but the focus is on the Eclipse based tooling.
Tip
Selecting an IDE is primarily based on personal preferences. The team at Google plans
to support both the Eclipse as well as the IntelliJ based tools. The author of this text is a
long term Eclipse user, contributor and committer and therefore selects Eclipse as his
primary tooling for Android development.
2. Requirements
2.1. System requirements
Development for Android can be done on a reasonably sized computer. For a nice experience a modern computer
is recommended, for example, a 2.6 GHz CPU with at least 8 GB of memory. An SSD speeds up the start of the
Android emulator significantly.
2.2. Requirements for using a 64-bit Linux
The Android SDK is 32-bit, therefore on a 64-bit Linux system you need to have the package ia32-libs installed.
For Ubuntu you can do this via the following command.
# Ubuntu 12.04
apt-get install ia32-libs
# Ubuntu 13.04
sudo apt-get install libc6-i386 lib32stdc++6 lib32gcc1 lib32ncurses5
# Ubuntu 13.10
sudo apt-get install libc6-i386 lib32stdc++6 lib32gcc1 lib32ncurses5 lib32z1
Please check your distribution documentation if you are using a different flavor of Linux.
2.3. Linux and OpenGL - Failed to load libGL.so
On Ubuntu 13.04 you also have to install the OpenGL support. This can be done on Ubuntu 13.04 via following
command.
# install OpenGL support
sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-dev
Please check your distribution documentation if you are using a different flavor of Linux.
3. Install Android Developer Tools
3.1. Download packaged Android Developer Tools
Google provides a packaged and configured Android development environment based on the Eclipse IDE called
Android Developer Tools. Under the following URL you find an archive file which includes all required tools for
Android development: Getting the Android SDK.
3.2. Stand-alone ADT installation
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Extract the zip file and start the Android Developer Tools (Eclipse) which are located in the eclipse folder. You can
do this by double-clicking on the eclipse native launcher (e.g., eclipse.exe under Windows).
3.3. Update an existing Eclipse IDE
See Section 7, Updating an Eclipse IDE for Android development for a description on how to update your
existing Eclipse IDE to perform Android development.
4. Install Android SDK version
4.1. Using the Android SDK manager
The Android SDK Manager allows you to install specific versions of the Android API. Select Window Android SDK
Manager from the Eclipse menu or use the tools/android program from your Android SDK installation.
Tip
If you chose the packaged Android Developer Tools download based on the Eclipse
IDE, the Android SDK is located in the sdk folder of the extracted archive file.
The Android SDK Manager allows you to install and delete Android packages.
Select the version of Android you would like to develop for from the tree and press the Install button. The following
screenshot shows the selection for the API 18 version of Android.
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Press the Install button and accept the license for all packages. After the installation is completed, close the Android
SDK Manager and restart the Eclipse IDE.
4.2. Install support library
The support library allows you to use functionality provided by higher Android releases in lower Android versions.
In the Android SDK Manager select Extras and install the Android support library.
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Note
Android currently has several versions of the library, the v4, v7 and v13 version which
are valid as of the respective API level of Android. For example, the support library v7
works as of Android devices with version API 7. Higher versions of the support library
require also the lower versions to work. For example, support library v7 requires the v4
library.
5. Accessing the Android SDK code in Eclipse
5.1. Installation
During Android development it is useful to have access to the Android source code.
You can download the Android source code via the Android SDK Manager by selecting the Sources for Android
SDK.
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The sources are stored in the path_to_android_sdk/sources/android-xx directory. where xx is the API level of
Android, e.g., 19 for the Android 4.4 version.
5.2. Connect source to the Eclipse IDE
To connect the Android source with the Eclipse IDE, you need first to create an Android project. After you have a
project you can assign the source to the JAR file via its properties.
To connect the sources with the android.jar file in your Android project, right-click on your android.jar in the
Package Explorer view and select Properties Java Source Attachment.
Select External location and press the External Folder... button. Browse to the
path_to_android_sdk/sources/android-xx location and press the OK button.
5.3. Validate
Validate that you can see the Android source code. For example, open the View class via the Open Type dialog
Ctrl+Shift+T and ensure that you see the source code.
6. Android Studio
6.1. Android Studio based on IntelliJ IDEA
Google also provides a modified version of the IntelliJ IDE called Android Studio for developing Android applications.
6.2. Installation
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This book uses Eclipse for its description, but a very similar functionality is available for Android Studio. See
Installing Android Studio to learn how to install and use it.
7. Updating an Eclipse IDE for Android
development
7.1. Install ADT Plug-ins and Android SDK
The following description assumes that you already have a flavor of the Eclipse IDE installed which you want to
update to develop Android applications. Use the Eclipse update manager via Help Install new software and start
the android to install all available components for the Android Development Tools (ADT) from the following URL:
https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/
After the new Android development components are installed, you will be prompted to install the Android SDK. You
can use the following wizard or go to the next section to learn how to do it manually.
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7.2. Manual installation of the Android SDK
After the installation of the ADT the Eclipse tooling allows to download the Android SDK automatically. Alternatively
you can also manually download the Android SDK from the Android SDK download page.
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
The download contains a zip file, which you can extract to any place in your file system, e.g., on my Linux system I
placed it into the /home/vogella/android-sdks folder. Avoid using spaces in the path name, otherwise you may
experience problems with the usage of the Android SDK.
You also have to define the location of the Android SDK in the Eclipse Preferences. In Eclipse open the Preferences
dialog via the menu Window Preferences. Select Android and enter the installation path of the Android SDK.
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8.1. Thank you
Please consider a contribution if this article helped you.
8.2. Questions and Discussion
If you find errors in this tutorial, please notify me (see the top of the page). Please note that due to the high
volume of feedback I receive, I cannot answer questions to your implementation. Ensure you have read the vogella
FAQ as I don't respond to questions already answered there.