Android SDK Tools for Linux ARM64

Native ARM64 (aarch64) builds of Android SDK tools — aapt2, aapt, aidl, zipalign, adb, fastboot, and more — compiled from official AOSP source code.

Google does not publish ARM64 Linux builds of these tools. If you develop Android/Flutter apps on an ARM64 Linux machine (Asahi Linux on Apple Silicon, Raspberry Pi, Ampere/Graviton servers, etc.), this project provides them.

Set Up ANDROID_HOME

Before using this tool, set ANDROID_HOME to tell the Android toolchain (and this script) where your SDK lives. Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc:

export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/android-sdk"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"

Then source ~/.bashrc (or restart your shell).

How setup.sh finds your SDK root (in priority order):

--sdk-root <path> flag (if passed)
$ANDROID_HOME environment variable
$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT environment variable
~/Android/Sdk (if it exists)
~/android-sdk (default — created if needed)

After install, your SDK directory will look like:

$ANDROID_HOME/
├── build-tools/
│   └── 35.0.2/           # aapt2, aapt, aidl, zipalign, dexdump, split-select
├── platform-tools/        # adb, fastboot, sqlite3, mke2fs, etc.
├── cmdline-tools/
│   └── latest/            # sdkmanager, avdmanager (Java — works on any arch)
├── platforms/
│   └── android-35/        # Android SDK platform (Java — works on any arch)
├── ndk/
│   └── 28.2.13676358/    # Shim: llvm-strip → system strip
└── cmake/
    └── 3.22.1/           # Shim: cmake → system cmake (filters Android flags)

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/hamza72x/android-sdk-linux-arm64.git
cd android-sdk-linux-arm64

# See what's available
./setup.sh list-versions

# Install verified pre-built binaries
./setup.sh install-build-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh install-platform-tools 35.0.2

# Install shims (NDK, CMake)
./setup.sh install-ndk 28.2.13676358
./setup.sh install-cmake

# Install cmdline-tools and platforms
./setup.sh install-cmd-tools
./setup.sh install-platforms android-35

# Verify everything
./setup.sh doctor

How It Works

Verified vs Unverified Versions

$ ./setup.sh list-versions

  build-tools
              35.0.2  [verified] (pre-built binary available)
              35.0.1  [unverified] (build from source)
              35.0.0  [unverified] (build from source)

  platform-tools
              35.0.2  [verified] (pre-built binary available)
              35.0.1  [unverified] (build from source)

  ndk
      28.2.13676358  [shim] (delegates to system tools)
      27.0.12077973  [shim] (delegates to system tools)

  cmake
               3.22.1  [shim] (delegates to system tools)

Verified — We tested these. Pre-built ARM64 binaries are available as GitHub Releases. Just install-* and go.
Unverified — Listed in the registry but not yet tested by us. You can build from source with build-* commands. If it works, submit a PR to mark it verified.
Shim — Not a real build. A lightweight wrapper that delegates to your system's native tools (e.g., llvm-strip -> system strip, cmake -> system cmake).

Commands Reference

Install Commands

These download pre-built ARM64 binaries (for verified versions) or guide you to build from source.

Command	Description
`install-build-tools <version>`	Install aapt2, aapt, aidl, zipalign, dexdump, split-select
`install-platform-tools <version>`	Install adb, fastboot, sqlite3, mke2fs, etc.
`install-ndk <version>`	Create NDK shim (llvm-strip, toolchain)
`install-cmake [version]`	Create CMake shim (default: 3.22.1)
`install-cmd-tools`	Install sdkmanager (Java-based, any arch)
`install-platforms [packages]`	Install Android platform SDKs

Examples:

./setup.sh install-build-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh install-platform-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh install-ndk 28.2.13676358
./setup.sh install-cmake
./setup.sh install-cmd-tools
./setup.sh install-platforms android-35 android-34

Build Commands

For unverified versions, or if you prefer to compile from source:

Command	Description
`build-build-tools <version>`	Clone AOSP source, apply patches, compile build-tools
`build-platform-tools <version>`	Clone AOSP source, apply patches, compile platform-tools

./setup.sh build-build-tools 35.0.1    # Unverified — build yourself
./setup.sh build-platform-tools 34.0.4  # Older version

Building from source will:

Clone ~38 AOSP repos from android.googlesource.com
Apply base patches (+ version-specific overrides if they exist)
Build protoc from AOSP's bundled protobuf
Compile all SDK tools with CMake + Ninja

Info Commands

Command	Description
`list-versions`	Show all known versions with verification status
`status`	Show what's currently installed in your SDK
`doctor`	Run diagnostic checks
`setup-gradle`	Configure Gradle aapt2 override

Global Options

All install/build commands accept --sdk-root <path> to override the SDK directory. By default it uses $ANDROID_HOME, $ANDROID_SDK_ROOT, or ~/android-sdk.

Flutter Setup

1. Install tools and shims

./setup.sh install-build-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh install-platform-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh install-cmd-tools
./setup.sh install-platforms android-35

2. Set up NDK shim

Check your project's android/app/build.gradle for ndkVersion, then:

./setup.sh install-ndk 28.2.13676358
./setup.sh install-cmake

Or auto-detect from your project directory:

cd ~/my-flutter-project
/path/to/setup.sh install-ndk    # reads ndkVersion from build.gradle

3. Set environment variables

If you haven't already, follow the Set Up ANDROID_HOME section above.

4. Build

flutter build apk --debug

Note: Release builds require Flutter's gen_snapshot AOT compiler which may not have a Linux ARM64 build depending on your Flutter version.

Building from Source

The build-* commands (see Build Commands above) handle everything automatically. You just need build dependencies installed first:

Fedora / RHEL / Asahi Linux:

sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ cmake ninja-build git python3 golang bison flex \
    zlib-devel openssl-devel libusb1-devel pcre2-devel expat-devel libpng-devel

Ubuntu / Debian:

sudo apt install gcc g++ cmake ninja-build git python3 golang bison flex \
    zlib1g-dev libssl-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev libpcre2-dev libexpat1-dev libpng-dev

Then:

./setup.sh build-build-tools 35.0.2
./setup.sh build-platform-tools 35.0.2

This clones ~38 AOSP repos (~2-4 GB), applies GCC/glibc compatibility patches, builds everything with CMake + Ninja, and installs the binaries into $ANDROID_HOME.

For manual build steps, internal architecture, and patch system details, see CONTRIBUTING.md.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for:

How the build system works internally (get_source.py, build.py, CMake)
The patch system (base vs version-specific, resolution order)
How to add and test new AOSP versions
CI/CD workflows

What's Included

build-tools

Binary	Description
`aapt2`	Android Asset Packaging Tool 2 (used by Gradle/AGP)
`aapt`	Android Asset Packaging Tool (legacy)
`aidl`	Android Interface Definition Language compiler
`zipalign`	APK zip alignment tool
`dexdump`	DEX file disassembler/inspector
`split-select`	APK split selection tool

platform-tools

Binary	Description
`adb`	Android Debug Bridge
`fastboot`	Bootloader flashing tool
`sqlite3`	SQLite CLI (Android version)
`etc1tool`	ETC1 texture tool
`hprof-conv`	HPROF converter
`mke2fs`	ext4 filesystem creator
`e2fsdroid`	ext4 filesystem tool
`make_f2fs`	F2FS filesystem creator
`make_f2fs_casefold`	F2FS filesystem creator (with casefolding)
`sload_f2fs`	F2FS filesystem loader

others

Binary	Description
`veridex`	DEX file verifier

Already works on ARM64 (Java-based)

sdkmanager, avdmanager (cmdline-tools)
d8, R8 (DEX compiler)
apksigner (APK signing)
Gradle

NDK and CMake Shims — Why?

NDK shim: Flutter's Gradle plugin requires NDK installed but only uses llvm-strip from it. Google's NDK is x86_64-only on Linux. Our shim creates the directory structure Gradle expects and points llvm-strip to your system's strip.

CMake shim: AGP downloads x86_64 cmake/ninja binaries. It also passes -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Android to cmake, which triggers Android platform detection requiring a full NDK. Our cmake shim delegates to your system cmake and filters out these flags. This works because Flutter's CMakeLists.txt is empty (it's just a trick to make AGP download the NDK).

Troubleshooting

`flutter build apk` fails with "NDK not found"

grep ndkVersion android/app/build.gradle
./setup.sh install-ndk <version-from-above>

`aapt2` errors during Gradle build

./setup.sh setup-gradle    # reconfigure aapt2 override

`jemalloc: Unsupported system page size`

AGP's x86_64 cmake binary is running. Fix:

./setup.sh install-cmake

sdkmanager installs x86_64 binaries

Expected. sdkmanager downloads x86_64 packages since Google doesn't publish ARM64 ones. Our ARM64 tools in the versioned directory take priority.

Tested On

Asahi Linux (Fedora 43) on Apple Silicon (M1/M2)
GCC 15.2.1, CMake 3.31, Ninja 1.13
Flutter 3.43.0, AGP 8.7.0
GitHub Actions ubuntu-24.04-arm (CI)

CI

Push to main / PRs: Builds all verified versions and verifies every binary is ARM64 (CI workflow)
Tag push (v*): Full build + creates GitHub Release with tarballs (Release workflow)

Source & Security

All native code comes from official AOSP at android.googlesource.com. No third-party code. Patches are minimal GCC/glibc compatibility fixes — auditable in patches/.

License

Apache 2.0 (same as AOSP).

Build system adapted from lzhiyong/android-sdk-tools.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 5 Commits
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
build-tools		build-tools
lib		lib
others		others
patches		patches
platform-tools		platform-tools
.gitignore		.gitignore
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
CMakeLists.txt		CMakeLists.txt
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
PLAN.md		PLAN.md
README.md		README.md
build.py		build.py
get_source.py		get_source.py
repos.json		repos.json
setup.sh		setup.sh
versions.json		versions.json

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

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Android SDK Tools for Linux ARM64

Set Up ANDROID_HOME

Quick Start

How It Works

Verified vs Unverified Versions

Commands Reference

Install Commands

Build Commands

Info Commands

Global Options

Flutter Setup

1. Install tools and shims

2. Set up NDK shim

3. Set environment variables

4. Build

Building from Source

Contributing

What's Included

build-tools

platform-tools

others

Already works on ARM64 (Java-based)

NDK and CMake Shims — Why?

Troubleshooting

flutter build apk fails with "NDK not found"

aapt2 errors during Gradle build

jemalloc: Unsupported system page size

sdkmanager installs x86_64 binaries

Tested On

CI

Source & Security

License

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`flutter build apk` fails with "NDK not found"

`aapt2` errors during Gradle build

`jemalloc: Unsupported system page size`

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