Tools installation¶

This page explains how to install the various tools used with Replicant. It is assumed that you are running a GNU/Linux operating system.

Note: you may need to run the tools as root if your current user doesn't have USB access privileges.

From distributions¶

Many distributions already have packages for the most common tools.

Using the tools from your distribution have many advantages:

• It's often easier to install
• They are often more up to date and more tested than the ones shipped by Replicant

Parabola¶

sudo pacman -S android-tools android-udev heimdall

Debian and Ubuntu¶

sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb android-tools-fastboot heimdall-flash

Guix¶

guix install adb heimdall fastboot mkbootimg

Installing it from Replicant¶

Some of the tools are also built with the Replicant releases.

1. Download the adb, fastboot, heimdall, mkbootimg and unpackbootimg tools, with their corresponding .asc signatures files from ReplicantImages for the latest image.
2. Make sure you have added the Replicant release key of the latest version to your GPG keyring
3. Check the signature of the each tools:

gpg --armor --verify path/to/adb.asc path/to/adb
gpg --armor --verify path/to/fastboot.asc path/to/fastboot
gpg --armor --verify path/to/heimdall.asc path/to/heimdall
gpg --armor --verify path/to/mkbootimg.asc path/to/mkbootimg
gpg --armor --verify path/to/unpackbootimg.asc path/to/unpackbootimg

4. Make sure the check succeeds, do not run the binary if it doesn't!

As the tools are built as a 32 bit binary, you will need to install compatibility libraries for 32 bits executables if your computer is running on a 64 bit architecture.
5. Make sure tools can be executed:

chmod a+x adb
chmod a+x fastboot
chmod a+x heimdall
chmod a+x mkbootimg
chmod a+x unpackbootimg

6. You can now use the tools. As they weren't installed in the system path, you need to go in the directory they were downloaded in and add a './' in front of the commands.
For instance if you want to obtain a list of commands accepted by adb you can use the following command:

./adb --help