NOTES-ANDROID.md revision 1.1 1 1.1 christos Notes for Android platforms
2 1.1 christos ===========================
3 1.1 christos
4 1.1 christos Requirement details
5 1.1 christos -------------------
6 1.1 christos
7 1.1 christos Beside basic tools like perl and make you'll need to download the Android
8 1.1 christos NDK. It's available for Linux, macOS and Windows, but only Linux
9 1.1 christos version was actually tested. There is no reason to believe that macOS
10 1.1 christos wouldn't work. And as for Windows, it's unclear which "shell" would be
11 1.1 christos suitable, MSYS2 might have best chances. NDK version should play lesser
12 1.1 christos role, the goal is to support a range of most recent versions.
13 1.1 christos
14 1.1 christos Configuration
15 1.1 christos -------------
16 1.1 christos
17 1.1 christos Android is a cross-compiled target and you can't rely on `./Configure`
18 1.1 christos to find out the configuration target for you. You have to name your
19 1.1 christos target explicitly; there are `android-arm`, `android-arm64`, `android-mips`,
20 1.1 christos `android-mip64`, `android-x86` and `android-x86_64` (`*MIPS` targets are no
21 1.1 christos longer supported with NDK R20+).
22 1.1 christos
23 1.1 christos Do not pass --cross-compile-prefix (as you might be tempted), as it
24 1.1 christos will be "calculated" automatically based on chosen platform. However,
25 1.1 christos you still need to know the prefix to extend your PATH, in order to
26 1.1 christos invoke `$(CROSS_COMPILE)clang` [`*gcc` on NDK 19 and lower] and company.
27 1.1 christos (`./Configure` will fail and give you a hint if you get it wrong.)
28 1.1 christos
29 1.1 christos Apart from `PATH` adjustment you need to set `ANDROID_NDK_ROOT` environment
30 1.1 christos to point at the `NDK` directory. If you're using a side-by-side NDK the path
31 1.1 christos will look something like `/some/where/android-sdk/ndk/<ver>`, and for a
32 1.1 christos standalone NDK the path will be something like `/some/where/android-ndk-<ver>`.
33 1.1 christos Both variables are significant at both configuration and compilation times.
34 1.1 christos The NDK customarily supports multiple Android API levels, e.g. `android-14`,
35 1.1 christos `android-21`, etc. By default latest API level is chosen. If you need to target
36 1.1 christos an older platform pass the argument `-D__ANDROID_API__=N` to `Configure`,
37 1.1 christos with `N` being the numerical value of the target platform version. For example,
38 1.1 christos to compile for Android 10 arm64 with a side-by-side NDK r20.0.5594570
39 1.1 christos
40 1.1 christos export ANDROID_NDK_ROOT=/home/whoever/Android/android-sdk/ndk/20.0.5594570
41 1.1 christos PATH=$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.9/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
42 1.1 christos ./Configure android-arm64 -D__ANDROID_API__=29
43 1.1 christos make
44 1.1 christos
45 1.1 christos Older versions of the NDK have GCC under their common prebuilt tools
46 1.1 christos directory, so the bin path will be slightly different. EG: to compile
47 1.1 christos for ICS on ARM with NDK 10d:
48 1.1 christos
49 1.1 christos export ANDROID_NDK_ROOT=/some/where/android-ndk-10d
50 1.1 christos PATH=$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/toolchains/arm-linux-androideabi-4.8/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
51 1.1 christos ./Configure android-arm -D__ANDROID_API__=14
52 1.1 christos make
53 1.1 christos
54 1.1 christos Caveat lector! Earlier OpenSSL versions relied on additional `CROSS_SYSROOT`
55 1.1 christos variable set to `$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/platforms/android-<api>/arch-<arch>` to
56 1.1 christos appoint headers-n-libraries' location. It's still recognized in order
57 1.1 christos to facilitate migration from older projects. However, since API level
58 1.1 christos appears in `CROSS_SYSROOT` value, passing `-D__ANDROID_API__=N` can be in
59 1.1 christos conflict, and mixing the two is therefore not supported. Migration to
60 1.1 christos `CROSS_SYSROOT`-less setup is recommended.
61 1.1 christos
62 1.1 christos One can engage clang by adjusting PATH to cover same NDK's clang. Just
63 1.1 christos keep in mind that if you miss it, Configure will try to use gcc...
64 1.1 christos Also, PATH would need even further adjustment to cover unprefixed, yet
65 1.1 christos target-specific, ar and ranlib. It's possible that you don't need to
66 1.1 christos bother, if binutils-multiarch is installed on your Linux system.
67 1.1 christos
68 1.1 christos Another option is to create so called "standalone toolchain" tailored
69 1.1 christos for single specific platform including Android API level, and assign its
70 1.1 christos location to `ANDROID_NDK_ROOT`. In such case you have to pass matching
71 1.1 christos target name to Configure and shouldn't use `-D__ANDROID_API__=N`. `PATH`
72 1.1 christos adjustment becomes simpler, `$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/bin:$PATH` suffices.
73 1.1 christos
74 1.1 christos Running tests (on Linux)
75 1.1 christos ------------------------
76 1.1 christos
77 1.1 christos This is not actually supported. Notes are meant rather as inspiration.
78 1.1 christos
79 1.1 christos Even though build output targets alien system, it's possible to execute
80 1.1 christos test suite on Linux system by employing qemu-user. The trick is static
81 1.1 christos linking. Pass -static to Configure, then edit generated Makefile and
82 1.1 christos remove occurrences of -ldl and -pie flags. You would also need to pick
83 1.1 christos API version that comes with usable static libraries, 42/2=21 used to
84 1.1 christos work. Once built, you should be able to
85 1.1 christos
86 1.1 christos env EXE_SHELL=qemu-<arch> make test
87 1.1 christos
88 1.1 christos If you need to pass additional flag to qemu, quotes are your friend, e.g.
89 1.1 christos
90 1.1 christos env EXE_SHELL="qemu-mips64el -cpu MIPS64R6-generic" make test
91