The following is a step-by-step procedure to install the Android SDK on a Windows 10 machine:
- Before the start of the Android SDK installation, make sure the system has the latest Java Development Kit (JDK) installed, as the Android SDK is dependent on Java SE Development Kit. JDK can be downloaded from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html. Select the correct download based on your operating system.
- Download the latest version of SDK tools package from https://developer.android.com/studio/#command-tools.
- Unzip the archive you have just downloaded at the location of your choice. That's it: you're ready to go.
Let's look at the most interesting parts of the SDK tools from a forensic point of view:
- apkanalyzer: This allows you to examine the contents of an APK file in a fast and efficient manner. For example, you can collect information about application ID, version code, and version name and analyze the contents of its manifest, the DEX files inside it, as well as resources, such as texts, images, and strings. You can find it under sdk oolsin.
- avdmanager: This allows you to create and manage Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) using the command line. Such AVDs can help you with malware analysis or can be used for testing if you don't have a physical Android device, but want to research different applications for new forensic artifacts. You can find it under sdk oolsin.
- emulator: This QEMU-based device-emulation tool that allows you to debug and test applications, including malicious ones, in an actual Android runtime environment. You can find it under sdkemulator.
- sdkmanager: This helps you to keep your SDK tools updated. With this tool you can view, install, update, and uninstall packages. You can find it under sdk oolsin.
- adb or Android Debug Bridge: This is a command-line tool that allows you to communicate with a device. It can be used not only for installing applications or copying data from a device, but also can provide a forensic examiner with a Unix shell. You can find it under sdkplatform-tools.
- fastboot: This allows you to flash a device different system images. It can be used, for example, for flashing custom recovery images—you'll learn about them later in this chapter. You can find it under sdkplatform-tools.
It's important to note that so-called SDK platform tools are not included in SDK tools by default, and you'll have to install it; here is how to do it:
sdkmanager.bat "platform-tools"
If you think that you don't need all of the SDK tools, but want to work only with platform tools, you can get it on Android Developers (https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/platform-tools). All you need to start using these tools is to extract contents of the downloaded archive to a directory of your choice.