tools/devices/managing-avds-cmdline.jd

page.title=Managing AVDs from the Command Line
parent.title=Managing Virtual Devices
parent.link=index.html
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
  <div id="qv">
  <h2>In this document</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="#listingtargets">Listing Targets</a></li>
    <li><a href="#AVDCmdLine">Creating AVDs</a>
      <ol>
        <li><a href="#CustomDensity">Customize the device resolution or density</a></li>
        <li><a href="#DefaultLocation">Default location of AVD files</a></li>
        <li><a href="#hardwareopts">Setting hardware emulation options</a></li>
      </ol>
    </li>
    <li><a href="#moving">Moving an AVD</a></li>
    <li><a href="#updating">Updating an AVD</a></li>
    <li><a href="#deleting">Deleting an AVD</a></li>
  </ol>
  <h2>See also</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/building/building-cmdline.html">Building and Running
from the Command Line</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}tools/devices/emulator.html">Using the Android
Emulator</a></li>
  </ol>
  </div>
</div>


<p>The <code>android</code> tool lets you manage AVDs on the command line. For a complete reference
of the command line options that you can use, see the reference for the
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/android.html"><code>android</code></a> tool.</p>


<h2 id="listingtargets">Listing Targets</h2>

<p>To generate a list of system image targets, use this command: </p>

<pre>android list targets</pre>

<p>The <code>android</code> tool scans the <code>&lt;sdk&gt;/platforms/</code> and
<code>&lt;sdk&gt;/add-ons/</code> directories looking for valid system images and
then generates the list of targets. Here's an example of the command output:
</p>

<pre>Available Android targets:
id: 1 or "android-3"
     Name: Android 1.5
     Type: Platform
     API level: 3
     Revision: 4
     Skins: QVGA-L, HVGA-L, HVGA (default), HVGA-P, QVGA-P
id: 2 or "android-4"
     Name: Android 1.6
     Type: Platform
     API level: 4
     Revision: 3
     Skins: QVGA, HVGA (default), WVGA800, WVGA854
id: 3 or "android-7"
     Name: Android 2.1-update1
     Type: Platform
     API level: 7
     Revision: 2
     Skins: QVGA, WQVGA400, HVGA (default), WVGA854, WQVGA432, WVGA800
id: 4 or "android-8"
     Name: Android 2.2
     Type: Platform
     API level: 8
     Revision: 2
     Skins: WQVGA400, QVGA, WVGA854, HVGA (default), WVGA800, WQVGA432
id: 5 or "android-9"
     Name: Android 2.3
     Type: Platform
     API level: 9
     Revision: 1
     Skins: HVGA (default), WVGA800, WQVGA432, QVGA, WVGA854, WQVGA400
</pre>


<h2 id="AVDCmdLine">Creating AVDs</h2>

<p>In addition to creating AVDs with the
<a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/avd-manager.html">AVD Manager user interface</a>,
you can also create them by passing in command line arguments to the <code>android</code> tool.
</p>

<p>Open a terminal window and change to
the <code>&lt;sdk&gt;/tools/</code> directory, if needed.</p>

<p>To create each AVD, you issue the command <code>android create avd</code>,
with options that specify a name for the new AVD and the system image you want
to run on the emulator when the AVD is invoked. You can specify other options on
the command line also, such as the emulated SD card size, the emulator skin, or a custom
location for the user data files.</p>

<p>Here's the command-line usage for creating an AVD: </p>

<pre>android create avd -n &lt;name&gt; -t &lt;targetID&gt; [-&lt;option&gt; &lt;value&gt;] ... </pre>

<p>You can use any name you want for the AVD, but since you are likely to be
creating multiple AVDs, you should choose a name that lets you recognize the
general characteristics offered by the AVD. The target ID is an integer assigned by the
<code>android</code> tool. The target ID is not derived from the system image name,
version, or API Level, or other attribute, so you need to run the <code>android list targets</code>
command to list the target ID of each system image. You should do this <em>before</em> you run
the <code>android create avd</code> command. See the <a
href="{@docRoot}tools/help/android.html">android</a>
tool documentation for more information on the command line options.</p>


<p>When you've selected the target you want to use and made a note of its ID,
use the <code>android create avd</code> command to create the AVD, supplying the
target ID as the <code>-t</code> argument. Here's an example that creates an
AVD with name "my_android1.5" and target ID "2" (the standard Android 1.5
system image in the list above): </p>

<pre>android create avd -n my_android1.5 -t 2</pre>

<p>If the target you selected was a standard Android system image ("Type:
platform"), the <code>android</code> tool next asks you whether you want to
create a custom hardware profile. </p>
<pre>Android 1.5 is a basic Android platform.
Do you wish to create a custom hardware profile [no]</pre>

<p>If you want to set custom hardware emulation options for the AVD, enter
"yes" and set values as needed. If you want to use the default hardware
emulation options for the AVD, just press the return key (the default is "no").
The <code>android</code> tool creates the AVD with name and system image mapping you
requested, with the options you specified. For more information, see <a href="#hardwareopts">
Setting Hardware Emulation Options</a>.

<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> If you are creating an AVD whose target is an SDK add-on, the
<code>android</code> tool does not allow you to set hardware emulation options.
It assumes that the provider of the add-on has set emulation options
appropriately for the device that the add-on is modeling, and so prevents you
from resetting the options. </p>


<h3 id="CustomDensity">Customize the device resolution or density</h3>

<p>When testing your application, we recommend that you test your application in several different
AVDs, using different screen configurations (different combinations of size and density). In
addition, you should set up the AVDs to run at a physical size that closely matches an actual
device.</p>

<p>To set up your AVDs for a specific resolution or density, follow these steps:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Use the <code>create avd</code> command to create a new AVD, specifying
the <code>--skin</code> option with a value that references either a default
skin name (such as "WVGA800") or a custom skin resolution (such as 240x432).
Here's an example:
     <pre>android create avd -n &lt;name&gt; -t &lt;targetID&gt; --skin WVGA800</pre>
  </li>
  <li>To specify a custom density for the skin, answer "yes" when asked whether
you want to create a custom hardware profile for the new AVD.</li>
  <li>Continue through the various profile settings until the tool asks you to
specify "Abstracted LCD density" (<em>hw.lcd.density</em>). Enter an appropriate
value, such as "120" for a low-density screen, "160" for a medium density screen,
or "240" for a high-density screen.</li>
  <li>Set any other hardware options and complete the AVD creation.</li>
</ol>

<p>In the example above (WVGA medium density), the new AVD will emulate a 5.8"
WVGA screen.</p>

<p>As an alternative to adjusting the emulator skin configuration, you can use
the emulator skin's default density and add the <code>-dpi-device</code> option
to the <a href="{@docRoot}tools/help/emulator.html">emulator</a> command line when
starting the AVD. For example:</p>

<pre>emulator -avd WVGA800 -scale 96dpi -dpi-device 160</pre>


<h3 id="DefaultLocation">Default location of AVD files</h3>

<p>When you create an AVD, the <code>android</code> tool creates a dedicated directory for it
on your development computer. The directory contains the AVD configuration file,
the user data image and SD card image (if available), and any other files
associated with the device. Note that the directory does not contain a system
image &mdash; instead, the AVD configuration file contains a mapping to the
system image, which it loads when the AVD is launched. </p>

<p>The <code>android</code> tool also creates an <code>&lt;AVD_name&gt;.ini</code> file for the AVD at the
root of the <code>.android/avd/</code> directory on your computer. The file specifies the
location of the AVD directory and always remains at the root the .android
directory.</p>

<p>By default, the <code>android</code> tool creates the AVD directory inside
<code>~/.android/avd/</code> (on Linux/Mac), <code>C:\Documents and
Settings\&lt;user&gt;\.android\</code> on Windows XP, and
<code>C:\Users\&lt;user&gt;\.android\</code> on Windows 7 and Vista.
If you want to use a custom location for the AVD directory, you
can do so by using the <code>-p &lt;path&gt;</code> option when
you create the AVD: </p>

<pre>android create avd -n my_android1.5 -t 2 -p path/to/my/avd</pre>

<p>If the .android directory is hosted on a network drive, we recommend using
the <code>-p</code> option to place the AVD directory in another location.
The  AVD's .ini file remains in the .android directory on the network
drive, regardless of the location of the AVD directory.


<h3 id="hardwareopts">Setting hardware emulation options</h3>

<p>When you are creating a new AVD that uses a standard Android system image ("Type:
platform"), the <code>android</code> tool lets you set hardware emulation
options for virtual device. The table below lists the options available and the
default values, as well as the names of properties that store the emulated
hardware options in the AVD's configuration file (the config.ini file in the
AVD's local directory). </p>

<p class="table-caption"><strong>Table 1.</strong> Available hardware profile options for AVDs and
the default values </p>

<table>
<tr>
<th>Characteristic</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Property</th>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Device ram size</td>
<td>The amount of physical RAM on the device, in megabytes. Default value is "96".
<td>hw.ramSize</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Touch-screen support</td>
<td>Whether there is a touch screen or not on the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.touchScreen

<tr>
<td>Trackball support </td>
<td>Whether there is a trackball on the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.trackBall</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Keyboard support</td>
<td>Whether the device has a QWERTY keyboard. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.keyboard</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>DPad support</td>
<td>Whether the device has DPad keys. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.dPad</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>GSM modem support</td>
<td>Whether there is a GSM modem in the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.gsmModem</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Camera support</td>
<td>Whether the device has a camera. Default value is "no".</td>
<td>hw.camera</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Maximum horizontal camera pixels</td>
<td>Default value is "640".</td>
<td>hw.camera.maxHorizontalPixels</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Maximum vertical camera pixels</td>
<td>Default value is "480".</td>
<td>hw.camera.maxVerticalPixels</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>GPS support</td>
<td>Whether there is a GPS in the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.gps</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Battery support</td>
<td>Whether the device can run on a battery. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.battery</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Accelerometer</td>
<td>Whether there is an accelerometer in the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.accelerometer</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Audio recording support</td>
<td>Whether the device can record audio. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.audioInput</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Audio playback support</td>
<td>Whether the device can play audio. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.audioOutput</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>SD Card support</td>
<td>Whether the device supports insertion/removal of virtual SD Cards. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>hw.sdCard</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Cache partition support</td>
<td>Whether we use a /cache partition on the device. Default value is "yes".</td>
<td>disk.cachePartition</td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Cache partition size</td>
<td>Default value is "66MB".</td>
<td>disk.cachePartition.size </td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Abstracted LCD density</td>
<td>Sets the generalized density characteristic used by the AVD's screen. Default value is "160".</td>
<td>hw.lcd.density </td>
</tr>

<tr>
<td>Trackball support</td>
<td>Whether there is a trackball present.</td>
<td>hw.trackBall </td>
</tr>
</table>


<h2 id="moving">Moving an AVD</h2>

<p>If you want to move or rename an AVD, you can do so using this command:</p>

<pre>android move avd -n &lt;name&gt; [-&lt;option&gt; &lt;value&gt;] ...</pre>

<h2 id="updating">Updating an AVD</h2>

<p>If, for any reason, the platform/add-on root folder has its name changed (maybe because the user has installed an update of the platform/add-on) then the AVD will not be able to load the system image that it is mapped to. In this case, the <code>android list targets</code> command will produce this output:

<pre>The following Android Virtual Devices could not be loaded:
Name: foo
Path: &lt;path&gt;/.android/avd/foo.avd
Error: Invalid value in image.sysdir. Run 'android update avd -n foo' </pre>

<p>To fix this error, use the <code>android update avd</code> command to recompute the path to the system images.</p>

<h2 id="deleting">Deleting an AVD</h2>

<p>You can use the <code>android</code> tool to delete an AVD. Here is the command usage:</p>

<pre>android delete avd -n &lt;name&gt; </pre>

<p>When you issue the command, the <code>android</code> tool looks for an AVD matching the
specified name deletes the AVD's directory and files. </p>