1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
3 @setfilename fdroid.info
4 @documentencoding UTF-8
5 @settitle F-Droid Server Manual
9 This manual is for the F-Droid repository server tools.
11 Copyright @copyright{} 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 Ciaran Gultnieks
13 Copyright @copyright{} 2011 Henrik Tunedal, Michael Haas, John Sullivan
15 Copyright @copyright{} 2013 David Black
17 Copyright @copyright{} 2013, 2014, 2015 Daniel MartÃ
19 Copyright @copyright{} 2015, 2016 Boris Kraut
22 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
23 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
24 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
25 with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
26 A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
27 Free Documentation License".
32 @title F-Droid Server Manual
33 @author Ciaran Gultnieks and the F-Droid project
35 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
51 * System Requirements::
53 * Simple Binary Repository::
54 * Building Applications::
55 * Importing Applications::
60 * Vulnerability Scanning::
61 * GNU Free Documentation License::
68 The F-Droid server tools provide various scripts and tools that are used
69 to maintain the main F-Droid application repository. You can use these same
70 tools to create your own additional or alternative repository for publishing,
71 or to assist in creating, testing and submitting metadata to the main
75 @node System Requirements
76 @chapter System Requirements
80 The system requirements for using the tools will vary depending on your
81 intended usage. At the very least, you'll need:
89 The Android SDK Tools and Build-tools.
90 Note that F-Droid does not assume that you have the Android SDK in your
91 @code{PATH}: these directories will be specified in your repository
92 configuration. Recent revisions of the SDK have @code{aapt} located in
93 android-sdk/build-tools/ and it may be necessary to make a symlink to it in
94 android-sdk/platform-tools/
97 If you intend to build applications from source you'll also need most, if not
98 all, of the following:
102 JDK (Debian package openjdk-6-jdk): openjdk-6 is recommended though openjdk-7
105 VCS clients: svn, git, git-svn, hg, bzr
107 A keystore for holding release keys. (Safe, secure and well backed up!)
110 If you intend to use the 'Build Server' system, for secure and clean builds
111 (highly recommended), you will also need:
115 VirtualBox (debian package virtualbox)
117 Ruby (debian packages ruby and rubygems)
119 Vagrant (debian package vagrant - 1.4.x or higher required)
121 vagrant-cachier plugin (unpackaged): `vagrant plugin install vagrant-cachier`
123 Paramiko (debian package python-paramiko)
125 Imaging (debian package python-imaging)
128 On the other hand, if you want to build the apps directly on your system
129 without the 'Build Server' system, you may need:
133 All SDK platforms requested by the apps you want to build
134 (The Android SDK is made available by Google under a proprietary license but
135 within that, the SDK platforms, support library and some other components are
136 under the Apache license and source code is provided.
137 Google APIs, used for building apps using Google Maps, are free to the extent
138 that the library comes pre-installed on the device.
139 Google Play Services, Google Admob and others are proprietary and shouldn't be
140 included in the main F-Droid repository.)
142 A version of the Android NDK
144 Ant with Contrib Tasks (Debian packages ant and ant-contrib)
146 Maven (Debian package maven)
148 JavaCC (Debian package javacc)
150 Miscellaneous packages listed in
151 buildserver/cookbooks/fdroidbuild-general/recipes/default.rb
152 of the F-Droid server repository
158 @cindex setup, installation
160 Because the tools and data will always change rapidly, you will almost
161 certainly want to work from a git clone of the tools at this stage. To
165 git clone https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidserver.git
168 You now have lots of stuff in the fdroidserver directory, but the most
169 important is the 'fdroid' command script which you run to perform all tasks.
170 This script is always run from a repository data directory, so the
171 most sensible thing to do next is to put your new fdroidserver directory
176 To do anything, you'll need at least one repository data directory. It's
177 from this directory that you run the @code{fdroid} command to perform all
178 repository management tasks. You can either create a brand new one, or
179 grab a copy of the data used by the main F-Droid repository:
182 git clone https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroiddata.git
185 Regardless of the intended usage of the tools, you will always need to set
186 up some basic configuration details. This is done by creating a file called
187 @code{config.py} in the data directory. You should do this by copying the
188 example file (@code{./examples/config.py}) from the fdroidserver project to
189 your data directory and then editing according to the instructions within.
191 Once configured in this way, all the functionality of the tools is accessed
192 by running the @code{fdroid} command. Run it on its own to get a list of the
193 available sub-commands.
195 You can follow any command with @code{--help} to get a list of additional
196 options available for that command.
203 @node Simple Binary Repository
204 @chapter Simple Binary Repository
208 If you want to maintain a simple repository hosting only binary APKs obtained
209 and compiled elsewhere, the process is quite simple:
213 Set up the server tools, as described in Setup.
215 Make a directory for your repository. This is the directory from which you
216 will do all the work with your repository. Create a config file there, called
217 @code{config.py}, by copying @code{./examples/config.py} from the server
218 project and editing it.
220 Within that, make a directory called @code{repo} and put APK files in it.
222 Run @code{fdroid update}.
224 If it reports that any metadata files are missing, you can create them
225 in the @code{metadata} directory and run it again.
227 To ease creation of metadata files, run @code{fdroid update} with the @code{-c}
228 option. It will create 'skeleton' metadata files that are missing, and you can
229 then just edit them and fill in the details.
231 Then, if you've changed things, run @code{fdroid update} again.
233 Running @code{fdroid update} adds an Icons directory into the repo directory,
234 and also creates the repository index (index.xml, and also index.jar if you've
235 configured the system to use a signed index).
237 Publish the resulting contents of the @code{repo} directory to your web server.
240 Following the above process will result in a @code{repo} directory, which you
241 simply need to push to any HTTP (or preferably HTTPS) server to make it
244 While some information about the applications (and versions thereof) is
245 retrieved directly from the APK files, most comes from the corresponding file
246 in the @code{metadata} directory. The metadata file covering ALL versions of a
247 particular application is named @code{package.id.txt} where package.id is the
248 unique identifier for that package.
250 See the Metadata chapter for details of what goes in the metadata file. All
251 fields are relevant for binary APKs, EXCEPT for @code{Build:} entries, which
255 @node Building Applications
256 @chapter Building Applications
258 Instead of (or as well as) including binary APKs from external sources in a
259 repository, you can build them directly from the source code.
261 Using this method, it is is possible to verify that the application builds
262 correctly, corresponds to the source code, and contains only free software.
263 Unforunately, in the Android world, it seems to be very common for an
264 application supplied as a binary APK to present itself as Free Software
265 when in fact some or all of the following are true:
269 The source code (either for a particular version, or even all versions!) is
270 unavailable or incomplete.
272 The source code is not capable of producing the actual binary supplied.
274 The 'source code' contains binary files of unknown origin, or with proprietary
278 For this reason, source-built applications are the preferred method for the
279 main F-Droid repository, although occasionally for technical or historical
280 reasons, exceptions are made to this policy.
282 When building applications from source, it should be noted that you will be
283 signing them (all APK files must be signed to be installable on Android) with
284 your own key. When an application is already installed on a device, it is not
285 possible to upgrade it in place to a new version signed with a different key
286 without first uninstalling the original. This may present an inconvenience to
287 users, as the process of uninstalling loses any data associated with the
288 previous installation.
290 The process for managing a repository for built-from-source applications is
291 very similar to that described in the Simple Binary Repository chapter,
292 except now you need to:
296 Include Build entries in the metadata files.
298 Run @code{fdroid build} to build any applications that are not already built.
300 Run @code{fdroid publish} to finalise packaging and sign any APKs that have
305 @section More about "fdroid build"
307 When run without any parameters, @code{fdroid build} will build any and all
308 versions of applications that you don't already have in the @code{repo}
309 directory (or more accurately, the @code{unsigned} directory). There are various
310 other things you can do. As with all the tools, the @code{--help} option is
311 your friend, but a few annotated examples and discussion of the more common
314 To build a single version of a single application, you could run the
318 fdroid build org.fdroid.fdroid:16
321 This attempts to build version code 16 (which is version 0.25) of the F-Droid
322 client. Many of the tools recognise arguments as packages, allowing their
323 activity to be limited to just a limited set of packages.
325 If the build above was successful, two files will have been placed in the
326 @code{unsigned} directory:
329 org.fdroid.fdroid_16.apk
330 org.fdroid.fdroid_16_src.tar.gz
333 The first is the (unsigned) APK. You could sign this with a debug key and push
334 it direct to your device or an emulator for testing. The second is a source
335 tarball containing exactly the source that was used to generate the binary.
337 If you were intending to publish these files, you could then run:
343 The source tarball would move to the @code{repo} directory (which is the
344 directory you would push to your web server). A signed and zip-aligned version
345 of the APK would also appear there, and both files would be removed from the
346 @code{unsigned} directory.
348 If you're building purely for the purposes of testing, and not intending to
349 push the results to a repository, at least yet, the @code{--test} option can be
350 used to direct output to the @code{tmp} directory instead of @code{unsigned}.
351 A similar effect could by achieved by simply deleting the output files from
352 @code{unsigned} after the build, but with the risk of forgetting to do so!
354 Along similar lines (and only in conjunction with @code{--test}, you can use
355 @code{--force} to force a build of a Disabled application, where normally it
356 would be completely ignored. Similarly a version that was found to contain
357 ELFs or known non-free libraries can be forced to build. See also —
358 @code{scanignore=} and @code{scandelete=} in the @code{Build:} section.
360 If the build was unsuccessful, you can find out why by looking at the output
361 in the logs/ directory. If that isn't illuminating, try building the app the
362 regular way, step by step: android update project, ndk-build, ant debug.
364 Note that source code repositories often contain prebuilt libraries. If the
365 app is being considered for the main F-Droid repository, it is important that
366 all such prebuilts are built either via the metadata or by a reputable third
370 @section Running "fdroid build" in your app's source
372 Another option for using @code{fdroid build} is to use a metadata file
373 that is included in the app's source itself, rather than in a
374 @code{metadata/} folder with lots of other apps. This metadata file
375 should be in the root of your source repo, and be called
376 @code{.fdroid.json}, @code{.fdroid.xml}, @code{.fdroid.yaml}, or
377 @code{.fdroid.txt}, depending on your preferred data format: JSON,
378 XML, YAML, or F-Droid's @code{.txt} format.
380 Once you have that setup, you can build the most recent version of
381 the app using the whole FDroid stack by running:
387 If you want to build every single version, then specify @code{--all}.
390 @section Direct Installation
392 You can also build and install directly to a connected device or emulator
393 using the @code{fdroid install} command. If you do this without passing
394 packages as arguments then all the latest built and signed version available
395 of each package will be installed . In most cases, this will not be what you
396 want to do, so execution will stop straight away. However, you can override
397 this if you're sure that's what you want, by using @code{--all}. Note that
398 currently, no sanity checks are performed with this mode, so if the files in
399 the signed output directory were modified, you won't be notified.
402 @node Importing Applications
403 @chapter Importing Applications
405 To help with starting work on including a new application, use
406 @code{fdroid import} to set up a new template project. It has two
407 modes of operation, starting with a cloned git repo:
410 git clone https://gitlab.com/fdroid/fdroidclient
415 Or starting with a URL to a project page:
418 fdroid import --url=http://address.of.project
421 When a URL is specified using the @code{--url=} flag, @code{fdroid
422 import} will use that URL to find out information about the project,
423 and if it finds a git repo, it will also clone that. For this to
424 work, the URL must point to a project format that the script
425 understands. Currently this is limited to one of the following:
429 GitLab - @code{https://gitlab.com/PROJECTNAME/REPONAME}
431 Gitorious - @code{https://gitorious.org/PROJECTNAME/REPONAME}
433 Github - @code{https://github.com/USER/PROJECT}
435 Google Code - @code{http://code.google.com/p/PROJECT/}
436 Supports git, svn and hg repos.
438 Some Google Code projects have multiple repositories, identified by a
439 dropdown list on the @code{source/checkout} page. To access one other than
440 the default, specify its name using the @code{--repo} switch.
442 Bitbucket - @code{https://bitbucket.org/USER/PROJECT/}
444 Git - @code{git://REPO}
447 Depending on the project type, more or less information may be gathered. For
448 example, the license will be retrieved from a Google Code project, but not a
449 GitHub one. A bare repo url, such as the git:// one, is the least preferable
450 optional of all, since you will have to enter much more information manually.
452 If the import is successful, a metadata file will be created. You will need to
453 edit this further to check the information, and fill in the blanks.
455 If it fails, you'll be told why. If it got as far as retrieving the source
456 code, you can inspect it further by looking in @code{tmp/importer} where a full
459 A frequent cause of initial failure is that the project directory is actually
460 a subdirectory in the repository. In this case, run the importer again using
461 the @code{--subdir} option to tell it where. It will not attempt to determine
462 this automatically, since there may be several options.
470 Information used by update.py to compile the public index comes from two
475 the APK files in the repo directory, and
477 the metadata files in the metadata directory.
480 The original metadata files are simple, easy to edit text files,
481 always named as the application's package ID with '.txt' appended.
482 Additionally, you can use JSON, XML, or YAML for app metadata, using
483 the same fields as the original '.txt' format.
485 Note that although the metadata files are designed to be easily read
486 and writable by humans, they are also processed and written by various
487 scripts. The original '.txt' format can be automatically cleaned up
488 when necessary. The structure and comments will be preserved
489 correctly, although the order of fields will be standardised. (In the
490 event that the original file was in a different order, comments are
491 considered as being attached to the field following them). In fact,
492 you can standardise all the '.txt' metadata in a single command,
493 without changing the functional content, by running:
499 Or just run it on a specific app:
502 fdroid rewritemeta org.adaway
505 The following sections describe the fields recognised within the file.
534 * Update Check Mode::
535 * Update Check Ignore::
536 * Vercode Operation::
537 * Update Check Name::
538 * Update Check Data::
541 * Current Version Code::
548 Any number of categories for the application to be placed in. There is no
549 fixed list of categories - both the client and the web site will automatically
550 show any categories that exist in any applications. However, if your metadata
551 is intended for the main F-Droid repository, you should use one of the
552 existing categories (look at the site/client), or discuss the proposal to add
555 Categories must be separated by a single comma character, ','. For backwards
556 compatibility, F-Droid will use the first category given as <category> element
557 for older clients to at least see one category.
559 This is converted to (@code{<categories>}) in the public index file.
566 The name of the author, either full, abbreviated or pseudonym. If
567 present, it should represent the name(s) as published by upstream,
568 e.g. in their copyright or authors file. This can be omitted (or left
571 This is converted to (@code{<author>}) in the public index file.
574 @section Author Email
578 The e-mail address of the author(s). This can be omitted (or left
581 This is converted to (@code{<email>}) in the public index file.
588 The overall license for the application, or in certain cases, for the
589 source code only. Values should correspond to short identifiers of the
590 @uref{https://spdx.org/licenses/, SPDX} license list. In some cases an
591 older, non-standard naming scheme is still used.
593 This is converted to (@code{<license>}) in the public index file.
600 The name of the application as can best be retrieved from the source code.
601 This is done so that the commitupdates script can put a familiar name in the
602 description of commits created when a new update of the application is
603 found. The Auto Name entry is generated automatically when @code{fdroid
604 checkupdates} is run.
611 The name of the application. Normally, this field should not be present since
612 the application's correct name is retrieved from the APK file. However, in a
613 situation where an APK contains a bad or missing application name, it can be
614 overridden using this. Note that this only overrides the name in the list of
615 apps presented in the client; it doesn't changed the name or application label
623 Comma-separated list of application IDs that this app provides. In other
624 words, if the user has any of these apps installed, F-Droid will show this app
625 as installed instead. It will also appear if the user clicks on urls linking
626 to the other app IDs. Useful when an app switches package name, or when you
627 want an app to act as multiple apps.
634 The URL for the application's web site. If there is no relevant web site, this
635 can be omitted (or left blank).
637 This is converted to (@code{<web>}) in the public index file.
644 The URL to view or obtain the application's source code. This should be
645 something human-friendly. Machine-readable source-code is covered in the
648 This is converted to (@code{<source>}) in the public index file.
651 @section Issue Tracker
653 @cindex Issue Tracker
655 The URL for the application's issue tracker. Optional, since not all
656 applications have one.
658 This is converted to (@code{<tracker>}) in the public index file.
665 The URL for the application's changelog. Optional, since not all
666 applications have one.
668 This is converted to (@code{<changelog>}) in the public index file.
675 The URL to donate to the project. This should be the project's donate page
678 It is possible to use a direct PayPal link here, if that is all that is
679 available. However, bear in mind that the developer may not be aware of
680 that direct link, and if they later changed to a different PayPal account,
681 or the PayPal link format changed, things could go wrong. It is always
682 best to use a link that the developer explicitly makes public, rather than
683 something that is auto-generated 'button code'.
685 This is converted to (@code{<donate>}) in the public index file.
692 The project's Flattr (http://flattr.com) ID, if it has one. This should be
693 a numeric ID, such that (for example) https://flattr.com/thing/xxxx leads
694 directly to the page to donate to the project.
696 This is converted to (@code{<flattr>}) in the public index file.
703 A bitcoin address for donating to the project.
705 This is converted to (@code{<bitcoin>}) in the public index file.
712 A litecoin address for donating to the project.
719 A brief summary of what the application is. Since the summary is only allowed
720 one line on the list of the F-Droid client, keeping it to within 80 characters
721 will ensure it fits most screens.
728 A full description of the application, relevant to the latest version.
729 This can span multiple lines (which should be kept to a maximum of 80
730 characters), and is terminated by a line containing a single '.'.
732 Basic MediaWiki-style formatting can be used. Leaving a blank line starts a
733 new paragraph. Surrounding text with @code{''} make it italic, and with
734 @code{'''} makes it bold.
736 You can link to another app in the repo by using @code{[[app.id]]}. The link
737 will be made appropriately whether in the Android client, the web repo
738 browser or the wiki. The link text will be the apps name.
740 Links to web addresses can be done using @code{[http://example.com Text]}.
742 Bulletted lists are done by simply starting each item with a @code{*} on
743 a new line, and numbered lists are the same but using @code{#}. There is
744 currently no support for nesting lists - you can have one level only.
746 It can be helpful to note information pertaining to updating from an
747 earlier version; whether the app contains any prebuilts built by the
748 upstream developers or whether non-free elements were removed; whether the
749 app is in rapid development or whether the latest version lags behind the
750 current version; whether the app supports multiple architectures or whether
751 there is a maximum SDK specified (such info not being recorded in the index).
753 This is converted to (@code{<desc>}) in the public index file.
755 @node Maintainer Notes
756 @section Maintainer Notes
758 @cindex Maintainer Notes
760 This is a multi-line field using the same rules and syntax as the description.
761 It's used to record notes for F-Droid maintainers to assist in maintaining and
762 updating the application in the repository.
764 This information is also published to the wiki.
771 The type of repository - for automatic building from source. If this is not
772 specified, automatic building is disabled for this application. Possible
795 The repository location. Usually a git: or svn: URL, for example.
797 The git-svn option connects to an SVN repository, and you specify the URL in
798 exactly the same way, but git is used as a back-end. This is preferable for
799 performance reasons, and also because a local copy of the entire history is
800 available in case the upstream repository disappears. (It happens!). In
801 order to use Tags as update check mode for this VCS type, the URL must have
802 the tags= special argument set. Likewise, if you intend to use the
803 RepoManifest/branch scheme, you would want to specify branches= as well.
804 Finally, trunk= can also be added. All these special arguments will be passed
805 to "git svn" in order, and their values must be relative paths to the svn repo
807 Here's an example of a complex git-svn Repo URL:
808 http://svn.code.sf.net/p/project/code/svn;trunk=trunk;tags=tags;branches=branches
810 If the Repo Type is @code{srclib}, then you must specify the name of the
811 according srclib .txt file. For example if @code{scrlibs/FooBar.txt} exist
812 and you want to use this srclib, then you have to set Repo to
820 The location of binaries used in verification process.
822 If specified, F-Droid will verify the output apk file of a build against the
823 one specified. You can use %v and %c to point to the version name and version
824 code of the current build. To verify the F-Droid client itself you could use:
825 @code{Binaries:https://f-droid.org/repo/org.fdroid.fdroid_%c.apk}
827 F-Droid will use upstream binaries if the verification succeeded.
834 Any number of these fields can be present, each specifying a version to
835 automatically build from source. The value is a comma-separated list.
840 The above specifies to build version 1.2, which has a version code of 12.
841 The @code{commit=} parameter specifies the tag, commit or revision number from
842 which to build it in the source repository. It is the only mandatory flag,
843 which in this case could for example be @code{commit=v1.2}.
845 In addition to the three, always required, parameters described above,
846 further parameters can be added (in name=value format) to apply further
847 configuration to the build. These are (roughly in order of application):
851 @item disable=<message>
852 Disables this build, giving a reason why. (For backwards compatibility, this
853 can also be achieved by starting the commit ID with '!')
855 The purpose of this feature is to allow non-buildable releases (e.g. the source
856 is not published) to be flagged, so the scripts don't generate repeated
857 messages about them. (And also to record the information for review later).
858 If an apk has already been built, disabling causes it to be deleted once
859 @code{fdroid update} is run; this is the procedure if ever a version has to
863 Specifies to build from a subdirectory of the checked out source code.
864 Normally this directory is changed to before building,
867 Use if the project (git only) has submodules - causes @code{git submodule
868 update --init --recursive} to be executed after the source is cloned.
869 Submodules are reset and cleaned like the main app repository itself before
873 As for 'prebuild', but runs on the source code BEFORE any other processing
876 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$, $$MVN3$$ and $$QT$$ to substitute the paths
877 to the android SDK and NDK directories, maven 3 executable, and Qt SDK
878 directory respectively. The following per-build variables are available
879 likewise: $$VERSION$$, $$VERCODE$$ and $$COMMIT$$.
882 The sdk location in the repo is in an old format, or the build.xml is
883 expecting such. The 'new' format is sdk.dir while the VERY OLD format
884 is sdk-location. Typically, if you get a message along the lines of:
885 "com.android.ant.SetupTask cannot be found" when trying to build, then
886 try enabling this option.
888 @item target=<target>
889 Specifies a particular SDK target for compilation, overriding the value
890 defined in the code by upstream. This has different effects depending on what
891 build system used — this flag currently affects Ant, Maven and Gradle projects
892 only. Note that this does not change the target SDK in the
893 AndroidManifest.xml, which determines the level of features that can be
894 included in the build.
896 In the case of an Ant project, it modifies project.properties of the app and
897 possibly sub-projects. This is likely to cause the whole build.xml to be
898 rewritten, which is fine if it's a 'standard' android file or doesn't already
899 exist, but not a good idea if it's heavily customised.
901 @item update=<auto/dirs>
902 By default, 'android update' is used in Ant builds to generate or update the
903 project and all its referenced projects. Specifying update=no bypasses that.
904 Note that this is useless in builds that don't use Ant.
906 Default value is '@code{auto}', which recursively uses the paths in
907 project.properties to find all the subprojects to update.
909 Otherwise, the value can be a comma-separated list of directories in which to
910 run 'android update' relative to the application directory.
913 Adds a java.encoding property to local.properties with the given
914 value. Generally the value will be 'utf-8'. This is picked up by the
915 SDK's ant rules, and forces the Java compiler to interpret source
916 files with this encoding. If you receive warnings during the compile
917 about character encodings, you probably need this.
919 @item forceversion=yes
920 If specified, the package version in AndroidManifest.xml is replaced
921 with the version name for the build as specified in the metadata.
923 This is useful for cases when upstream repo failed to update it for
924 specific tag; to build an arbitrary revision; to make it apparent that
925 the version differs significantly from upstream; or to make it apparent
926 which architecture or platform the apk is designed to run on.
928 @item forcevercode=yes
929 If specified, the package version code in the AndroidManifest.xml is
930 replaced with the version code for the build. See also forceversion.
932 @item rm=<path1>[,<path2>,...]
933 Specifies the relative paths of files or directories to delete before
934 the build is done. The paths are relative to the base of the build
935 directory - i.e. the root of the directory structure checked out from
936 the source respository - not necessarily the directory that contains
939 Multiple files/directories can be specified by separating them with ','.
940 Directories will be recursively deleted.
942 @item extlibs=<lib1>[,<lib2>,...]
943 Comma-separated list of external libraries (jar files) from the
944 @code{build/extlib} library, which will be placed in the @code{libs} directory
947 @item srclibs=[n:]a@@r,[n:]b@@r1,...
948 Comma-separated list of source libraries or Android projects. Each item is of
949 the form name@@rev where name is the predefined source library name and rev is
950 the revision or tag to use in the respective source control.
952 For Ant projects, you can optionally append a number with a colon at the
953 beginning of a srclib item to automatically place it in project.properties as
954 a library under the specified number. For example, if you specify
955 @code{1:somelib@@1.0}, F-Droid will automatically do the equivalent of the
956 legacy practice @code{prebuild=echo "android.library.reference.1=$$somelib$$"
957 >> project.properties}.
959 Each srclib has a metadata file under srclibs/ in the repository directory,
960 and the source code is stored in build/srclib/.
961 Repo Type: and Repo: are specified in the same way as for apps; Subdir: can be
962 a comma separated list, for when directories are renamed by upstream; Update
963 Project: updates the projects in the working directory and one level down;
964 Prepare: can be used for any kind of preparation: in particular if you need to
965 update the project with a particular target. You can then also use $$name$$ in
966 the init/prebuild/build command to substitute the relative path to the library
967 directory, but it could need tweaking if you've changed into another directory.
969 Currently srclibs are necessary when upstream uses jar files or pulls
970 dependencies from non-trusted repositories. While there is no guarantee that
971 those binaries are free and correspondent to the source code, F-Droid allows
972 the following known repositories until a source-built alternative is available:
977 @samp{mavenCentral} - the original repo, hardcoded in Maven and Gradle.
980 @samp{jCenter} - hardcoded in Gradle, this repo by Bintray tries to provide
981 easier handling. It should sync with mavenCentral from time to time.
984 @samp{OSS Sonatype} - maintained by the people behind mavenCentral, this
985 repository focuses on hosting services for open source project binaries.
988 @samp{JitPack.io} - builds directly from Github repositories. However,
989 they do not provide any option to reproduce or verify the resulting
990 binaries. Builds pre-release versions in some cases.
993 @samp{Clojars} - Clojure libraries repo.
996 @samp{CommonsWare} - repo holding a collection of open-source libs.
1001 Apply patch(es). 'x' names one (or more - comma-seperated) files within a
1002 directory below the metadata, with the same name as the metadata file but
1003 without the extension. Each of these patches is applied to the code in turn.
1006 Specifies a shell command (or commands - chain with &&) to run before the
1007 build takes place. Backslash can be used as an escape character to insert
1008 literal commas, or as the last character on a line to join that line with the
1009 next. It has no special meaning in other contexts; in particular, literal
1010 backslashes should not be escaped.
1012 The command runs using bash.
1014 Note that nothing should be built during this prebuild phase - scanning of the
1015 code and building of the source tarball, for example, take place after this.
1016 For custom actions that actually build things or produce binaries, use 'build'
1019 You can use $$name$$ to substitute the path to a referenced srclib - see
1020 the @code{srclib} directory for details of this.
1022 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$ and $$MVN3$$ to substitute the paths to the
1023 android SDK and NDK directories, and Maven 3 executable respectively e.g.
1024 for when you need to run @code{android update project} explicitly. The
1025 following per-build variables are available likewise: $$VERSION$$, $$VERCODE$$
1028 @item scanignore=<path1>[,<path2>,...]
1029 Enables one or more files/paths to be excluded from the scan process.
1030 This should only be used where there is a very good reason, and
1031 probably accompanied by a comment explaining why it is necessary.
1033 When scanning the source tree for problems, matching files whose relative
1034 paths start with any of the paths given here are ignored.
1036 @item scandelete=<path1>[,<path2>,...]
1037 When running the scan process, any files that trigger errors - like binaries -
1038 will be removed. It acts just like scanignore=, but instead of ignoring the
1039 files, it removes them.
1041 Useful when a source code repository includes binaries or other unwanted files
1042 which are not needed for the build. Instead of removing them manually via rm=,
1043 using scandelete= is easier.
1046 As for 'prebuild', but runs during the actual build phase (but before the
1047 main Ant/Maven build). Use this only for actions that do actual building.
1048 Any prepartion of the source code should be done using 'init' or 'prebuild'.
1050 Any building that takes place before build= will be ignored, as either Ant,
1051 mvn or gradle will be executed to clean the build environment right before
1052 build= (or the final build) is run.
1054 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$ and $$MVN3$$ to substitute the paths to the
1055 android SDK and NDK directories, and maven 3 executable respectively. The
1056 following per-build variables are available likewise: $$VERSION$$,
1057 $$VERCODE$$ and $$COMMIT$$.
1059 @item buildjni=[yes|no|<dir list>]
1060 Enables building of native code via the ndk-build script before doing
1061 the main Ant build. The value may be a list of directories relative
1062 to the main application directory in which to run ndk-build, or 'yes'
1063 which corresponds to '.' . Using explicit list may be useful to build
1064 multi-component projects.
1066 The build and scan processes will complain (refuse to build) if this
1067 parameter is not defined, but there is a @code{jni} directory present.
1068 If the native code is being built by other means like a Gradle task, you
1069 can specify @code{no} here to avoid that. However, if the native code is
1070 actually not required or used, remove the directory instead (using
1071 @code{rm=jni} for example). Using @code{buildjni=no} when the jni code
1072 isn't used nor built will result in an error saying that native
1073 libraries were expected in the resulting package.
1076 Version of the NDK to use in this build. Defaults to the latest NDK release
1077 that included legacy toolchains, so as to not break builds that require
1078 toolchains no longer included in current versions of the NDK.
1080 The buildserver supports r9b with its legacy toolchains, r10e, r11c, r12b,
1081 and the latest release as of writing this document, r13b. You may add
1082 support for more versions by adding them to 'ndk_paths' in your config file.
1084 @item gradle=<flavour1>[,<flavour2>,...]
1085 Build with Gradle instead of Ant, specifying what flavours to use. Flavours
1086 are case sensitive since the path to the output apk is as well.
1088 If only one flavour is given and it is 'yes', no flavour will be used.
1089 Note that for projects with flavours, you must specify at least one
1090 valid flavour since 'yes' will build all of them separately.
1092 @item maven=yes[@@<dir>]
1093 Build with Maven instead of Ant. An extra @@<dir> tells F-Droid to run Maven
1094 inside that relative subdirectory. Sometimes it is needed to use @@.. so that
1095 builds happen correctly.
1097 @item preassemble=<task1>[,<task2>,...]
1098 List of Gradle tasks to be run before the assemble task in a Gradle project
1101 @item gradleprops=<prop1>[,<prop2>,...]
1102 List of Gradle properties to pass via the command line to Gradle. A property
1103 can be of the form @code{foo} or of the form @code{key=value}.
1105 For example: @code{gradleprops=enableFoo,someSetting=bar} will result in
1106 @code{gradle -PenableFoo -PsomeSetting=bar}.
1108 @item antcommands=<target1>[,<target2>,...]
1109 Specify an alternate set of Ant commands (target) instead of the default
1110 'release'. It can't be given any flags, such as the path to a build.xml.
1112 @item output=glob/to/output.apk
1113 Specify a glob path where the resulting unsigned release apk from the
1114 build should be. This can be used in combination with build methods like
1115 @code{gradle=yes} or @code{maven=yes}, but if no build method is
1116 specified, the build is manual. You should run your build commands, such
1117 as @code{make}, in @code{build=}.
1120 Don't check that the version name and code in the resulting apk are
1121 correct by looking at the build output - assume the metadata is
1122 correct. This takes away a useful level of sanity checking, and should
1123 only be used if the values can't be extracted.
1127 Another example, using extra parameters:
1129 @samp{Build Version:1.09.03,10903,45,subdir=Timeriffic,oldsdkloc=yes}
1132 @section AntiFeatures
1134 @cindex AntiFeatures
1136 This is optional - if present, it contains a comma-separated list of any of
1137 the following values, describing an anti-feature the application has.
1138 It is a good idea to mention the reasons for the anti-feature(s) in the
1144 @samp{Ads} - the application contains advertising.
1147 @samp{Tracking} - the application tracks and reports your activity to
1148 somewhere without your consent. It's commonly used for when developers
1149 obtain crash logs without the user's consent, or when an app is useless
1150 without some kind of authentication.
1153 @samp{NonFreeNet} - the application relies on computational services that
1154 are impossible to replace or that the replacement cannot be connected to
1155 without major changes to the app.
1158 @samp{NonFreeAdd} - the application promotes non-free add-ons, such that the
1159 app is effectively an advert for other non-free software and such software is
1160 not clearly labelled as such.
1163 @samp{NonFreeDep} - the application depends on a non-free application (e.g.
1164 Google Maps) - i.e. it requires it to be installed on the device, but does not
1168 @samp{UpstreamNonFree} - the application is or depends on non-free software.
1169 This does not mean that non-free software is included with the app: Most
1170 likely, it has been patched in some way to remove the non-free code. However,
1171 functionality may be missing.
1174 @samp{NonFreeAssets} - the application contains and makes use of non-free
1175 assets. The most common case is apps using artwork - images, sounds, music,
1176 etc - under a non-commercial license.
1185 If this field is present, the application does not get put into the public
1186 index. This allows metadata to be retained while an application is temporarily
1187 disabled from being published. The value should be a description of why the
1188 application is disabled. No apks or source code archives are deleted: to purge
1189 an apk see the Build Version section or delete manually for developer builds.
1190 The field is therefore used when an app has outlived it's usefulness, because
1191 the source tarball is retained.
1194 @section Requires Root
1196 @cindex Requires Root
1198 Set this optional field to "Yes" if the application requires root
1199 privileges to be usable. This lets the client filter it out if the
1200 user so desires. Whether root is required or not, it is good to give
1201 a paragraph in the description to the conditions on which root may be
1202 asked for and the reason for it.
1204 @node Archive Policy
1205 @section Archive Policy
1207 @cindex Archive Policy
1209 This determines the policy for moving old versions of an app to the archive
1210 repo, if one is configured. The configuration sets a default maximum number
1211 of versions kept in the main repo, after which older ones are moved to the
1212 archive. This app-specific policy setting can override that.
1214 Currently the only supported format is "n versions", where n is the number
1215 of versions to keep. Defaults to "3 versions".
1217 @node Update Check Mode
1218 @section Update Check Mode
1220 @cindex Update Check Mode
1222 This determines the method using for determining when new releases are
1223 available - in other words, the updating of the Current Version and Current
1224 Version Code fields in the metadata by the @code{fdroid checkupdates} process.
1230 @code{None} - No checking is done because there's no appropriate automated way
1231 of doing so. Updates should be checked for manually. Use this, for example,
1232 when deploying unstable or patched versions; when builds are done in a directory
1233 different to where the AndroidManifest.xml is; if the developers use the
1234 Gradle build system and store version info in a separate file; if the
1235 developers make a new branch for each release and don't make tags; or if you've
1236 changed the package name or version code logic.
1238 @code{Static} - No checking is done - either development has ceased or new versions
1239 are not desired. This method is also used when there is no other checking method
1240 available and the upstream developer keeps us posted on new versions.
1242 @code{RepoManifest} - At the most recent commit, the AndroidManifest.xml file
1243 is looked for in the directory where it was found in the the most recent build.
1244 The appropriateness of this method depends on the development process used by
1245 the application's developers. You should not specify this method unless you're
1246 sure it's appropriate. For example, some developers bump the version when
1247 commencing development instead of when publishing.
1248 It will return an error if the AndroidManifest.xml has moved to a different
1249 directory or if the package name has changed.
1250 The current version that it gives may not be accurate, since not all
1251 versions are fit to be published. Therefore, before building, it is often
1252 necessary to check if the current version has been published somewhere by the
1253 upstream developers, either by checking for apks that they distribute or for
1254 tags in the source code repository.
1256 It currently works for every repository type to different extents, except
1257 the srclib repo type. For git, git-svn and hg repo types, you may use
1258 "RepoManifest/yourbranch" as UCM so that "yourbranch" would be the branch used
1259 in place of the default one. The default values are "master" for git,
1260 "default" for hg and none for git-svn (it stays in the same branch).
1261 On the other hand, branch support hasn't been implemented yet in bzr and svn,
1262 but RepoManifest may still be used without it.
1264 @code{RepoTrunk} - For svn and git-svn repositories, especially those who
1265 don't have a bundled AndroidManifest.xml file, the Tags and RepoManifest
1266 checks will not work, since there is no version information to obtain. But,
1267 for those apps who automate their build process with the commit ref that HEAD
1268 points to, RepoTrunk will set the Current Version and Current Version Code to
1271 @code{Tags} - The AndroidManifest.xml file in all tagged revisions in the
1272 source repository is checked, looking for the highest version code. The
1273 appropriateness of this method depends on the development process used by the
1274 application's developers. You should not specify this method unless you're sure
1275 it's appropriate. It shouldn't be used if the developers like to tag unstable
1276 versions or are known to forget to tag releases. Like RepoManifest, it will not
1277 return the correct value if the directory containing the AndroidManifest.xml has
1278 moved. Despite these caveats, it is the often the favourite update check mode.
1280 It currently only works for git, hg, bzr and git-svn repositories. In the case
1281 of the latter, the repo URL must contain the path to the trunk and tags or
1282 else no tags will be found.
1284 Optionally append a regex pattern at the end - separated with a space - to
1285 only check the tags matching said pattern. Useful when apps tag non-release
1286 versions such as X.X-alpha, so you can filter them out with something like
1287 @code{.*[0-9]$} which requires tag names to end with a digit.
1289 @code{HTTP} - HTTP requests are used to determine the current version code and
1290 version name. This is controlled by the @code{Update Check Data} field, which
1291 is of the form @code{urlcode|excode|urlver|exver}.
1293 Firstly, if @code{urlcode} is non-empty, the document from that URL is
1294 retrieved, and matched against the regular expression @code{excode}, with the
1295 first group becoming the version code.
1297 Secondly, if @code{urlver} is non-empty, the document from that URL is
1298 retrieved, and matched against the regular expression @code{exver}, with the
1299 first group becoming the version name. The @code{urlver} field can be set to
1300 simply '.' which says to use the same document returned for the version code
1301 again, rather than retrieving a different one.
1304 @node Vercode Operation
1305 @section Vercode Operation
1307 @cindex Vercode Operation
1309 Operation to be applied to the vercode obtained by the defined @code{Update
1310 Check Mode}. @code{%c} will be replaced by the actual vercode, and the whole
1311 string will be passed to python's @code{eval} function.
1313 Especially useful with apps that we want to compile for different ABIs, but
1314 whose vercodes don't always have trailing zeros. For example, with
1315 @code{Vercode Operation} set at something like @code{%c*10 + 4}, we will be
1316 able to track updates and build up to four different versions of every
1319 @node Update Check Ignore
1320 @section Update Check Ignore
1322 @cindex Update Check Ignore
1324 When checking for updates (via @code{Update Check Mode}) this can be used to
1325 specify a regex which, if matched against the version name, causes that version
1326 to be ignored. For example, 'beta' could be specified to ignore version names
1327 that include that text.
1329 @node Update Check Name
1330 @section Update Check Name
1332 @cindex Update Check Name
1334 When checking for updates (via @code{Update Check Mode}) this can be used to
1335 specify the package name to search for. Useful when apps have a static package
1336 name but change it programmatically in some app flavors, by e.g. appending
1337 ".open" or ".free" at the end of the package name.
1339 You can also use @code{Ignore} to ignore package name searching. This should
1340 only be used in some specific cases, for example if the app's build.gradle
1341 file does not contain the package name.
1343 @node Update Check Data
1344 @section Update Check Data
1346 @cindex Update Check Data
1348 Used in conjunction with @code{Update Check Mode} for certain modes.
1350 @node Auto Update Mode
1351 @section Auto Update Mode
1353 @cindex Auto Update Mode
1355 This determines the method using for auto-generating new builds when new
1356 releases are available - in other words, adding a new Build Version line to the
1358 This happens in conjunction with the 'Update Check Mode' functionality - i.e.
1359 when an update is detected by that, it is also processed by this.
1365 @code{None} - No auto-updating is done
1367 @code{Version} - Identifies the target commit (i.e. tag) for the new build based
1368 on the given version specification, which is simply text in which %v and %c are
1369 replaced with the required version name and version code respectively.
1371 For example, if an app always has a tag "2.7.2" corresponding to version 2.7.2,
1372 you would simply specify "Version %v". If an app always has a tag "ver_1234"
1373 for a version with version code 1234, you would specify "Version ver_%c".
1375 Additionally, a suffix can be added to the version name at this stage, to
1376 differentiate F-Droid's build from the original. Continuing the first example
1377 above, you would specify that as "Version +-fdroid %v" - "-fdroid" is the suffix.
1381 @node Current Version
1382 @section Current Version
1384 @cindex Current Version
1386 The name of the version that is current. There may be newer versions of the
1387 application than this (e.g. unstable versions), and there will almost certainly
1388 be older ones. This should be the one that is recommended for general use.
1389 In the event that there is no source code for the current version, or that
1390 non-free libraries are being used, this would ideally be the latest
1391 version that is still free, though it may still be expedient to
1392 retain the automatic update check — see No Source Since.
1394 This field is normally automatically updated - see Update Check Mode.
1396 This is converted to (@code{<marketversion>}) in the public index file.
1398 @node Current Version Code
1399 @section Current Version Code
1401 @cindex Current Version Code
1403 The version code corresponding to the Current Version field. Both these fields
1404 must be correct and matching although it's the current version code that's
1405 used by Android to determine version order and by F-Droid client to determine
1406 which version should be recommended.
1408 This field is normally automatically updated - see Update Check Mode.
1410 If not set or set to @code{0}, clients will recommend the highest version they
1411 can, as if the @code{Current Version Code} was infinite.
1413 This is converted to (@code{<marketvercode>}) in the public index file.
1415 @node No Source Since
1416 @section No Source Since
1418 @cindex No Source Since
1420 In case we are missing the source code for the Current Version reported by
1421 Upstream, or that non-free elements have been introduced, this defines the
1422 first version that began to miss source code.
1423 Apps that are missing source code for just one or a few versions, but provide
1424 source code for newer ones are not to be considered here - this field is
1425 intended to illustrate which apps do not currently distribute source code, and
1426 since when have they been doing so.
1428 @node Update Processing
1429 @chapter Update Processing
1433 There are various mechanisms in place for automatically detecting that updates
1434 are available for applications, with the @code{Update Check Mode} field in the
1435 metadata determining which method is used for a particular application.
1437 Running the @code{fdroid checkupdates} command will apply this method to each
1438 application in the repository and update the @code{Current Version} and
1439 @code{Current Version Code} fields in the metadata accordingly.
1441 As usual, the @code{-p} option can be used with this, to restrict processing
1442 to a particular application.
1444 Note that this only updates the metadata such that we know what the current
1445 published/recommended version is. It doesn't make that version available in
1446 the repository - for that, see the next section.
1450 Adding updates (i.e. new versions of applications already included in the
1451 repository) happens in two ways. The simple case is applications where the
1452 APK files are binaries, retrieved from a developer's published build. In this
1453 case, all that's required is to place the new binary in the @code{Repo}
1454 directory, and the next run of @code{fdroid update} will pick it up.
1456 For applications built from source, it is necessary to add a new
1457 @code{Build Version} line to the metadata file. At the very least, the version
1458 name, version code and commit will be different. It is also possible that the
1459 additional build flags will change between versions.
1461 For processing multiple updates in the metadata at once, it can be useful to
1462 run @code{fdroid update --interactive}. This will check all the applications
1463 in the repository, and where updates are required you will be prompted to
1464 [E]dit the metadata, [I]gnore the update, or [Q]uit altogether.
1467 @chapter Build Server
1469 The Build Server system isolates the builds for each package within a clean,
1470 isolated and secure throwaway virtual machine environment.
1474 Building applications in this manner on a large scale, especially with the
1475 involvement of automated and/or unattended processes, could be considered
1476 a dangerous pastime from a security perspective. This is even more the case
1477 when the products of the build are also distributed widely and in a
1478 semi-automated ("you have updates available") fashion.
1480 Assume that an upstream source repository is compromised. A small selection
1481 of things that an attacker could do in such a situation:
1485 Use custom Ant build steps to execute virtually anything as the user doing
1488 Access the keystore.
1490 Modify the built apk files or source tarballs for other applications in the
1493 Modify the metadata (which includes build scripts, which again, also includes
1494 the ability to execute anything) for other applications in the repository.
1497 Through complete isolation, the repurcussions are at least limited to the
1498 application in question. Not only is the build environment fresh for each
1499 build, and thrown away afterwards, but it is also isolated from the signing
1502 Aside from security issues, there are some applications which have strange
1503 requirements such as custom versions of the NDK. It would be impractical (or
1504 at least extremely messy) to start modifying and restoring the SDK on a
1505 multi-purpose system, but within the confines of a throwaway single-use
1506 virtual machine, anything is possible.
1508 All this is in addition to the obvious advantage of having a standardised
1509 and completely reproducible environment in which builds are made. Additionally,
1510 it allows for specialised custom build environments for particular
1513 @section Setting up a build server
1515 In addition to the basic setup previously described, you will also need
1516 a Vagrant-compatible Debian Testing base box called 'jessie64'.
1518 You can use a different version or distro for the base box, so long as you
1519 don't expect any help making it work. One thing to be aware of is that
1520 working copies of source trees are moved from the host to the guest, so
1521 for example, having subversion v1.6 on the host and v1.7 on the guest
1524 @subsection Creating the Debian base box
1526 The output of this step is a minimal Debian VM that has support for remote
1527 login and provisioning.
1529 Unless you're very trusting, you should create one of these for yourself
1530 from verified standard Debian installation media. However, by popular
1531 demand, the @code{makebuildserver} script will automatically download a
1532 prebuilt image unless instructed otherwise. If you choose to use the
1533 prebuilt image, you may safely skip the rest of this section.
1535 Documentation for creating a base box can be found at
1536 @url{https://www.vagrantup.com/docs/boxes/base.html}.
1538 In addition to carefully following the steps described there, you should
1539 consider the following:
1543 It is advisable to disable udev network device persistence, otherwise any
1544 movement of the VM between machines, or reconfiguration, will result in
1547 For a Debian/Ubuntu default install, just
1548 @code{touch /etc/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules} to turn
1549 off rule generation, and at the same time, get rid of any rules it's
1550 already created in @code{/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules}.
1552 Unless you want the VM to become totally inaccessible following a failed
1553 boot, you need to set @code{GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT} to a value other than
1554 -1 in @code{/etc/grub/default} and then run @code{update-grub}.
1557 @subsection Creating the F-Droid base box
1559 The next step in the process is to create @code{makebs.config.py},
1560 using @code{./examples/makebs.config.py} as a reference - look at the settings and
1561 documentation there to decide if any need changing to suit your environment.
1562 There is a path for retrieving the base box if it doesn't exist, and an apt
1563 proxy definition, both of which may need customising for your environment.
1564 You can then go to the @code{fdroidserver} directory and run this:
1570 This will take a long time, and use a lot of bandwidth - most of it spent
1571 installing the necessary parts of the Android SDK for all the various
1572 platforms. Luckily you only need to do it occasionally. Once you have a
1573 working build server image, if the recipes change (e.g. when packages need
1574 to be added) you can just run that script again and the existing one will
1575 be updated in place.
1577 The main sdk/ndk downloads will automatically be cached to speed things
1578 up the next time, but there's no easy way of doing this for the longer
1579 sections which use the SDK's @code{android} tool to install platforms,
1580 add-ons and tools. However, instead of allowing automatic caching, you
1581 can supply a pre-populated cache directory which includes not only these
1582 downloads, but also .tar.gz files for all the relevant additions. If the
1583 provisioning scripts detect these, they will be used in preference to
1584 running the android tools. For example, if you have
1585 @code{buildserver/addons/cache/platforms/android-19.tar.gz} that will be
1586 used when installing the android-19 platform, instead of re-downloading it
1587 using @code{android update sdk --no-ui -t android-19}. It is possible to
1588 create the cache files of this additions from a local installation of the
1589 SDK including these:
1592 cd /path/to/android-sdk/platforms
1593 tar czf android-19.tar.gz android-19
1594 mv android-19.tar.gz /path/to/buildserver/addons/cache/platforms/
1597 If you have already built a buildserver it is also possible to get this
1598 files directly from the buildserver:
1601 vagrant ssh -- -C 'tar -C ~/android-sdk/platforms czf android-19.tar.gz android-19'
1602 vagrant ssh -- -C 'cat ~/android-sdk/platforms/android-19.tar.gz' > /path/to/fdroidserver/buildserver/cache/platforms/android19.tar.gz
1605 Once it's complete you'll have a new base box called 'buildserver' which is
1606 what's used for the actual builds. You can then build packages as normal,
1607 but with the addition of the @code{--server} flag to @code{fdroid build} to
1608 instruct it to do all the hard work within the virtual machine.
1610 The first time a build is done, a new virtual machine is created using the
1611 'buildserver' box as a base. A snapshot of this clean machine state is saved
1612 for use in future builds, to improve performance. You can force discarding
1613 of this snapshot and rebuilding from scratch using the @code{--resetserver}
1614 switch with @code{fdroid build}.
1619 There are two kinds of signing involved in running a repository - the signing
1620 of the APK files generated from source builds, and the signing of the repo
1621 index itself. The latter is optional, but very strongly recommended.
1623 @section Repo Index Signing
1625 When setting up the repository, one of the first steps should be to generate
1626 a signing key for the repository index. This will also create a keystore, which
1627 is a file that can be used to hold this and all other keys used. Consider the
1628 location, security and backup status of this file carefully, then create it as
1631 @code{keytool -genkey -v -keystore my.keystore -alias repokey -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000}
1633 In the above, replace 'my.keystore' with the name of the keystore file to be
1634 created, and 'repokey' with a name to identify the repo index key by.
1636 You'll be asked for a password for the keystore, AND a password for the key.
1637 They shouldn't be the same. In between, you'll be asked for some identifying
1638 details which will go in the certificate.
1640 The two passwords entered go into @code{config.py}, as @code{keystorepass} and
1641 @code{keypass} respectively. The path to the keystore file, and the alias you
1642 chose for the key also go into that file, as @code{keystore} and
1643 @code{repo_keyalias} respectively.
1645 @section Package Signing
1647 With the repo index signing configured, all that remains to be done for package
1648 signing to work is to set the @code{keydname} field in @code{config.py} to
1649 contain the same identifying details you entered before.
1651 A new key will be generated using these details, for each application that is
1652 built. (If a specific key is required for a particular application, this system
1653 can be overridden using the @code{keyaliases} config settings.
1655 @node Vulnerability Scanning
1656 @chapter Vulnerability Scanning (dscanner)
1658 F-Droid now includes a means of running automated vulnerability scanning
1659 using @uref{https://github.com/mwrlabs/drozer, Drozer}. This is achieved
1660 by starting a docker container, with the Android SDK and Emulator
1661 prepared already, installing drozer into the emulator and scripting the
1662 knobs to scan any fully built and signed APKs.
1664 Note: if your application is not intended to run within an Android
1665 emulator, please do not continue with these instructions. At this time,
1666 the @code{dscanner} feature is fully dependent upon your application
1667 running properly in an emulated environment.
1669 @section Quick Start
1672 @item Ensure that your application is a signed release build
1673 @item @code{fdroid dscanner --init-only} from within the repo
1674 @item Go for a coffee, this takes a long time and requires approximately
1675 6 GB of disk space. Once this is complete, you'll be left with a docker
1676 container running and ready to go.
1677 @item @code{fdroid dscanner --latest app.pkg.name} from within the repo
1678 to run drozer on the latest build of @code{app.pkg.name}
1679 @item If all went well, there should be an ``app.pkg.name_CODE.apk.dscanner''
1680 file in the repo (next to the original APK file)
1681 @item When you're all done scanning packages, you can cleanup the docker
1682 container with: @code{fdroid dscanner --clean-only}
1685 You can also run the drozer scan as an optional part of the overall
1686 @code{fdroid build} operation. This option will trigger a drozer scan of
1687 all signed APKs found in the repo. See @code{fdroid build --help} for
1690 @section Command Line Help
1693 usage: fdroid dscanner [options] [APPID[:VERCODE] [APPID[:VERCODE] ...]]
1695 positional arguments:
1696 app_id app-id with optional versioncode in the form
1700 -h, --help show this help message and exit
1701 -v, --verbose Spew out even more information than normal
1702 -q, --quiet Restrict output to warnings and errors
1703 -l, --latest Scan only the latest version of each package
1704 --clean-after Clean after all scans have finished.
1705 --clean-before Clean before the scans start and rebuild the
1707 --clean-only Clean up all containers and then exit.
1708 --init-only Prepare drozer to run a scan
1709 --repo-path REPO_PATH
1710 Override repo path for built APK files.
1713 @section From Scratch
1715 Because the docker image used to do the Android Emulator and all of that
1716 takes a considerable amount of time to prepare, one has been uploaded to
1717 dockerhub.com for general use. However, the astute researcher will be
1718 weary of any black boxes and want to build their own black box. This
1719 section elaborates how to build the docker image yourself.
1721 From within the F-Droid Server source code directory, @code{cd
1722 ./docker/} in order to begin.
1724 Within this directory are the custom scripting used within the docker
1725 image creation. For conveience, there is a simple Makefile that
1726 wraps the process of creating images into convenient pieces.
1728 @subsection @code{make help}
1731 usage: make help|build|clean|kill|info
1733 help this help screen
1734 build create docker image
1735 clean remove images and containers
1736 kill stop running containers
1737 info details of running container
1740 @subsection @code{make clean}
1742 Stops any running containers (@code{make kill}) and then forcully
1743 removes them from docker. After that, all images associated are also
1746 Note: this will destroy docker images!
1748 @subsection @code{make build}
1750 Builds the actual docker container, tagged
1751 ``dscanner/fdroidserver:latest'' from the local directory. Obviously
1752 this is operating with the @code{Dockerfile} to build and tie everything
1755 @subsection @code{make kill}
1757 @code{docker kill} the container tagged ``dscanner''.
1759 @subsection @code{make info}
1761 Prints some useful information about the currently running dscanner
1762 container (if it is even running). The output of this command is
1763 confusing and raw but useful none-the-less. See example output below:
1766 CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND
1767 CREATED STATUS PORTS
1769 b90a60afe477 dscanner/fdroidserver "/home/drozer/entrypo" 20
1770 minutes ago Up 20 minutes 0.0.0.0:32779->22/tcp,
1771 0.0.0.0:32778->5037/tcp, 0.0.0.0:32777->5554/tcp,
1772 0.0.0.0:32776->5555/tcp, 0.0.0.0:32775->5900/tcp,
1773 0.0.0.0:32774->5901/tcp dscanner
1776 adb connect 172.17.0.2:32776
1779 Typical usage is for finding the ``adb connect'' line or the ``ssh''
1780 port (32779 from the @code{0.0.0.0:32779->22/tcp} note).
1782 @node GNU Free Documentation License
1783 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License