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 Ciaran Gultnieks
13 Copyright @copyright{} 2011 Henrik Tunedal, Michael Haas, John Sullivan
15 Copyright @copyright{} 2013 David Black
17 Copyright @copyright{} 2013, 2014 Daniel Martí
20 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
21 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
22 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
23 with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts.
24 A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
25 Free Documentation License".
30 @title F-Droid Server Manual
31 @author Ciaran Gultnieks and the F-Droid project
33 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
49 * System Requirements::
51 * Simple Binary Repository::
52 * Building Applications::
53 * Importing Applications::
58 * GNU Free Documentation License::
65 The F-Droid server tools provide various scripts and tools that are used
66 to maintain the main F-Droid application repository. You can use these same
67 tools to create your own additional or alternative repository for publishing,
68 or to assist in creating, testing and submitting metadata to the main
72 @node System Requirements
73 @chapter System Requirements
77 The system requirements for using the tools will vary depending on your
78 intended usage. At the very least, you'll need:
86 The Android SDK Tools and Build-tools.
87 Note that F-Droid does not assume that you have the Android SDK in your
88 @code{PATH}: these directories will be specified in your repository
89 configuration. Recent revisions of the SDK have @code{aapt} located in
90 android-sdk/build-tools/ and it may be necessary to make a symlink to it in
91 android-sdk/platform-tools/
94 If you intend to build applications from source you'll also need most, if not
95 all, of the following:
99 JDK (Debian package openjdk-6-jdk): openjdk-6 is recommended though openjdk-7
102 VCS clients: svn, git, git-svn, hg, bzr
104 A keystore for holding release keys. (Safe, secure and well backed up!)
107 If you intend to use the 'Build Server' system, for secure and clean builds
108 (highly recommended), you will also need:
112 VirtualBox (debian package virtualbox)
114 Ruby (debian packages ruby and rubygems)
116 Vagrant (unpackaged) Be sure to use 1.3.x because 1.4.x is completely broken
117 (at the time of writing, the forthcoming 1.4.3 might work)
119 Paramiko (debian package python-paramiko)
121 Imaging (debian package python-imaging)
123 Magic (debian package python-magic)
126 On the other hand, if you want to build the apps directly on your system
127 without the 'Build Server' system, you may need:
131 All SDK platforms requested by the apps you want to build
132 (The Android SDK is made available by Google under a proprietary license but
133 within that, the SDK platforms, support library and some other components are
134 under the Apache license and source code is provided.
135 Google APIs, used for building apps using Google Maps, are free to the extent
136 that the library comes pre-installed on the device.
137 Google Play Services, Google Admob and others are proprietary and shouldn't be
138 included in the main F-Droid repository.)
140 A version of the Android NDK
142 Ant with Contrib Tasks (Debian packages ant and ant-contrib)
144 Maven (Debian package maven)
146 JavaCC (Debian package javacc)
148 Miscellaneous packages listed in
149 buildserver/cookbooks/fdroidbuild-general/recipes/default.rb
150 of the F-Droid server repository
156 @cindex setup, installation
158 Because the tools and data will always change rapidly, you will almost
159 certainly want to work from a git clone of the tools at this stage. To
163 git clone git://gitorious.org/f-droid/fdroidserver.git
166 You now have lots of stuff in the fdroidserver directory, but the most
167 important is the 'fdroid' command script which you run to perform all tasks.
168 This script is always run from a repository data directory, so the
169 most sensible thing to do next is to put your new fdroidserver directory
174 To do anything, you'll need at least one repository data directory. It's
175 from this directory that you run the @code{fdroid} command to perform all
176 repository management tasks. You can either create a brand new one, or
177 grab a copy of the data used by the main F-Droid repository:
180 git clone git://gitorious.org/f-droid/fdroiddata.git
183 Regardless of the intended usage of the tools, you will always need to set
184 up some basic configuration details. This is done by creating a file called
185 @code{config.py} in the data directory. You should do this by copying the
186 example file (@code{config.sample.py}) from the fdroidserver project to your
187 data directory and then editing according to the instructions within.
189 Once configured in this way, all the functionality of the tools is accessed
190 by running the @code{fdroid} command. Run it on its own to get a list of the
191 available sub-commands.
193 You can follow any command with @code{--help} to get a list of additional
194 options available for that command.
201 @node Simple Binary Repository
202 @chapter Simple Binary Repository
206 If you want to maintain a simple repository hosting only binary APKs obtained
207 and compiled elsewhere, the process is quite simple:
211 Set up the server tools, as described in Setup.
213 Make a directory for your repository. This is the directory from which you
214 will do all the work with your repository. Create a config file there, called
215 @code{config.py}, by copying the @code{config.sample.py} from the server
216 project and editing it.
218 Within that, make a directory called @code{repo} and put APK files in it.
220 Run @code{fdroid update}.
222 If it reports that any metadata files are missing, you can create them
223 in the @code{metadata} directory and run it again.
225 To ease creation of metadata files, run @code{fdroid update} with the @code{-c}
226 option. It will create 'skeleton' metadata files that are missing, and you can
227 then just edit them and fill in the details.
229 Then, if you've changed things, run @code{fdroid update} again.
231 Running @code{fdroid update} adds an Icons directory into the repo directory,
232 and also creates the repository index (index.xml, and also index.jar if you've
233 configured the system to use a signed index).
235 Publish the resulting contents of the @code{repo} directory to your web server.
238 Following the above process will result in a @code{repo} directory, which you
239 simply need to push to any HTTP (or preferably HTTPS) server to make it
242 While some information about the applications (and versions thereof) is
243 retrieved directly from the APK files, most comes from the corresponding file
244 in the @code{metadata} directory. The metadata file covering ALL versions of a
245 particular application is named @code{package.id.txt} where package.id is the
246 unique identifier for that package.
248 See the Metadata chapter for details of what goes in the metadata file. All
249 fields are relevant for binary APKs, EXCEPT for 'Build Version' entries, which
253 @node Building Applications
254 @chapter Building Applications
256 Instead of (or as well as) including binary APKs from external sources in a
257 repository, you can build them directly from the source code.
259 Using this method, it is is possible to verify that the application builds
260 correctly, corresponds to the source code, and contains only free software.
261 Unforunately, in the Android world, it seems to be very common for an
262 application supplied as a binary APK to present itself as Free Software
263 when in fact some or all of the following are true:
267 The source code (either for a particular version, or even all versions!) is
268 unavailable or incomplete.
270 The source code is not capable of producing the actual binary supplied.
272 The 'source code' contains binary files of unknown origin, or with proprietary
276 For this reason, source-built applications are the preferred method for the
277 main F-Droid repository, although occasionally for technical or historical
278 reasons, exceptions are made to this policy.
280 When building applications from source, it should be noted that you will be
281 signing them (all APK files must be signed to be installable on Android) with
282 your own key. When an application is already installed on a device, it is not
283 possible to upgrade it in place to a new version signed with a different key
284 without first uninstalling the original. This may present an inconvenience to
285 users, as the process of uninstalling loses any data associated with the
286 previous installation.
288 The process for managing a repository for built-from-source applications is
289 very similar to that described in the Simple Binary Repository chapter,
290 except now you need to:
294 Include Build Version entries in the metadata files.
296 Run @code{fdroid build} to build any applications that are not already built.
298 Run @code{fdroid publish} to finalise packaging and sign any APKs that have
303 @section More about "fdroid build"
305 When run without any parameters, @code{fdroid build} will build any and all
306 versions of applications that you don't already have in the @code{repo}
307 directory (or more accurately, the @code{unsigned} directory). There are various
308 other things you can do. As with all the tools, the @code{--help} option is
309 your friend, but a few annotated examples and discussion of the more common
312 To build a single version of a single application, you could run the
316 ./fdroid build org.fdroid.fdroid:16
319 This attempts to build version code 16 (which is version 0.25) of the F-Droid
320 client. Many of the tools recognise arguments as packages, allowing their
321 activity to be limited to just a limited set of packages.
323 If the build above was successful, two files will have been placed in the
324 @code{unsigned} directory:
327 org.fdroid.fdroid_16.apk
328 org.fdroid.fdroid_16_src.tar.gz
331 The first is the (unsigned) APK. You could sign this with a debug key and push
332 it direct to your device or an emulator for testing. The second is a source
333 tarball containing exactly the source that was used to generate the binary.
335 If you were intending to publish these files, you could then run:
341 The source tarball would move to the @code{repo} directory (which is the
342 directory you would push to your web server). A signed and zip-aligned version
343 of the APK would also appear there, and both files would be removed from the
344 @code{unsigned} directory.
346 If you're building purely for the purposes of testing, and not intending to
347 push the results to a repository, at least yet, the @code{--test} option can be
348 used to direct output to the @code{tmp} directory instead of @code{unsigned}.
349 A similar effect could by achieved by simply deleting the output files from
350 @code{unsigned} after the build, but with the risk of forgetting to do so!
352 Along similar lines (and only in conjunction with @code{--test}, you can use
353 @code{--force} to force a build of a Disabled application, where normally it
354 would be completely ignored. Similarly a version that was found to contain
355 ELFs or known non-free libraries can be forced to build. See also —
356 scanignore= and scandelete= in the Build Version section.
358 If the build was unsuccessful, you can find out why by looking at the output
359 in the logs/ directory. If that isn't illuminating, try building the app the
360 regular way, step by step: android update project, ndk-build, ant debug.
362 Note that source code repositories often contain prebuilt libraries. If the
363 app is being considered for the main F-Droid repository, it is important that
364 all such prebuilts are built either via the metadata or by a reputable third
368 @section Direct Installation
370 You can also build and install directly to a connected device or emulator
371 using the @code{fdroid install} command. If you do this without passing
372 packages as arguments then all the latest built and signed version available
373 of each package will be installed . In most cases, this will not be what you
374 want to do, so execution will stop straight away. However, you can override
375 this if you're sure that's what you want, by using @code{--all}. Note that
376 currently, no sanity checks are performed with this mode, so if the files in
377 the signed output directory were modified, you won't be notified.
380 @node Importing Applications
381 @chapter Importing Applications
383 To help with starting work on including a new application, @code{fdroid import}
384 will take a URL and optionally some other parameters, and attempt to construct
385 as much information as possible by analysing the source code. Basic usage is:
388 ./fdroid import --url=http://address.of.project
391 For this to work, the URL must point to a project format that the script
392 understands. Currently this is limited to one of the following:
396 Gitorious - @code{https://gitorious.org/PROJECTNAME/REPONAME}
398 Github - @code{https://github.com/USER/PROJECT}
400 Google Code - @code{http://code.google.com/p/PROJECT/}
401 Supports git, svn and hg repos.
403 Some Google Code projects have multiple repositories, identified by a
404 dropdown list on the @code{source/checkout} page. To access one other than
405 the default, specify its name using the @code{--repo} switch.
407 Bitbucket - @code{https://bitbucket.org/USER/PROJECT/}
409 Git - @code{git://REPO}
412 Depending on the project type, more or less information may be gathered. For
413 example, the license will be retrieved from a Google Code project, but not a
414 GitHub one. A bare repo url, such as the git:// one, is the least preferable
415 optional of all, since you will have to enter much more information manually.
417 If the import is successful, a metadata file will be created. You will need to
418 edit this further to check the information, and fill in the blanks.
420 If it fails, you'll be told why. If it got as far as retrieving the source
421 code, you can inspect it further by looking in @code{tmp/importer} where a full
424 A frequent cause of initial failure is that the project directory is actually
425 a subdirectory in the repository. In this case, run the importer again using
426 the @code{--subdir} option to tell it where. It will not attempt to determine
427 this automatically, since there may be several options.
435 Information used by update.py to compile the public index comes from two
440 the APK files in the repo directory, and
442 the metadata files in the metadata directory.
445 The metadata files are simple, easy to edit text files, always named as the
446 application's package ID with '.txt' appended.
448 Note that although the metadata files are designed to be easily read and
449 writable by humans, they are also processed and written by various scripts.
450 They are capable of rewriting the entire file when necessary. Even so,
451 the structure and comments will be preserved correctly, although the order
452 of fields will be standardised. (In the event that the original file was
453 in a different order, comments are considered as being attached to the field
454 following them). In fact, you can standardise all the metadata in a single
455 command, without changing the functional content, by running:
458 fdroid rewritemetadata
461 The following sections describe the fields recognised within the file.
486 * Update Check Mode::
487 * Vercode Operation::
488 * Update Check Data::
491 * Current Version Code::
498 Any number of categories for the application to be placed in. There is no
499 fixed list of categories - both the client and the web site will automatically
500 show any categories that exist in any applications. However, if your metadata
501 is intended for the main F-Droid repository, you should use one of the
502 existing categories (look at the site/client), or discuss the proposal to add
505 Categories must be separated by a single comma character, ','. For backwards
506 compatibility, F-Droid will use the first category given as <category> element
507 for older clients to at least see one category.
509 This is converted to (@code{<categories>}) in the public index file.
516 The overall license for the application, or in certain cases, for the
529 GNU GPL version 2 or later
537 GNU GPL version 3 or later
541 An unspecified GPL version. Use this only as a last resort or if there is
542 some confusion over compatiblity of component licenses: particularly the use of
543 Apache libraries with GPLv2 source code.
547 Afferro GPL version 3.
559 BSD license - the original '4-clause' version.
563 BSD license - the new, or modified, version.
567 This is converted to (@code{<license>}) in the public index file.
574 The name of the application as can best be retrieved from the source code.
575 This is done so that the commitupdates script can put a familiar name in the
576 description of commits created when a new update of the application is
577 found. The Auto Name entry is generated automatically when @code{fdroid
578 checkupdates} is run.
585 The name of the application. Normally, this field should not be present since
586 the application's correct name is retrieved from the APK file. However, in a
587 situation where an APK contains a bad or missing application name, it can be
588 overridden using this. Note that this only overrides the name in the list of
589 apps presented in the client; it doesn't changed the name or application label
597 Comma-separated list of application IDs that this app provides. In other
598 words, if the user has any of these apps installed, F-Droid will show this app
599 as installed instead. It will also appear if the user clicks on urls linking
600 to the other app IDs. Useful when an app switches package name, or when you
601 want an app to act as multiple apps.
608 The URL for the application's web site. If there is no relevant web site, this
609 can be omitted (or left blank).
611 This is converted to (@code{<web>}) in the public index file.
618 The URL to view or obtain the application's source code. This should be
619 something human-friendly. Machine-readable source-code is covered in the
622 This is converted to (@code{<source>}) in the public index file.
625 @section Issue Tracker
627 @cindex Issue Tracker
629 The URL for the application's issue tracker. Optional, since not all
630 applications have one.
632 This is converted to (@code{<tracker>}) in the public index file.
639 The URL to donate to the project. This should be the project's donate page
642 It is possible to use a direct PayPal link here, if that is all that is
643 available. However, bear in mind that the developer may not be aware of
644 that direct link, and if they later changed to a different PayPal account,
645 or the PayPal link format changed, things could go wrong. It is always
646 best to use a link that the developer explicitly makes public, rather than
647 something that is auto-generated 'button code'.
649 This is converted to (@code{<donate>}) in the public index file.
656 The project's Flattr (http://flattr.com) ID, if it has one. This should be
657 a numeric ID, such that (for example) https://flattr.com/thing/xxxx leads
658 directly to the page to donate to the project.
660 This is converted to (@code{<flattr>}) in the public index file.
667 A bitcoin address for donating to the project.
669 This is converted to (@code{<bitcoin>}) in the public index file.
676 A litecoin address for donating to the project.
683 A brief summary of what the application is. Since the summary is only allowed
684 one line on the list of the F-Droid client, keeping it to within 32 characters
685 will ensure it fits even on the smallest screens.
692 A full description of the application, relevant to the latest version.
693 This can span multiple lines (which should be kept to a maximum of 80
694 characters), and is terminated by a line containing a single '.'.
696 Basic MediaWiki-style formatting can be used. Leaving a blank line starts a
697 new paragraph. Surrounding text with @code{''} make it italic, and with
698 @code{'''} makes it bold.
700 You can link to another app in the repo by using @code{[[app.id]]}. The link
701 will be made appropriately whether in the Android client, the web repo
702 browser or the wiki. The link text will be the apps name.
704 Links to web addresses can be done using @code{[http://example.com Text]}.
706 For both of the above link formats, the entire link (from opening to closing
707 square bracket) must be on the same line.
709 Bulletted lists are done by simply starting each item with a @code{*} on
710 a new line, and numbered lists are the same but using @code{#}. There is
711 currently no support for nesting lists - you can have one level only.
713 It can be helpful to note information pertaining to updating from an
714 earlier version; whether the app contains any prebuilts built by the
715 upstream developers or whether non-free elements were removed; whether the
716 app is in rapid development or whether the latest version lags behind the
717 current version; whether the app supports multiple architectures or whether
718 there is a maximum SDK specified (such info not being recorded in the index).
720 This is converted to (@code{<desc>}) in the public index file.
722 @node Maintainer Notes
723 @section Maintainer Notes
725 @cindex Maintainer Notes
727 This is a multi-line field using the same rules and syntax as the description.
728 It's used to record notes for F-Droid maintainers to assist in maintaining and
729 updating the application in the repository.
731 This information is also published to the wiki.
738 The type of repository - for automatic building from source. If this is not
739 specified, automatic building is disabled for this application. Possible
761 The repository location. Usually a git: or svn: URL, for example.
763 The git-svn option connects to an SVN repository, and you specify the URL in
764 exactly the same way, but git is used as a back-end. This is preferable for
765 performance reasons, and also because a local copy of the entire history is
766 available in case the upstream repository disappears. (It happens!). In
767 order to use Tags as update check mode for this VCS type, the URL must have
768 the tags= special argument set. Likewise, if you intend to use the
769 RepoManifest/branch scheme, you would want to specify branches= as well.
770 Finally, trunk= can also be added. All these special arguments will be passed
771 to "git svn" in order, and their values must be relative paths to the svn repo
773 Here's an example of a complex git-svn Repo URL:
774 http://svn.code.sf.net/p/project/code/svn;trunk=trunk;tags=tags;branches=branches
776 For a Subversion repo that requires authentication, you can precede the repo
777 URL with username:password@ and those parameters will be passed as @option{--username}
778 and @option{--password} to the SVN checkout command. (This now works for both
781 If the Repo Type is @code{srclib}, then you must specify the name of the
782 according srclib .txt file. For example if @code{scrlibs/FooBar.txt} exist
783 and you want to use this srclib, then you have to set Repo to
787 @section Build Version
789 @cindex Build Version
791 Any number of these fields can be present, each specifying a version to
792 automatically build from source. The value is a comma-separated list.
795 @samp{Build Version:0.12,3,651696a49be2cd7db5ce6a2fa8185e31f9a20035}
797 The above specifies to build version 0.12, which has a version code of 3.
798 The third parameter specifies the tag, commit or revision number from
799 which to build it in the source repository.
801 In addition to the three, always required, parameters described above,
802 further parameters can be added (in name=value format) to apply further
803 configuration to the build. These are (roughly in order of application):
807 @item disable=<message>
808 Disables this build, giving a reason why. (For backwards compatibility, this
809 can also be achieved by starting the commit ID with '!')
811 The purpose of this feature is to allow non-buildable releases (e.g. the source
812 is not published) to be flagged, so the scripts don't generate repeated
813 messages about them. (And also to record the information for review later).
814 If an apk has already been built, disabling causes it to be deleted once
815 @code{fdroid update} is run; this is the procedure if ever a version has to
819 Specifies to build from a subdirectory of the checked out source code.
820 Normally this directory is changed to before building,
823 Use if the project (git only) has submodules - causes @code{git submodule
824 update --init --recursive} to be executed after the source is cloned.
825 Submodules are reset and cleaned like the main app repository itself before
829 As for 'prebuild', but runs on the source code BEFORE any other processing
832 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$ and $$MVN3$$ to substitute the paths to the
833 android SDK and NDK directories, and maven 3 executable respectively.
836 The sdk location in the repo is in an old format, or the build.xml is
837 expecting such. The 'new' format is sdk.dir while the VERY OLD format
838 is sdk-location. Typically, if you get a message along the lines of:
839 "com.android.ant.SetupTask cannot be found" when trying to build, then
840 try enabling this option.
842 @item target=<target>
843 Specifies a particular SDK target for compilation, overriding the value
844 defined in the code by upstream. This has different effects depending on what
845 build system used — this flag currently affects ant, maven and gradle projects
846 only. Note that this does not change the target SDK in the
847 AndroidManifest.xml, which determines the level of features that can be
848 included in the build.
850 In the case of an ant project, it modifies project.properties of the app and
851 possibly sub-projects. This is likely to cause the whole build.xml to be
852 rewritten, which is fine if it's a 'standard' android file or doesn't already
853 exist, but not a good idea if it's heavily customised.
856 By default, 'android update project' is used to generate or update the
857 project and all its referenced projects. Specifying update=no bypasses that.
859 Specifiying update=force forces rebuilding of the build.xml file at the
860 same time - this is frequently needed with r14 of the Android platform
861 tools. Be aware of any customisations in build.xml when using
864 Default value is '@code{auto}', which uses the paths used in the
865 project.properties file to find out what project paths to update.
867 Otherwise, value can be a semicolon-separated list of directories in
868 which to run 'android update project' relative to the main
869 application directory (which may include '@code{subdir}' parameter).
872 Adds a java.encoding property to local.properties with the given
873 value. Generally the value will be 'utf-8'. This is picked up by the
874 SDK's ant rules, and forces the Java compiler to interpret source
875 files with this encoding. If you receive warnings during the compile
876 about character encodings, you probably need this.
878 @item forceversion=yes
879 If specified, the package version in AndroidManifest.xml is replaced
880 with the version name for the build as specified in the metadata.
882 This is useful for cases when upstream repo failed to update it for
883 specific tag; to build an arbitrary revision; to make it apparent that
884 the version differs significantly from upstream; or to make it apparent
885 which architecture or platform the apk is designed to run on.
887 @item forcevercode=yes
888 If specified, the package version code in the AndroidManifest.xml is
889 replaced with the version code for the build. See also forceversion.
891 @item rm=<relpath1;relpath2;...>
892 Specifies the relative paths of files or directories to delete before
893 the build is done. The paths are relative to the base of the build
894 directory - i.e. the root of the directory structure checked out from
895 the source respository - not necessarily the directory that contains
898 Multiple files/directories can be specified by separating them with ';'.
899 Directories will be recursively deleted.
902 Modifies any instances of string resources that use multiple
903 formatting arguments, but don't use positional notation. For example,
904 "Hello %s, %d" becomes "Hello %1$s, %2$d". Newer versions of the
905 Android platform tools enforce this sensible standard. If you get
906 error messages relating to that, you need to enable this.
909 Like fixtrans, but deals with an even older issue relating to
910 'unescaped apostrophes' in translation strings.
913 Specifies a list of external libraries (jar files) from the
914 @code{build/extlib} library, which will be placed in the @code{libs} directory
915 of the project. Separate items with semicolons.
917 @item srclibs=[n:]a@@r;[n:]b@@r1;
918 Specifies a list of source libraries or Android projects. Separate items with
919 semicolons, and each item is of the form name@@rev where name is the predefined
920 source library name and rev is the revision or tag in source control to use.
922 For ant projects, you can optionally append a number with a colon at the
923 beginning of a srclib item to automatically place it in project.properties as
924 a library under the specified number. For example, if you specify
925 @code{1:somelib@1.0}, f-droid will automatically do the equivalent of the
926 legacy practice @code{prebuild=echo "android.library.reference.1=$$somelib$$"
927 >> project.properties}.
929 Each srclib has a metadata file under srclibs/ in the repository directory,
930 and the source code is stored in build/srclib/.
931 Repo Type: and Repo: are specified in the same way as for apps; Subdir: can be
932 a comma separated list, for when directories are renamed by upstream; Update
933 Project: updates the projects in the working directory and one level down;
934 Prepare: can be used for any kind of preparation: in particular if you need to
935 update the project with a particular target. You can then also use $$name$$ in
936 the init/prebuild/build command to substitute the relative path to the library
937 directory, but it could need tweaking if you've changed into another directory.
940 Apply patch(es). 'x' names one (or more - comma-seperated)
941 files within a directory below the metadata, with the same
942 name as the metadata file but without the extension. Each of
943 these patches is applied to the code in turn.
946 Specifies a shell command (or commands - chain with &&) to run before
947 the build takes place. Backslash can be used as an escape character to
948 insert literal commas, or as the last character on a line to join that
949 line with the next. It has no special meaning in other contexts; in
950 particular, literal backslashes should not be escaped.
952 The command runs using bash.
954 Note that nothing should be build during this prebuild phase - scanning
955 of the code and building of the source tarball, for example, take place
956 after this. For custom actions that actually build things, use 'build'
959 You can use $$name$$ to substitute the path to a referenced srclib - see
960 the @code{srclib} directory for details of this.
962 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$ and $$MVN3$$ to substitute the paths to the
963 android SDK and NDK directories, and maven 3 executable respectively e.g.
964 for when you need to run @code{android update project} explicitly.
966 @item scanignore=path1;path2;...
967 Enables one or more files/paths to be exlcuded from the scan process.
968 This should only be used where there is a very good reason, and
969 probably accompanied by a comment explaining why it is necessary.
971 When scanning the source tree for problems, matching files whose relative
972 paths start with any of the paths given here are ignored.
974 @item scandelete=path1;path2;...
975 Similar to scanignore=, but instead of ignoring files under the given paths,
976 it tells f-droid to delete the matching files directly.
979 As for 'prebuild', but runs during the actual build phase (but before the
980 main ant/maven build). Use this only for actions that do actual building.
981 Any prepartion of the source code should be done using 'init' or 'prebuild'.
983 Any building that takes place before build= will be ignored, as either ant,
984 mvn or gradle will be executed to clean the build environment right before
985 build= (or the final build) is run.
987 You can use $$SDK$$, $$NDK$$ and $$MVN3$$ to substitute the paths to the
988 android SDK and NDK directories, and maven 3 executable respectively.
990 @item buildjni=[yes|no|<dir list>]
991 Enables building of native code via the ndk-build script before doing
992 the main ant build. The value may be a list of directories relative
993 to the main application directory in which to run ndk-build, or 'yes'
994 which corresponds to '.' . Using explicit list may be useful to build
995 multi-component projects.
997 The build and scan processes will complain (refuse to build) if this
998 parameter is not defined, but there is a @code{jni} directory present.
999 If the native code is being built by other means, you can specify
1000 @code{no} here to avoid that. However, if the native code is actually
1001 not required, remove the directory instead (using @code{prebuild} for
1004 @item gradle=<flavour>[@@<dir>]
1005 Build with gradle instead of ant, specifying what flavour to assemble.
1006 If <flavour> is 'yes', 'main' or empty, no flavour will be used. Note
1007 that this will not work on projects with flavours, since it will build
1008 all flavours and there will be no 'main' build.
1009 If @@<dir> is attached to <flavour>, then the gradle tasks will be run in that
1010 directory. This might be necessary if gradle needs to be run in the parent
1011 directory, in which case one would use 'gradle=<flavour>@..'.
1013 @item maven=yes[@@<dir>]
1014 Build with maven instead of ant. Like gradle, an extra @@<dir> tells f-droid
1015 to run maven inside that relative subdirectory.
1017 @item preassemble=<task1> <task2>
1018 Space-separated list of gradle tasks to be run before the assemble task
1019 in a gradle project build.
1021 @item antcommand=xxx
1022 Specify an alternate ant command (target) instead of the default
1023 'release'. It can't be given any flags, such as the path to a build.xml.
1025 @item output=path/to/output.apk
1026 To be used when app is built with a tool other than the ones natively
1027 supported, like GNU Make. The given path will be where the build= set of
1028 commands should produce the final unsigned release apk.
1031 Don't check that the version name and code in the resulting apk are
1032 correct by looking at the build output - assume the metadata is
1033 correct. This takes away a useful level of sanity checking, and should
1034 only be used if the values can't be extracted.
1038 Another example, using extra parameters:
1040 @samp{Build Version:1.09.03,10903,45,subdir=Timeriffic,oldsdkloc=yes}
1043 @section AntiFeatures
1045 @cindex AntiFeatures
1047 This is optional - if present, it contains a comma-separated list of any of
1048 the following values, describing an anti-feature the application has.
1049 Even though such apps won't be displayed unless a settings box is ticked,
1050 it is a good idea to mention the reasons for the anti-feature(s) in the
1056 @samp{Ads} - the application contains advertising.
1059 @samp{Tracking} - the application tracks and reports your activity to
1060 somewhere without your consent. It's commonly used for when developers
1061 obtain crash logs without the user's consent, or when an app is useless
1062 without some kind of authentication.
1065 @samp{NonFreeNet} - the application relies on computational services that
1066 are impossible to replace or that the replacement cannot be connected to
1067 without major changes to the app.
1070 @samp{NonFreeAdd} - the application promotes non-Free add-ons, such that the
1071 app is effectively an advert for other non-free software and such software is
1072 not clearly labelled as such.
1075 @samp{NonFreeDep} - the application depends on a non-Free application (e.g.
1076 Google Maps) - i.e. it requires it to be installed on the device, but does not
1086 If this field is present, the application does not get put into the public
1087 index. This allows metadata to be retained while an application is temporarily
1088 disabled from being published. The value should be a description of why the
1089 application is disabled. No apks or source code archives are deleted: to purge
1090 an apk see the Build Version section or delete manually for developer builds.
1091 The field is therefore used when an app has outlived it's usefulness, because
1092 the source tarball is retained.
1095 @section Requires Root
1097 @cindex Requires Root
1099 Set this optional field to "Yes" if the application requires root
1100 privileges to be usable. This lets the client filter it out if the
1101 user so desires. Whether root is required or not, it is good to give
1102 a paragraph in the description to the conditions on which root may be
1103 asked for and the reason for it.
1105 @node Update Check Mode
1106 @section Update Check Mode
1108 @cindex Update Check Mode
1110 This determines the method using for determining when new releases are
1111 available - in other words, the updating of the Current Version and Current
1112 Version Code fields in the metadata by the @code{fdroid checkupdates} process.
1118 @code{None} - No checking is done because there's no appropriate automated way
1119 of doing so. Updates should be checked for manually. Use this, for example,
1120 when deploying betas or patched versions; when builds are done in a directory
1121 different to where the AndroidManifest.xml is; if the developers use the
1122 gradle build system and store version info in a separate file; if the
1123 developers make a new branch for each release and don't make tags; or if you've
1124 changed the package name or version code logic.
1126 @code{Static} - No checking is done - either development has ceased or new versions
1127 are not desired. This method is also used when there is no other checking method
1128 available and the upstream developer keeps us posted on new versions.
1130 @code{RepoManifest} - At the most recent commit, the AndroidManifest.xml file
1131 is looked for in the directory where it was found in the the most recent build.
1132 The appropriateness of this method depends on the development process used by
1133 the application's developers. You should not specify this method unless you're
1134 sure it's appropriate. For example, some developers bump the version when
1135 commencing development instead of when publishing.
1136 It will return an error if the AndroidManifest.xml has moved to a different
1137 directory or if the package name has changed.
1138 The current version that it gives may not be accurate, since not all
1139 versions are fit to be published. Therefore, before building, it is often
1140 necessary to check if the current version has been published somewhere by the
1141 upstream developers, either by checking for apks that they distribute or for
1142 tags in the source code repository.
1144 It currently works for every repository type to different extents, except
1145 the srclib repo type. For git, git-svn and hg repo types, you may use
1146 "RepoManifest/yourbranch" as UCM so that "yourbranch" would be the branch used
1147 in place of the default one. The default values are "master" for git,
1148 "default" for hg and none for git-svn (it stays in the same branch).
1149 On the other hand, branch support hasn't been implemented yet in bzr and svn,
1150 but RepoManifest may still be used without it.
1152 @code{RepoTrunk} - For svn and git-svn repositories, especially those who
1153 don't have a bundled AndroidManifest.xml file, the Tags and RepoManifest
1154 checks will not work, since there is no version information to obtain. But,
1155 for those apps who automate their build process with the commit ref that HEAD
1156 points to, RepoTrunk will set the Current Version and Current Version Code to
1159 @code{Tags} - The AndroidManifest.xml file in all tagged revisions in the
1160 source repository is checked, looking for the highest version code. The
1161 appropriateness of this method depends on the development process used by the
1162 application's developers. You should not specify this method unless you're sure
1163 it's appropriate. It shouldn't be used if the developers like to tag betas or
1164 are known to forget to tag releases. Like RepoManifest, it will not return the
1165 correct value if the directory containing the AndroidManifest.xml has moved.
1166 Despite these caveats, it is the often the favourite update check mode.
1168 It currently only works for git, hg, bzr and git-svn repositories. In the case
1169 of the latter, the repo URL must contain the path to the trunk and tags or
1170 else no tags will be found.
1172 @code{HTTP} - HTTP requests are used to determine the current version code and
1173 version name. This is controlled by the @code{Update Check Data} field, which
1174 is of the form @code{urlcode|excode|urlver|exver}.
1176 Firstly, if @code{urlcode} is non-empty, the document from that URL is
1177 retrieved, and matched against the regular expression @code{excode}, with the
1178 first group becoming the version code.
1180 Secondly, if @code{urlver} is non-empty, the document from that URL is
1181 retrieved, and matched against the regular expression @code{exver}, with the
1182 first group becoming the version name. The @code{urlver} field can be set to
1183 simply '.' which says to use the same document returned for the version code
1184 again, rather than retrieving a different one.
1187 @node Update Check Data
1188 @section Update Check Data
1190 @cindex Update Check Data
1192 Used in conjunction with @code{Update Check Mode} for certain modes.
1194 @node Vercode Operation
1195 @section Vercode Operation
1197 @cindex Vercode Operation
1199 Operation to be applied to the vercode obtained by the defined @code{Update
1200 Check Mode}. @code{%c} will be replaced by the actual vercode, and the whole
1201 string will be passed to python's @code{eval} function.
1203 Especially useful with apps that we want to compile for different ABIs, but
1204 whose vercodes don't always have trailing zeros. For example, with
1205 @code{Vercode Operation} set at something like @code{%c*10 + 4}, we will be
1206 able to track updates and build up to four different versions of every
1209 @node Archive Policy
1210 @section Archive Policy
1212 @cindex Archive Policy
1214 This determines the policy for moving old versions of an app to the archive
1215 repo, if one is configured. The configuration sets a default maximum number
1216 of versions kept in the main repo, after which older ones are moved to the
1217 archive. This app-specific policy setting can override that.
1219 Currently the only supported format is "n versions", where n is the number
1220 of versions to keep.
1222 @node Auto Update Mode
1223 @section Auto Update Mode
1225 @cindex Auto Update Mode
1227 This determines the method using for auto-generating new builds when new
1228 releases are available - in other words, adding a new Build Version line to the
1230 This happens in conjunction with the 'Update Check Mode' functionality - i.e.
1231 when an update is detected by that, it is also processed by this.
1237 @code{None} - No auto-updating is done
1239 @code{Version} - Identifies the target commit (i.e. tag) for the new build based
1240 on the given version specification, which is simply text in which %v and %c are
1241 replaced with the required version name and version code respectively.
1243 For example, if an app always has a tag "2.7.2" corresponding to version 2.7.2,
1244 you would simply specify "Version %v". If an app always has a tag "ver_1234"
1245 for a version with version code 1234, you would specify "Version ver_%c".
1247 Additionally, a suffix can be added to the version name at this stage, to
1248 differentiate F-Droid's build from the original. Continuing the first example
1249 above, you would specify that as "Version +-fdroid %v" - "-fdroid" is the suffix.
1253 @node Current Version
1254 @section Current Version
1256 @cindex Current Version
1258 The name of the version that is current. There may be newer versions of the
1259 application than this (e.g. betas), and there will almost certainly be older
1260 ones. This should be the one that is recommended for general use.
1261 In the event that there is no source code for the current version, or that
1262 non-free libraries are being used, this would ideally be the latest
1263 version that is still free, though it may still be expedient to
1264 retain the automatic update check — see No Source Since.
1266 This field is normally automatically updated - see Update Check Mode.
1268 This is converted to (@code{<marketversion>}) in the public index file.
1270 @node Current Version Code
1271 @section Current Version Code
1273 @cindex Current Version Code
1275 The version code corresponding to the Current Version field. Both these fields
1276 must be correct and matching although it's the current version code that's
1277 used by Android to determine version order and by F-Droid client to determine
1278 which version should be recommended.
1280 This field is normally automatically updated - see Update Check Mode.
1282 This is converted to (@code{<marketvercode>}) in the public index file.
1284 @node No Source Since
1285 @section No Source Since
1287 @cindex No Source Since
1289 In case we are missing the source code for the Current Version reported by
1290 Upstream, or that non-free elements have been introduced, this defines the
1291 first version that began to miss source code.
1292 Apps that are missing source code for just one or a few versions, but provide
1293 source code for newer ones are not to be considered here - this field is
1294 intended to illustrate which apps do not currently distribute source code, and
1295 since when have they been doing so.
1297 @node Update Processing
1298 @chapter Update Processing
1302 There are various mechanisms in place for automatically detecting that updates
1303 are available for applications, with the @code{Update Check Mode} field in the
1304 metadata determining which method is used for a particular application.
1306 Running the @code{fdroid checkupdates} command will apply this method to each
1307 application in the repository and update the @code{Current Version} and
1308 @code{Current Version Code} fields in the metadata accordingly.
1310 As usual, the @code{-p} option can be used with this, to restrict processing
1311 to a particular application.
1313 Note that this only updates the metadata such that we know what the current
1314 published/recommended version is. It doesn't make that version available in
1315 the repository - for that, see the next section.
1319 Adding updates (i.e. new versions of applications already included in the
1320 repository) happens in two ways. The simple case is applications where the
1321 APK files are binaries, retrieved from a developer's published build. In this
1322 case, all that's required is to place the new binary in the @code{Repo}
1323 directory, and the next run of @code{fdroid update} will pick it up.
1325 For applications built from source, it is necessary to add a new
1326 @code{Build Version} line to the metadata file. At the very least, the version
1327 name, version code and commit will be different. It is also possible that the
1328 additional build flags will change between versions.
1330 For processing multiple updates in the metadata at once, it can be useful to
1331 run @code{fdroid update --interactive}. This will check all the applications
1332 in the repository, and where updates are required you will be prompted to
1333 [E]dit the metadata, [I]gnore the update, or [Q]uit altogether.
1336 @chapter Build Server
1338 The Build Server system isolates the builds for each package within a clean,
1339 isolated and secure throwaway virtual machine environment.
1343 Building applications in this manner on a large scale, especially with the
1344 involvement of automated and/or unattended processes, could be considered
1345 a dangerous pastime from a security perspective. This is even more the case
1346 when the products of the build are also distributed widely and in a
1347 semi-automated ("you have updates available") fashion.
1349 Assume that an upstream source repository is compromised. A small selection
1350 of things that an attacker could do in such a situation:
1354 Use custom ant build steps to execute virtually anything as the user doing
1357 Access the keystore.
1359 Modify the built apk files or source tarballs for other applications in the
1362 Modify the metadata (which includes build scripts, which again, also includes
1363 the ability to execute anything) for other applications in the repository.
1366 Through complete isolation, the repurcussions are at least limited to the
1367 application in question. Not only is the build environment fresh for each
1368 build, and thrown away afterwards, but it is also isolated from the signing
1371 Aside from security issues, there are some applications which have strange
1372 requirements such as custom versions of the NDK. It would be impractical (or
1373 at least extremely messy) to start modifying and restoring the SDK on a
1374 multi-purpose system, but within the confines of a throwaway single-use
1375 virtual machine, anything is possible.
1377 All this is in addition to the obvious advantage of having a standardised
1378 and completely reproducible environment in which builds are made. Additionally,
1379 it allows for specialised custom build environments for particular
1382 @section Setting up a build server
1384 In addition to the basic setup previously described, you will also need
1385 a Vagrant-compatible Debian Testing base box called 'testing32' (or testing64
1386 for a 64-bit VM, if you want it to be much slower, and require more disk
1389 You can use a different version or distro for the base box, so long as you
1390 don't expect any help making it work. One thing to be aware of is that
1391 working copies of source trees are moved from the host to the guest, so
1392 for example, having subversion v1.6 on the host and v1.7 on the guest
1395 Unless you're very trusting. you should create one of these for yourself
1396 from verified standard Debian installation media. However, you could skip
1397 over the next few paragraphs (and sacrifice some security) by downloading
1398 @url{https://f-droid.org/testing32.box}.
1400 Documentation for creating a base box can be found at
1401 @url{http://docs.vagrantup.com/v1/docs/base_boxes.html}.
1403 In addition to carefully following the steps described there, you should
1404 consider the following:
1408 It is advisable to disable udev network device persistence, otherwise any
1409 movement of the VM between machines, or reconfiguration, will result in
1412 For a Debian/Ubuntu default install, just
1413 @code{touch /etc/udev/rules.d/75-persistent-net-generator.rules} to turn
1414 off rule generation, and at the same time, get rid of any rules it's
1415 already created in @code{/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules}.
1417 Unless you want the VM to become totally inaccessible following a failed
1418 boot, you need to set @code{GRUB_RECORDFAIL_TIMEOUT} to a value other than
1419 -1 in @code{/etc/grub/default} and then run @code{update-grub}.
1423 With this base box available, you should then create @code{makebs.config.py},
1424 using @code{makebs.config.sample.py} as a reference - look at the settings and
1425 documentation there to decide if any need changing to suit your environment.
1426 There is a path for retrieving the base box if it doesn't exist, and an apt
1427 proxy definition, both of which may need customising for your environment.
1428 You can then go to the @code{fdroidserver} directory and run this:
1434 This will take a long time, and use a lot of bandwidth - most of it spent
1435 installing the necessary parts of the Android SDK for all the various
1436 platforms. Luckily you only need to do it occasionally. Once you have a
1437 working build server image, if the recipes change (e.g. when packages need
1438 to be added) you can just run that script again and the existing one will
1439 be updated in place.
1441 The main sdk/ndk downloads will automatically be cached to speed things
1442 up the next time, but there's no easy way of doing this for the longer
1443 sections which use the SDK's @code{android} tool to install platforms,
1444 add-ons and tools. However, instead of allowing automatic caching, you
1445 can supply a pre-populated cache directory which includes not only these
1446 downloads, but also .tar.gz files for all the relevant additions. If the
1447 provisioning scripts detect these, they will be used in preference to
1448 running the android tools. For example, if you have
1449 @code{buildserver/addons/cache/platforms/android-19.tar.gz} that will be
1450 used when installing the android-19 platform, instead of re-downloading it
1451 using @code{android update sdk --no-ui -t android-19}.
1453 Once it's complete you'll have a new base box called 'buildserver' which is
1454 what's used for the actual builds. You can then build packages as normal,
1455 but with the addition of the @code{--server} flag to @code{fdroid build} to
1456 instruct it to do all the hard work within the virtual machine.
1458 The first time a build is done, a new virtual machine is created using the
1459 'buildserver' box as a base. A snapshot of this clean machine state is saved
1460 for use in future builds, to improve performance. You can force discarding
1461 of this snapshot and rebuilding from scratch using the @code{--resetserver}
1462 switch with @code{fdroid build}.
1467 There are two kinds of signing involved in running a repository - the signing
1468 of the APK files generated from source builds, and the signing of the repo
1469 index itself. The latter is optional, but very strongly recommended.
1471 @section Repo Index Signing
1473 When setting up the repository, one of the first steps should be to generate
1474 a signing key for the repository index. This will also create a keystore, which
1475 is a file that can be used to hold this and all other keys used. Consider the
1476 location, security and backup status of this file carefully, then create it as
1479 @code{keytool -genkey -v -keystore my.keystore -alias repokey -keyalg RSA -keysize 2048 -validity 10000}
1481 In the above, replace 'my.keystore' with the name of the keystore file to be
1482 created, and 'repokey' with a name to identify the repo index key by.
1484 You'll be asked for a password for the keystore, AND a password for the key.
1485 They shouldn't be the same. In between, you'll be asked for some identifying
1486 details which will go in the certificate.
1488 The two passwords entered go into @code{config.py}, as @code{keystorepass} and
1489 @code{keypass} respectively. The path to the keystore file, and the alias you
1490 chose for the key also go into that file, as @code{keystore} and
1491 @code{repo_keyalias} respectively.
1493 @section Package Signing
1495 With the repo index signing configured, all that remains to be done for package
1496 signing to work is to set the @code{keydname} field in @code{config.py} to
1497 contain the same identifying details you entered before.
1499 A new key will be generated using these details, for each application that is
1500 built. (If a specific key is required for a particular application, this system
1501 can be overridden using the @code{keyaliases} config settings.
1504 @node GNU Free Documentation License
1505 @appendix GNU Free Documentation License