The android tool lets you manage AVDs on the command line. For a complete reference
of the command line options that you can use, see the reference for the
android tool.
To generate a list of system image targets, use this command:
android list targets
The android tool scans the <sdk>/platforms/ and
<sdk>/add-ons/ directories looking for valid system images and
then generates the list of targets. Here's an example of the command output:
Available Android targets:
id: 1 or "android-3"
Name: Android 1.5
Type: Platform
API level: 3
Revision: 4
Skins: QVGA-L, HVGA-L, HVGA (default), HVGA-P, QVGA-P
id: 2 or "android-4"
Name: Android 1.6
Type: Platform
API level: 4
Revision: 3
Skins: QVGA, HVGA (default), WVGA800, WVGA854
id: 3 or "android-7"
Name: Android 2.1-update1
Type: Platform
API level: 7
Revision: 2
Skins: QVGA, WQVGA400, HVGA (default), WVGA854, WQVGA432, WVGA800
id: 4 or "android-8"
Name: Android 2.2
Type: Platform
API level: 8
Revision: 2
Skins: WQVGA400, QVGA, WVGA854, HVGA (default), WVGA800, WQVGA432
id: 5 or "android-9"
Name: Android 2.3
Type: Platform
API level: 9
Revision: 1
Skins: HVGA (default), WVGA800, WQVGA432, QVGA, WVGA854, WQVGA400
In addition to creating AVDs with the
AVD Manager user interface,
you can also create them by passing in command line arguments to the android tool.
Open a terminal window and change to
the <sdk>/tools/ directory, if needed.
To create each AVD, you issue the command android create avd,
with options that specify a name for the new AVD and the system image you want
to run on the emulator when the AVD is invoked. You can specify other options on
the command line also, such as the emulated SD card size, the emulator skin, or a custom
location for the user data files.
Here's the command-line usage for creating an AVD:
android create avd -n <name> -t <targetID> [-<option> <value>] ...
You can use any name you want for the AVD, but since you are likely to be
creating multiple AVDs, you should choose a name that lets you recognize the
general characteristics offered by the AVD. The target ID is an integer assigned by the
android tool. The target ID is not derived from the system image name,
version, or API Level, or other attribute, so you need to run the android list targets
command to list the target ID of each system image. You should do this before you run
the android create avd command. See the android
When you've selected the target you want to use and made a note of its ID,
use the android create avd command to create the AVD, supplying the
target ID as the -t argument. Here's an example that creates an
AVD with name "my_android1.5" and target ID "2" (the standard Android 1.5
system image in the list above):
android create avd -n my_android1.5 -t 2
If the target you selected was a standard Android system image ("Type:
platform"), the android tool next asks you whether you want to
create a custom hardware profile.
Android 1.5 is a basic Android platform. Do you wish to create a custom hardware profile [no]
If you want to set custom hardware emulation options for the AVD, enter
"yes" and set values as needed. If you want to use the default hardware
emulation options for the AVD, just press the return key (the default is "no").
The android tool creates the AVD with name and system image mapping you
requested, with the options you specified. For more information, see
Setting Hardware Emulation Options.
Note: If you are creating an AVD whose target is an SDK add-on, the
android tool does not allow you to set hardware emulation options.
It assumes that the provider of the add-on has set emulation options
appropriately for the device that the add-on is modeling, and so prevents you
from resetting the options.
When you create an AVD, the android tool creates a dedicated directory for it
on your development computer. The directory contains the AVD configuration file,
the user data image and SD card image (if available), and any other files
associated with the device. Note that the directory does not contain a system
image — instead, the AVD configuration file contains a mapping to the
system image, which it loads when the AVD is launched.
The android tool also creates an <AVD_name>.ini file for the AVD at the
root of the .android/avd/ directory on your computer. The file specifies the
location of the AVD directory and always remains at the root the .android
directory.
By default, the android tool creates the AVD directory inside
~/.android/avd/ (on Linux/Mac), C:\Documents and
Settings\<user>\.android\ on Windows XP, and
C:\Users\<user>\.android\ on Windows 7 and Vista.
If you want to use a custom location for the AVD directory, you
can do so by using the -p <path> option when
you create the AVD:
android create avd -n my_android1.5 -t 2 -p path/to/my/avd
If the .android directory is hosted on a network drive, we recommend using
the -p option to place the AVD directory in another location.
The AVD's .ini file remains in the .android directory on the network
drive, regardless of the location of the AVD directory.
When you are creating a new AVD that uses a standard Android system image ("Type:
platform"), the android tool lets you set hardware emulation
options for virtual device. The table below lists the options available and the
default values, as well as the names of properties that store the emulated
hardware options in the AVD's configuration file (the config.ini file in the
AVD's local directory).
Table 1. Available hardware profile options for AVDs and the default values
| Characteristic | Description | Property |
|---|---|---|
| Device ram size | The amount of physical RAM on the device, in megabytes. Default value is "96". | hw.ramSize |
| Touch-screen support | Whether there is a touch screen or not on the device. Default value is "yes". | hw.touchScreen |
| Trackball support | Whether there is a trackball on the device. Default value is "yes". | hw.trackBall |
| Keyboard support | Whether the device has a QWERTY keyboard. Default value is "yes". | hw.keyboard |
| DPad support | Whether the device has DPad keys. Default value is "yes". | hw.dPad |
| GSM modem support | Whether there is a GSM modem in the device. Default value is "yes". | hw.gsmModem |
| Camera support | Whether the device has a camera. Default value is "no". | hw.camera |
| Maximum horizontal camera pixels | Default value is "640". | hw.camera.maxHorizontalPixels |
| Maximum vertical camera pixels | Default value is "480". | hw.camera.maxVerticalPixels |
| GPS support | Whether there is a GPS in the device. Default value is "yes". | hw.gps |
| Battery support | Whether the device can run on a battery. Default value is "yes". | hw.battery |
| Accelerometer | Whether there is an accelerometer in the device. Default value is "yes". | hw.accelerometer |
| Audio recording support | Whether the device can record audio. Default value is "yes". | hw.audioInput |
| Audio playback support | Whether the device can play audio. Default value is "yes". | hw.audioOutput |
| SD Card support | Whether the device supports insertion/removal of virtual SD Cards. Default value is "yes". | hw.sdCard |
| Cache partition support | Whether we use a /cache partition on the device. Default value is "yes". | disk.cachePartition |
| Cache partition size | Default value is "66MB". | disk.cachePartition.size |
| Abstracted LCD density | Sets the generalized density characteristic used by the AVD's screen. Default value is "160". | hw.lcd.density |
| Trackball support | Whether there is a trackball present. | hw.trackBall |
If you want to move or rename an AVD, you can do so using this command:
android move avd -n <name> [-<option> <value>] ...
If, for any reason, the platform/add-on root folder has its name changed (maybe because the user has installed an update of the platform/add-on) then the AVD will not be able to load the system image that it is mapped to. In this case, the android list targets command will produce this output:
The following Android Virtual Devices could not be loaded: Name: foo Path: <path>/.android/avd/foo.avd Error: Invalid value in image.sysdir. Run 'android update avd -n foo'
To fix this error, use the android update avd command to recompute the path to the system images.
You can use the android tool to delete an AVD. Here is the command usage:
android delete avd -n <name>
When you issue the command, the android tool looks for an AVD matching the
specified name deletes the AVD's directory and files.