Setup Android Emulator

Are you a tester looking for to test on the android emulator ? Then you are on the right place to get started testing on the Android emulator.

This post will help you to setup the android 1.1 and 1.5 emulator.

You must have java installed on your machine before installing the Android emulator.

Install Java from here: Go to http://www.java.com/getjava/index.jsp and install to java.

If you already installed java or recently then you must know that the version of Java installed on your machine is correct or not.

Test installed java from here: Go to http://www.java.com/en/download/installed.jsp to check whether you have correct version of java installed or not. If you fine that correct version is not installed then follow the instruction provided in page and install the correct version of java.

After completion of java installation successfully follow below steps to install the Android emulator.

Where to download the android emulator ?

Android emulator comes with Android sdk.You can download latest sdk from:http://developer.android.com

How to install android emulator ?

Downloaded android sdk will be in compressed format.Uncompressed it to the desired location [e.g. C:\Emulator]and you are done.

What are the useful Android sdk commands for emulator?

Launch the command prompt: Start>Run>Cmd.Locate the emulator.exe path where the android got installed, in this case go to C:\Emulator directory and navigate to tools directory e.g:C:\Emulator\Android\android-sdk-windows-1.5_r2\tools where emulator.exe is present.Navigate to tools directory path in command prompt like shown below.

Type: Emulator.exe -help and execute it. You will find the list of the useful commands related to emulator usage.
Type: Android -h and execute it. You will find the list of the useful commands related to Android usage.

What is android virtual device ?

Android virtual device is the emulator that we are going to create based on the specific platform of android
.E.g. Android1.1, Abdroid1.5, Android2.0 etc.

Type: Emulator.exe -help-virtual-device and execute it for more information about android virtual device.

How to setup the Android virtual device ?

This is the command format to create the android virtual device: android create avd -n [UserDefinedNameHere] -t [1 or 2 or 3 etc. based on which android platform you want to create]

If you want to create android virtual device based on Android1.1 platform then type:android create avd -n MyAndroid1 -t 1
If you want to create android virtual device based on Android1.5 platform then type:android create avd -n MyAndroid2 -t 2
After executing one of the above command you will be prompted for the message like below to create custom hardware profile. Type no if you don't want to create custom hardware profile.

Now after successful setup of android virtual device you will be prompted message like this depending on what platform android virtual device is created:"Created AVD 'MyAndroid1' based on Android1.1 or Created AVD 'MyAndroid2' based on Android1.5"

How to know list of created android virtual devices ?

Type: Android list avd : This command will display the list of the created android virtual devices as shown in below screen shot.

How to launch created android virtual device or emulator?

A: Type:emulator.exe -avd [name of the emulator created] : In our case type:emulator.exe -avd MyAndroid1 or emulator.exe -avd MyAndroid2

Now you can see the emulator launched as below. Wait some time to get it initialized , ignore any error message if it appears if it is not blocking,It will also get the Internet connection automatically so you do not need to do anything to surf Internet in emulator. Now you are ready to start you application on emulator !

How to Delete android virtual device ?

Type: android delete avd -n [Name of the virtual device] : For example to delete one of the created virtual device as mentioned above type below command.

Type: android delete avd -n MyAndroid1 : This command will delete the android virtual device named 'MyAndroid1'.