Android Tutorials - Herong's Tutorial Examples - v3.05, by Herong Yang
"adb shell" - Remote Shell Interface
This section describes the 'adb shell' command, which gives you a shell interface to the connected Android operating system. The shell interface allows you to manage the Android file system and invoke Android command line programs.
Another important command is the "adb shell" command, which gives you a shell interface to the connected Android operating system. The shell interface allows you to manage the Android file system and invoke Android command line programs.
Here is a "adb shell" command session I did on my Android 5.1.1 emulator:
> \local\android-sdk-windows\platform-tools\adb shell root@generic:/ # pwd pwd / root@generic:/ # ls -l ls -l drwxr-xr-x root root 2015-06-21 acct drwxrwx--- system cache 2015-06-21 cache lrwxrwxrwx root root 1969-12-31 charger -> /sbin/healthd dr-x------ root root 2015-06-21 config lrwxrwxrwx root root 2015-06-21 d -> /sys/kernel/debug drwxrwx--x system system 2015-06-21 data -rw-r--r-- root root 281 1969-12-31 default.prop drwxr-xr-x root root 2015-06-21 dev lrwxrwxrwx root root 2015-06-21 etc -> /system/etc -rw-r--r-- root root 11166 1969-12-31 file_contexts -rw-r----- root root 922 1969-12-31 fstab.goldfish -rwxr-x--- root root 301452 1969-12-31 init -rwxr-x--- root root 944 1969-12-31 init.environ.rc -rwxr-x--- root root 2836 1969-12-31 init.goldfish.rc -rwxr-x--- root root 21728 1969-12-31 init.rc -rwxr-x--- root root 1927 1969-12-31 init.trace.rc -rwxr-x--- root root 3885 1969-12-31 init.usb.rc -rwxr-x--- root root 301 1969-12-31 init.zygote32.rc drwxrwxr-x root system 2015-06-21 mnt dr-xr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 proc -rw-r--r-- root root 2771 1969-12-31 property_contexts drwx------ root root 2014-09-16 root drwxr-x--- root root 1969-12-31 sbin lrwxrwxrwx root root 2015-06-21 sdcard -> /storage/sdcard -rw-r--r-- root root 471 1969-12-31 seapp_contexts -rw-r--r-- root root 63 1969-12-31 selinux_version -rw-r--r-- root root 118317 1969-12-31 sepolicy -rw-r--r-- root root 9438 1969-12-31 service_contexts drwxr-x--x root sdcard_r 2015-06-21 storage dr-xr-xr-x root root 2015-06-21 sys drwxr-xr-x root root 1969-12-31 system -rw-r--r-- root root 323 1969-12-31 ueventd.goldfish.rc -rw-r--r-- root root 4464 1969-12-31 ueventd.rc lrwxrwxrwx root root 2015-06-21 vendor -> /system/vendor root@generic:/ # cat default.prop cat default.prop # # ADDITIONAL_DEFAULT_PROPERTIES # ro.secure=0 ro.allow.mock.location=1 ro.debuggable=1 ro.zygote=zygote32 dalvik.vm.dex2oat-Xms=64m dalvik.vm.dex2oat-Xmx=512m dalvik.vm.image-dex2oat-Xms=64m dalvik.vm.image-dex2oat-Xmx=64m ro.dalvik.vm.native.bridge=0 persist.sys.usb.config=adb root@generic:/ # df df Filesystem Size Used Free Blksize /dev 242.9M 24.0K 242.8M 4096 /sys/fs/cgroup 242.9M 12.0K 242.9M 4096 /mnt/asec 242.9M 0.0K 242.9M 4096 /mnt/obb 242.9M 0.0K 242.9M 4096 /system 541.3M 363.9M 177.5M 4096 /data 541.3M 147.2M 394.1M 4096 /cache 65.0M 4.3M 60.6M 4096 /mnt/media_rw/sdcard 31.5M 8.0K 31.5M 512 /storage/sdcard 31.5M 8.0K 31.5M 512 root@generic:/ # ps ps USER PID PPID VSIZE RSS NAME root 1 0 8784 608 /init root 2 0 0 0 kthreadd root 3 2 0 0 ksoftirqd/0 root 5 2 0 0 kworker/u:0 root 6 2 0 0 khelper root 7 2 0 0 sync_supers root 8 2 0 0 bdi-default root 9 2 0 0 kblockd root 10 2 0 0 rpciod root 11 2 0 0 kworker/0:1 root 12 2 0 0 kswapd0 root 13 2 0 0 fsnotify_mark root 14 2 0 0 crypto root 25 2 0 0 mtdblock0 root 26 2 0 0 mtdblock1 root 27 2 0 0 mtdblock2 root 29 2 0 0 binder root 30 2 0 0 deferwq root 31 2 0 0 kworker/u:2 root 32 2 0 0 mmcqd/0 root 33 1 8780 540 /sbin/ueventd root 35 2 0 0 jbd2/mtdblock0- root 36 2 0 0 ext4-dio-unwrit root 37 2 0 0 kworker/0:2 root 42 2 0 0 jbd2/mtdblock1- root 43 2 0 0 ext4-dio-unwrit root 48 2 0 0 jbd2/mtdblock2- root 49 2 0 0 ext4-dio-unwrit logd 50 1 14148 2148 /system/bin/logd root 51 1 9824 348 /sbin/healthd root 52 1 10612 1252 /system/bin/lmkd system 53 1 9448 680 /system/bin/servicemanager root 54 1 13908 1948 /system/bin/vold system 55 1 43032 12108 /system/bin/surfaceflinger root 57 1 9244 568 /system/bin/qemud shell 60 1 9312 744 /system/bin/sh root 61 1 12876 384 /sbin/adbd root 62 1 18708 1344 /system/bin/netd root 63 1 10100 1336 /system/bin/debuggerd radio 64 1 14436 1360 /system/bin/rild drm 65 1 17608 3476 /system/bin/drmserver media 66 1 109524 7932 /system/bin/mediaserver install 67 1 9404 696 /system/bin/installd keystore 68 1 12488 1912 /system/bin/keystore root 71 1 484048 44420 zygote root 77 2 0 0 kauditd system 338 71 588008 75072 system_server media_rw 438 1 11300 696 /system/bin/sdcard u0_a30 579 71 504812 32876 com.android.inputmethod.latin radio 603 71 515660 39356 com.android.phone u0_a7 623 71 503688 41652 com.android.launcher u0_a2 688 71 499452 29072 android.process.acore u0_a6 728 71 486184 21872 com.android.externalstorage u0_a39 765 71 488892 23004 com.android.printspooler u0_a12 781 71 527564 60096 com.android.systemui u0_a5 846 71 490584 29028 android.process.media u0_a17 884 71 496092 26012 com.android.calendar u0_a21 904 71 490620 25828 com.android.deskclock u0_a1 919 71 488408 25572 com.android.providers.calendar system 943 71 486212 21820 com.android.keychain u0_a4 963 71 492372 23060 com.android.dialer u0_a8 984 71 487204 21920 com.android.managedprovisioning u0_a9 1003 71 496916 26748 com.android.mms system 1031 71 497660 23332 com.android.settings u0_a25 1054 71 502344 30300 com.android.email u0_a27 1070 71 493348 24456 com.android.exchange u0_a33 1093 71 488056 24708 com.android.music root 1126 61 9312 752 /system/bin/sh root 1132 2 0 0 flush-31:1 root 1134 2 0 0 flush-179:0 root@generic:/ # exit exit
This is nice. With this shell interface, I have full control of my Android emulator system now.
See "Android Command Line Shell" chapter for more tutorials on using the "adb shell" interface.
Table of Contents
Installing JDK 1.8 on Windows System
Installation of Android SDK R24 and Emulator
Installing Apache Ant 1.9 on Windows System
Developing First Android Application - HelloAndroid
Android Application Package (APK) Files
►Android Debug Bridge (adb) Tool
What Is Android Debug Bridge (adb)
Install "adb" as Part of SDK Platform Tools
USB Debugging Connection to Use "adb" Tool
Wireless Debugging Connection to Use "adb" Tool
Debugging Connection to Android Device Emulators
Commands and Options Supported by "adb"
"adb install" and "adb uninstall" Commands
"adb push" and "adb pull" Commands
►"adb shell" - Remote Shell Interface
AboutAndroid - Application to Retrieve System Information
android.app.Activity Class and Activity Lifecycle
View Objects and Layout Resource Files
Using "adb logcat" Command for Debugging
Build Process and Package File Content
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Mini Tablet
USB Debugging Applications on Samsung Tablet
USB Debugging Applications on LG-V905R Tablet