Travis

Build an Android Project

This guide covers the build environment and configuration topics specific to Android projects targeting API level 30 and above. Please review our Onboarding and General Build Configuration guides before proceeding.

Note: Android builds are not available on macOS environments.

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CI Environment for Android Projects #

Android builds are supported on our Bionic, Focal, and Jammy build environments. Specify one of these in your .travis.yml:

language: android
dist: focal  # Options: focal, jammy, or bionic

Travis CI provides a full suite of tools for JVM-based projects, including multiple JDKs, Ant, Gradle, Maven, sbt, and Leiningen.

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Sample Configuration for API Level 30+ #

Below is an example .travis.yml configured for Android projects targeting API level 30 and above. Notice that only the required extras (listed later) are included:

language: android
dist: focal
android:
  components:
    # Uncomment these if you need the latest SDK tools:
    # - tools
    # - platform-tools

    # Build Tools for API 30
    - build-tools;30.0.0

    # Android SDK Platform for API 30
    - platforms;android-30

    # Android system image for API 30 with Google APIs (x86_64)
    - system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64 

    # Required extras
    - extras;android;m2repository         # Android Support Repository (v47.0.0)
    - extras;google;auto                  # Android Auto Desktop Head Unit Emulator (v2.0)
    - extras;google;google_play_services  # Google Play services (v49)
    - extras;google;instantapps           # Google Play Instant Development SDK (v1.9.0)
    - extras;google;m2repository          # Google Repository (v58)
    - extras;google;market_apk_expansion  # Google Play APK Expansion library (v1)
    - extras;google;market_licensing      # Google Play Licensing Library (v1)
    - extras;google;simulators            # Android Auto API Simulators (v1)
    - extras;google;webdriver             # Google WebDriver
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Installing Android SDK Components #

In your .travis.yml, specify the exact SDK components to install:

language: android
dist: focal
android:
  components:
    - build-tools;30.0.0
    - platforms;android-30
    - system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64 
    - extras;android;m2repository
    - extras;google;auto
    - extras;google;google_play_services
    - extras;google;instantapps
    - extras;google;m2repository
    - extras;google;market_apk_expansion
    - extras;google;market_licensing
    - extras;google;simulators
    - extras;google;webdriver

Tip: Run sdkmanager --list on your local machine to view all available components and their exact names.

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Dealing with Licenses #

Travis CI accepts requested licenses by default. To explicitly whitelist licenses, add the licenses key:

language: android
dist: focal
android:
  components:
    - build-tools;30.0.0
    - platforms;android-30
    - extras;android;m2repository
    - extras;google;auto
    - extras;google;google_play_services
    - extras;google;instantapps
    - extras;google;m2repository
    - extras;google;market_apk_expansion
    - extras;google;market_licensing
    - extras;google;simulators
    - extras;google;webdriver
  licenses:
    - 'android-sdk-preview-license-52d11cd2'
    - 'android-sdk-license-.+'
    - 'google-gdk-license-.+'

Licenses can also be referenced using regular expressions.

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Pre-installed Components #

The following components are pre-installed in the Travis CI Android build environments. However, for stable builds, explicitly list all required components:

  • tools
  • platform-tools
  • build-tools;30.0.0
  • platforms;android-30
  • extras;android;m2repository
  • extras;google;m2repository

  • extras;google;google_play_services #

Creating and Starting an Emulator #

If your tests require an emulator, use avdmanager to create an AVD and start the emulator:

before_script:
  # Create an AVD named "test" using a system image for API 30
  - echo no | avdmanager create avd -n test -k "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64" --force
  # Start the emulator without audio or window
  - emulator -avd test -no-audio -no-window &
  # Unlock the emulator screen
  - adb shell input keyevent 82 &

Adjust sleep durations as necessary.

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Dependency Management #

Travis CI assumes that your project uses a JVM build tool (e.g., Gradle, Maven) that automatically manages dependencies.
For projects using Ant or other tools, specify your dependency command:

language: android
dist: focal
install: ant deps
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Default Test Commands #

Maven Projects #

If your repository contains a pom.xml (and no build.gradle), Maven 3 is used with:

mvn install -B

Gradle Projects #

For repositories with a build.gradle file, Travis runs:

gradle build connectedCheck

If a Gradle wrapper (gradlew) exists, it uses:

./gradlew build connectedCheck

Ant Projects #

If neither Maven nor Gradle files are found, Travis defaults to:

ant debug install test

Override these defaults using our General Build Configuration guide if needed.

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Caching #

To optimize builds and avoid uploading cache after every build, add:

before_cache:
  - rm -f $HOME/.gradle/caches/modules-2/modules-2.lock
  - rm -fr $HOME/.gradle/caches/*/plugin-resolution/
cache:
  directories:
    - $HOME/.gradle/caches/
    - $HOME/.gradle/wrapper/
    - $HOME/.android/build-cache
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Testing Against Multiple JDKs #

You can test against multiple JDKs as described in our Testing Against Multiple JDKs guide.

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Build Matrix #

For Android projects, you can create a build matrix by providing arrays for both env and jdk.

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Building on Different Environments #

Android projects are supported on dist: bionic, dist: focal, and dist: jammy. To build on a different environment, install the necessary packages and tools. For example:

os: linux
language: java
jdk: openjdk17

env:
  global:
    - ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/travis-tools/android
    - ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=$HOME/travis-tools/android

before_install:
  # Set up the Android SDK command line tools
  - mkdir -p $ANDROID_HOME && mkdir $HOME/.android && touch $HOME/.android/repositories.cfg
  - cd $ANDROID_HOME && wget -q "https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-10406996_latest.zip" -O commandlinetools.zip
  - unzip -q commandlinetools.zip && mkdir -p cmdline-tools && mv cmdline-tools/* cmdline-tools/tools
  - cd $TRAVIS_BUILD_DIR

  # Update PATH for command line tools, emulator, and platform-tools
  - export PATH=$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/tools/bin/:$PATH
  - export PATH=$ANDROID_HOME/emulator/:$PATH
  - export PATH=$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools/:$PATH

install:
  # Install required SDK components
  - sdkmanager --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME --list | awk '/Installed/{flag=1; next} /Available/{flag=0} flag'
  - yes | sdkmanager --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME --install "platform-tools" "platforms;android-30" "build-tools;30.0.0" "emulator" "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64"
  - sdkmanager --list --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME | awk '/Installed/{flag=1; next} /Available/{flag=0} flag'
  # Create an AVD for testing
  - echo "no" | avdmanager create avd --verbose --force --name "my_android_30" --package "system-images;android-30;google_apis;x86_64" --tag "google_apis" --abi "x86_64"
  - sudo chmod -R 777 /dev/kvm
  # Start the emulator in the background
  - adb kill-server && adb start-server &
  - sleep 15
  - emulator @my_android_30 -no-audio -no-window &
  - sleep 60

script:
  - sdkmanager --list --sdk_root=$ANDROID_HOME | awk '/Installed/{flag=1; next} /Available/{flag=0} flag'
  - adb devices
  # ... additional build/test commands
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Examples #

Here are some example projects that use Travis CI with Android:

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Build Config Reference #

For more details, see the Travis CI Build Config Reference for Android.