howtos

Setup Cordova on an empty Debian/Ubuntu box

Some steps might need some modifications. Make sure you understand what each command does before you execute it!

Step by step guide

  1. Install Node.js LTS:
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.9/install.sh | bash
nvm install 8.11.1
  1. Check that Node.js and NPM are available:
node --version
npm --version
  1. Download Java SE Development Kit 8u172:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151.html
  1. Create installer, install Java:
sudo aptitude install -y java-package
make-jpkg jdk-8u172-linux-x64.tar.gz
sudo dpkg -i oracle-java8-jdk_8u172_amd64.deb
javac -version
  1. Add JAVA_HOME environment variable. Check what the path to JAVA home is:
sudo update-alternatives --config java

Add JAVA_HOME variable to .bashrc file:

export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/oracle-java8-jdk-amd64"
  1. Install Gradle:
wget https://downloads.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.6-bin.zip
sudo mkdir /opt/gradle
sudo unzip -d /opt/gradle gradle-4.6-bin.zip

And add Gradle to PATH. Add to .bashrc file:

export PATH=$PATH:/opt/gradle/gradle-4.6/bin
  1. Check that Gradle is available:
gradle --version
  1. Download, extract, and install Android SDK:
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sdk-tools-linux-3859397.zip
unzip sdk-tools-linux-3859397.zip
mkdir ~/android_sdk
mv ./tools ~/android_sdk/
cd ~/android_sdk/
tools/bin/sdkmanager --update
  1. Add Android SDK to path. Append the following lines to your .bashrc file:
export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/android_sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools
  1. Check that Android tools are available:
adb --version
  1. Install necessary Android SDK packages:
tools/bin/sdkmanager \
  "extras;android;m2repository" \
  "build-tools;26.0.3" \
  "build-tools;27.0.3" \
  "platforms;android-26" \
  "platforms;android-27"
  1. Install Cordova:
npm install cordova -g
  1. Check that Cordova is working:
cordova -v
  1. Create and build a simple Hello, world! project:
mkdir dev
cd dev/
cordova create hello com.example.hello HelloWorld
cd hello/
cordova platform add android
cordova platform ls
cordova requirements
cordova build android
  1. Install generated APK to device via USB:
cordova run android

See Cordova for Android: Links on setting up a dev environment.

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