android studio - manually download system image for emulator

Question

Good day,I'm a student and I'm trying to create a virtual device in Android Studio, however my home internet is too slow to download a System Image, there is an internet cafe near me that has very fast internet and I plan to download the System Image there by accessing in my browser this link : https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis/x86-25_r08.zip

From this message in the window where Android Studio downloads the System Image for Android Nougat

To install:
- Google APIs Intel x86 Atom System Image (system-images;android-25;google_apis;x86)

Preparing "Install Google APIs Intel x86 Atom System Image".
Downloading https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis/x86-25_r08.zip

However I do not know how to install it in android studio. How am I able to install it myself on android studio and make an emulator?

Many thanks.

score 33 · Accepted Answer · edited Aug 20 '23 at 10:48

33

In windows: First locate your android-sdk. By default it's in your C:\Users\Your.name\AppData\Local\ in it's root folder. where you can find: SDK Manager.exe, make a folder name it system-images, my api 25 image is at system-images\android-25\google_apis\x86_64\Files

Hope you can Figure it out. Comment if you have any problem.

edited Aug 20 '23 at 10:48

Robert

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answered Aug 15 '17 at 04:45

M.Mavini

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Do you know this location for Mac? – Abhishek Jain Apr 02 '18 at 14:37
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for me I found it is `system-images\android-25\default\x86_64`, in other words it's `default` rather than `google_apis`, not sure why – Adam Burley Dec 06 '18 at 00:15
do I have to unzip the downloaded file or not? – anshabhi Dec 12 '18 at 06:11
Nothing is zipped for sure. – M.Mavini Dec 12 '18 at 20:25
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For phones with play store it might be `google_apis_playstore` instead of `google_apis` – Thomas Weller Sep 29 '21 at 13:05

score 26 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 14 '19 at 16:39

On Windows 10:

Download the file from e.g.: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis/x86-27_r09.zip.
1. Extract the zipped file.
2. Copy (OR Cut, not recommended) the contents of the extracted folder e.g.: x86.
3. Find the android-sdk folder. By default, it should be located at C:\Users\[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk.
4. Look for a folder named system-images. Create system-images if it doesn't exist. Depending on the file you downloaded, create subfolders within system-images. E.g.: system-images->android-27->google_apis.
5. Paste within google_apis.
6. Restart Android Studio and the system image should be selectable.

Shout if you need any further assistance.

Works for linux too, make sure you don't confuse android studio and androidsdk folders. — Aistis Taraskevicius, Nov 21 '19 at 14:27

score 25 · Answer 3 · answered May 06 '18 at 16:39

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In mac OSX:

~/Library/Android/sdk/system-images/android-[API_VERSION]/[API_TYPE]/x86

Replace [API_VERSION] with Android version you are downloading and the [API_TYPE] can either be google_apis_playstore or google_apis depending on whether the image you are downloading comes with Google Play or not.

answered May 06 '18 at 16:39

fahmy

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what should I do after I dowloaded my "x86-28_r07.zip" into this directory? Thanks in advance. – milushov Nov 25 '18 at 10:11
@milushov then you can create an emulator from Android studio – fahmy Dec 11 '18 at 01:48
@milushov Just restart Android Studio then you will be able to create an emulator. – Malwinder Singh Nov 17 '19 at 06:06
The last-folder-name `x86` in the path after `../[API_TYPE]/` should be CPU-architecture specific as the unzipped folder will suggest like `x86`, `x86_64` etc. – Touhid Feb 11 '20 at 11:44
One important thing: You need to copy the contents of the zip file into the specific folder – Bernhardt Scherer Sep 22 '22 at 06:53

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 31 '19 at 14:13

FOR WINDOWS:

To get the exact path of the system-image, try to download from android studio first, after 1% download, stop the download and go to your sdk path.

E.g. C:\Users\TBR\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk, you will see a folder name "system-images" this folder was created from the part download, open the sub-folder till you get to the last sub-folder.

E.g. C:\Users\TBR\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\system-images\android-27\google_apis\x86 i.e x86 is last sub folder (delete any content in this last sub-folder)

Download the system images manually, unzipped and copy the whole content, then paste it into your last sub-folder. Download link for android-27 - https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis_playstore/x86-27_r03.zip

Go back to android studio and you will see the system-image there now.

and on Ubuntu the path is /home//Android/Sdk/system-images – Omkar76 Dec 23 '20 at 13:36 — Omkar76, Dec 23 '20 at 13:36

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 08 '21 at 16:19

For Windows 10:

Download the file from e.g.: https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis/x86-27_r09.zip. or Any other System Image

After Completion of Download

Extract the zipped file.
Copy extracted folder e.g.: x86.
Find the android-sdk folder. It is located at C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\
Find the folder system-images. Create system-images if it doesn't exist.
Create subfolders within system-images. E.g.: system-images/android-27
Check in link, if it has google_apis or google_apis_playstore:

https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis/x86-27_r09.zip.

or

https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis_playstore/x86-27_r09.zip.

Paste within google_apis if link has google_apis or Paste it in google_apis_playstore folder.
The Complete path of system image file :

C:\Users\{Your UserName}\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\system-images\android-30\google_apis\x86

or

C:\Users\{Your UserName}\AppData\Local\Android\Sdk\system-images\android-30\google_apis_playstore\x86

Restart Android Studio and the system image should be selectable.

============= Good Luck ❤❤❤ =============

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Nov 19 '19 at 08:48

I have faced the same issue when manually installing an android-wear image. For android-wear images the directory structure looks like this.

<your_android_sdk_location>/system-images/android-<version>/android-wear/<extract_downloaded_android-wear_image_here>

example: For this wear image https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/android-wear/x86-28_r03.zip

<your_android_sdk_location>/system-images/android-28/android-wear/x86

Don't forget to restart the Android Studio!

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 01 '22 at 13:38

For me the problem was that currently Android Studio doesn't list older system images (older than 29) in the "Create Device" wizard, and that even if the relevant system images have been downloaded already.

The workaround I found was to download system images and create emulator devices from the command line. This works even if you don't have the Android Studio - you just need the Android SDK installed.

To download a system image, go into the directory where the Android SDK is installed (by default this is at ~/Android/SDK on Linux), then in your terminal type: ./cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager --list - this will list all the available system images, even very old ones (I see the oldest SDK is 10). They should have the path (the text in the first column) labeled with this format: system-images;android-<sdk-version>;<type>;<architecture> (there are also other stuff aside from system images, lets ignore these for now).

To download the system image you want, type ./cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager --install "<path>" where "<path>" would be the first column from the available package list from the step above.

Then to create an emulator virtual device for this image, use the command line as well: type ./cmdline-tools/latest/bin/avdmanager create avd -d <device-type> -k '<system-image-path> -n '<device-name>', where:

"<device-type>" would be the name of the device you want to emulate, for example "pixel_4a" to emulate a Pixel 4a - use avdmanager list device to get the list of devices.
"<system-image-path>" would be the same path you used to download the system image, for example system-images;android-23;google_apis;x86_64.
"<device-name>" would be whatever name you want to be shown in Android Studio's "Device Manager" view.

For example: ./cmdline-tools/latest/bin/avdmanager create avd -d pixel_4a -k 'system-images;android-23;google_apis;x86_64' -n 'Pixel_4a_API_23'

If you had Android Studio running while doing all of that, you'd need to stop and restart it. If you want to copy the created files to another machine, you'd need to copy your entire Android SDK installation directory (or possibly only the "system-images" folder inside the SDK installation directory) and also the content of the Android SDK AVD configuration directory - if you created any AVDs - this would be ~/.android/avd under Linux.

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 08 '20 at 09:20

0

Actually, if you extract downloaded zip archive, system will never find it. You have to click in 'Download' tag, then in folder

%ANDROIDSDK%/system-images/android-25/

                                    ^^^ version of SDK you use

if google-api then additional folder 'google_apis' will be created .install file with the path, where archive is located. Usually it is

C:\Users[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Local\Temp\PackageOperation01

Put there your zip archive and go to Download link again.

After that, it will not start download, but will start to check and unzip operation. This resolves offline installation issue.

answered Apr 08 '20 at 09:20

Андрей Ефимов

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This didn't work for me. Which version of android studio did it work on? – Nate Apr 13 '20 at 05:34
What exactly didn't work, please explain the details. Android Studio 3.3.1 – Андрей Ефимов Apr 15 '20 at 22:45
I'm using Android Studio 3.6.2. I did everything exactly as you explained but when I click on the download link, it starts downloading again. At first, Studio was running when I followed your instructions. It didn't work. Then, I closed studio and repeated the same procedure again, same result – Nate Apr 22 '20 at 23:58

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 21 '21 at 21:44

find the logfile for the android device manager (on my machine it was here: C:\Users(user name)\AppData\Local\Xamarin\Logs\16.0). At the end of the logfile (named like 2021-07-21_16-03-19.18380.devicemanager.log), you'll see it reference a path it's trying to download from and to. Here's what my log message looked like:

[21-07-21 21:03:29.66] [ProgressMonitor] Step "Downloading Google Play Intel x86 Atom System Image v9" did begin for AVD: pixel_2_pie_9_0_-_api_28, totalWork: 918028186

[21-07-21 21:03:29.67] Downloaded file '<USER_HOME>\AppData\Local\Temp\xamarin-android-sdk\x86-28_r09.zip' not found for Android SDK archive 'https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis_playstore/x86-28_r09.zip'

[21-07-21 21:06:08.50] [ProgressMonitor] downloading did report error with exception: System.TimeoutException: The operation has timed out. AVD Name: pixel_2_pie_9_0_-_api_28

So I went to the https://dl.google.com/android/repository/sys-img/google_apis_playstore/x86-28_r09.zip link and manually downoaded the file and copied it to <USER_HOME>\AppData\Local\Temp\xamarin-android-sdk\x86-28_r09.zip and clicked retry from the failed attempt inside the android device manager, and voila, it worked after 2 days of messing around with it.

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Mar 08 '23 at 06:49

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If you are a CLI fan, you can run this command to install image:

sdkmanager --install "system-images;android-30;google_apis_playstore;x86"

Use this format: system-images;android-<sdk-version>;<type>;<architecture>

answered Mar 08 '23 at 06:49

Franklin'j Gil'z

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MCoder · Answer 11 · 2017-08-15T04:42:40.360

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Go to the AVD Manager in Android Studio (it is in the toolbar and looks like a tablet with an Android on it), then click on "Create Virtual Device" once a window called "Android Virtual Device Manager" pops up. Next, choose the device you want to pick, and then click "Next". You will then be able to download a system image.

edited Aug 15 '17 at 04:42

answered Aug 15 '17 at 04:32

MCoder

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I'm trying to avoid that method since as I said, my home internet is very slow thats why I want to download the system image separately on a internet cafe near me that has very fast internet I'm trying to find out if what I want to do is possible, and if I can manually plug that system image myself. – RFA Aug 15 '17 at 04:45

android studio - manually download system image for emulator

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