docs/html/sdk/adding-components.jd

page.title=Adding SDK Components
@jd:body


<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>Quickview</h2>
<ul>
  <li>Use the Android SDK and AVD Manager to 
   set up your SDK and keep it up-to-date.</li>
</ul>

<h2>In this document</h2>
<ol>
  <li><a href="#launching">Launching the Android SDK and AVD Manager</a>
  <li><a href="#InstallingComponents">Installing SDK Components</a>
  <li><a href="#UpdatingComponents">Updating SDK Components</a>
  <li><a href="#dependencies">Component Dependencies</a></li>
  <li><a href="#AddingSites">Adding New Sites</a></li>
  <li><a href="#troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>

<p>Adding and updating components in your Android SDK is fast and easy. To
perform an update, use the <strong>Android SDK and AVD Manager</strong> to
install or update the individual SDK components that you need. The Android SDK
and AVD Manager tool is included in the <a href="index.html">Android SDK 
download</a>.</p>

<p>It only takes a couple of clicks to install individual versions of the
Android platform, new development tools, new documentation, and SDK add-ons. The
new SDK components are automatically installed into your existing SDK directory,
so you don't need to update your development environment to specify a new SDK
location.</p>

<p>Because each version of the Android platform can be installed as an
individual component of your SDK, you can customize your development environment
to the Android platforms you are targetting. Testing your app on multiple
versions of the platform is very important in order to successfully operate on
as many devices as possible. Be sure to install each version of the Android
platform with which your app is compatible, then test your apps on <a
href="{@docRoot}guide/developing/tools/avd.html">AVDs</a> that run each
platform.</p>

<p>If you are just getting started and you are not sure what components to install,
see <a href="installing.html#components">Adding Platforms and Other
Components</a> for information. </p>

<p>If you develop applications using Eclipse, you may also need to update your
ADT plugin when you update your development tools, in order to compile against
a new version of the platform. See the revisions listed in the <a
href="{@docRoot}sdk/tools-notes.html">SDK Tools</a> document for ADT
Plugin compatibility.</p>

<div style="TEXT-ALIGN:left; width:600px;"> 
<img src="{@docRoot}images/sdk_manager_packages.png" 
style="padding-bottom:0;margin-bottom:0;" /> 
<p class="caption" style="margin:0 0 1.5em 1em;padding:0 0 0
1em;"><strong>Figure 1.</strong> The Android SDK and AVD Manager's 
<strong>Available Packages</strong>
panel, which shows the SDK components that are
available for you to download into your environment. </p>
</div> 

<h2 id="launching">Launching the Android SDK and AVD Manager</h2>

<p>The Android SDK and AVD Manager is the tool that you use to install and 
upgrade SDK components in your development environment. </p>

<p>You can access the tool in any of three ways:</p>
<ul>
<li>If you are developing in the Eclipse IDE with the ADT Plugin, you can access
the tool directly from the Eclipse UI.</li>
<li>On Windows only, you can launch he tool by double-clicking a script file.</li>
<li>In all environments, you can access the tool from a command line.</li>
</ul>

<h4>Launching from Eclipse/ADT</h4>

<p>If you are developing in Eclipse and have already installed the ADT Plugin,
follow these steps to access the Android SDK and AVD Manager tool:</p>

<ol>
<li>Open Eclipse</li>
<li>Select <strong>Window</strong> &gt; <strong>Android SDK and AVD 
Manager</strong>.</li>
</ol>

<h4>Launching from the setup script (Windows only)</h4>

<p>For Windows only, the SDK includes a script that invokes the Android SDK and
AVD Manager. To launch the tool using the script, double-click "SDK
Setup.exe" at the root of the the SDK directory.</p>

<h4>Launching from a command line</h4>

<p>In all development environments, follow these steps to access the Android SDK
and AVD Manager tool from the command line: </p>

<ol>
<li>Navigate to the <code>&lt;<em>sdk</em>&gt;/tools/</code> directory.</li>
<li>Execute the {@code android} tool command with no options. 
  <pre style="width:400px">$ android</pre></li>
</ol>


<h2 id="InstallingComponents">Installing SDK Components</h2>

<p class="caution"><strong>Important:</strong> Before you install SDK components, 
we recommend that you disable any antivirus programs that may be running on
your computer.</p>

<p>Follow these steps to install new SDK components in your environment:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Launch the Android SDK and AVD Manager as described in the section above.</li>
  <li>Select <strong>Available Packages</strong> in the left panel.
  This will reveal all of the components that are currently available for download 
  from the SDK repository.</li>
  <li>Select the component(s) you'd like to install and click <strong>Install
  Selected</strong>. If you aren't sure which packages to select, read <a 
  href="installing.html#which">Which components do I need?</a>.</li>
  <li>Verify and accept the components you want and click <strong>Install
  Accepted</strong>. The components will now be installed into your existing
  Android SDK directories.</li>
</ol>

<p>New platforms are automatically saved into the 
<code><em>&lt;sdk>/</em>platforms/</code> directory of your SDK;
new add-ons are saved in the <code><em>&lt;sdk>/</em>add-ons/</code>
directory; and new documentation is saved in the existing
<code><em>&lt;sdk>/</em>docs/</code> directory (old docs are replaced).</p>


<h2 id="UpdatingComponents">Updating SDK Components</h2>

<p>From time to time, new revisions of existing SDK components are released and
made available to you through the SDK repository. In most cases, if you have those
components installed in your environment, you will want
to download the new revisions as soon as possible. </p>

<p>You can learn about the release of new revisions in two ways: </p>

<ul>
<li>You can watch for updates listed in the "SDK" tab of the Android Developers
site, in the "Downloadable SDK Components" section. </li>
<li>You can watch for updates listed in the <strong>Available Packages</strong>
panel of the Android SDK and AVD Manager. </li>
</ul>

<p>When you see that a new revision is available, you can use the Android SDK
and AVD Manager to quickly download it to your environment. Follow the same
procedure as given in <a href="">Installing SDK Components</a>, above. The new
component is installed in place of the old, but without impacting your
applications. </p>

<p class="note"><strong>Tip:</strong>
Use the "Display updates only" checkbox to show only the components
you do not have.</p>


<h2 id="dependencies">SDK Component Dependencies</h2>

<p>In some cases, an SDK component may require a specific minimum revision of
another component or SDK tool. Where such dependencies exist, they are
documented in the revision notes for each component, available from the links in
the "Downloadable SDK Components" section at left.</p>

<p>For example, there may be a dependency between the ADT Plugin for Eclipse and
the SDK Tools component. When you install the SDK Tools
component, you would then need to upgrade to the required version of ADT (if you
are developing in Eclipse). In this case, you would find dependencies listed in
"Revisions" section of the <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/eclipse-adt.html#notes">ADT
Plugin Notes</a> and <a href="{@docRoot}sdk/tools-notes.html#notes">SDK Tools
Notes</a> documents. </p>

<p>Additionally, the development tools will notify you with debug warnings
if there is dependency that you need to address. </p>


<h2 id="AddingSites">Adding New Sites</h2>

<p>By default, <strong>Available Packages</strong> only shows the default
repository site, which offers platforms, SDK tools, documentation, the 
Google APIs Add-on, and other components. You can add other sites that host 
their own Android SDK add-ons, then download the SDK add-ons
from those sites.</p>	

<p>For example, a mobile carrier or device manufacturer might offer additional
API libraries that are supported by their own Android-powered devices. In order
to develop using their libraries, you must install their Android SDK add-on. </p>

<p>If a carrier or device manufacturer has hosted an SDK add-on repository file
on their web site, follow these steps to add their site to the SDK and AVD
Manager:</p>

<ol>
  <li>Select <strong>Available Packages</strong> in the left panel.</li>
  <li>Click <strong>Add Site</strong> and enter the URL of the 
{@code repository.xml} file. Click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Any SDK components available from the site will now be listed under
<strong>Available Packages</strong>.</p>

<h2 id="troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</h2>

<p><strong>Problems connecting to the SDK repository</strong></p>

<p>If you are using the SDK and AVD Manager to download components and are encountering
connection problems, try connecting over http, rather than https. To switch the
protocol used by the SDK and AVD Manager, follow these steps: </p>

<ol>
  <li>With the Android SDK and AVD Manager window open, select "Settings" in the
  left pane. </li>
  <li>On the right, in the "Misc" section, check the checkbox labeled "Force
  https://... sources to be fetched using http://..." </li>
  <li>Click <strong>Save &amp; Apply</strong>.</li>
</ol>