This document describes how to cross compile Erlang/OTP to Android/Raspberry Pi platforms.
https://developer.android.com/ndk
$ export NDK_ROOT=/path/to/android-ndk
$ export PATH=$NDK_ROOT/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
$ # export PATH=$NDK_ROOT/toolchains/lvvm/prebuilt/darwin-x86_64/bin:$PATH
Use the following commands when compiling an ARM 64-bit version.
$ export NDK_ABI_PLAT=android21 # When targeting Android 5.0 Lollipop
$ # Either without OpenSSL support:
$
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-arm64-android.conf \
--without-ssl
$ # Or with OpenSSL linked statically:
$
$ cd /path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-arm64
$ # First follow the NOTES.ANDROID build instructions from OpenSSL
$
$ # Then to avoid the full installation of this cross-compiled build,
$ # manually create a 'lib' directory at the root of the OpenSSL directory
$ # (at the same level as 'include') and link 'libcrypto.a' inside it.
$
$ mkdir lib
$ ln -s ../libcrypto.a lib/libcrypto.a
$ cd - # Return to the Erlang/OTP directory
$
$ # This previous step is needed for the OpenSSL static linking to work as
$ # the --with-ssl option expects a path with both the 'lib' and 'include'
$ # directories.
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-arm64-android.conf \
--with-ssl=/path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-arm64 \
--disable-dynamic-ssl-lib
Use the following commands when compiling an ARM 32-bit version.
$ export NDK_ABI_PLAT=androideabi16 # When targeting Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
$ # Either without OpenSSL support:
$
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-arm-android.conf \
--without-ssl
$ # Or with OpenSSL linked statically:
$
$ cd /path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-arm
$ # First follow the NOTES.ANDROID build instructions from OpenSSL
$
$ # Then to avoid the full installation of this cross-compiled build,
$ # manually create a 'lib' directory at the root of the OpenSSL directory
$ # (at the same level as 'include') and link 'libcrypto.a' inside it.
$
$ mkdir lib
$ ln -s ../libcrypto.a lib/libcrypto.a
$ cd - # Return to the Erlang/OTP directory
$
$ # This previous step is needed for the OpenSSL static linking to work as
$ # the --with-ssl option expects a path with both the 'lib' and 'include'
$ # directories.
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-arm-android.conf \
--with-ssl=/path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-arm \
--disable-dynamic-ssl-lib
Use the following commands when compiling an x86 64-bit version.
$ export NDK_ABI_PLAT=android21 # When targeting Android 5.0 Lollipop
$ # Either without OpenSSL support:
$
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-x86_64-android.conf \
--without-ssl
$ # Or with OpenSSL linked statically:
$
$ cd /path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-x86_64
$ # First follow the NOTES.UNIX build instructions from OpenSSL
$
$ # Then to avoid the full installation of this locally-compiled build,
$ # manually create a 'lib64' directory at the root of the OpenSSL source
$ # (at the same level as 'include') and link 'libcrypto.a' inside it.
$
$ mkdir lib64
$ ln -s ../libcrypto.a lib64/libcrypto.a
$ cd - # Return to the Erlang/OTP directory
$
$ # This previous step is needed for the OpenSSL static linking to work
$ # as the --with-ssl option expects a path with both the 'lib64' and
$ # 'include' directories.
$ ./otp_build configure \
--xcomp-conf=./xcomp/erl-xcomp-x86_64-android.conf \
--with-ssl=/path/to/OpenSSL/source/dir/built/for/android-x86_64 \
--disable-dynamic-ssl-lib
$ make noboot [-j4]
or
$ make [-j4]
$ make RELEASE_ROOT=/path/to/release/erlang release
Make a tarball out of /path/to/release/erlang and copy it to target device. Extract it and install.
$ ./Install /usr/local/erlang
The adb tool from the Android SDK can be used to deploy Erlang/OTP to a target Android device, for testing purpose mainly, as the /data/local/tmp path used for installation below is executable only from the adb shell command, but not from other local applications due to Android sandbox security model.
$ cd /path/to/release/erlang
$ # For testing purpose, configure the Erlang/OTP scripts to use the target
$ # installation path in /data/local/tmp which is executable from adb shell
$ ./Install -cross -minimal /data/local/tmp/erlang
To properly integrate into an Android application, the installation would have to target /data/data/[your/app/package/name]/files/[erlang/dir/once/unpacked] as shown in https://github.com/JeromeDeBretagne/erlanglauncher as an example.
WARNING: adb has issues with symlinks (and java.util.zip too). There is only one symlink for epmd in recent Erlang/OTP releases (20 to master-based 24) so it has to be removed before using adb push, and then recreated manually on the target device itself if needed (or epmd can simply be duplicated instead).
$ # Make sure that the epmd symlink is not present before adb push
$ rm bin/epmd
$ cp erts-X.Y.Z/bin/epmd bin/epmd
$ cd ..
$ # The release can now be deployed in the pre-configured target directory
$ adb push erlang /data/local/tmp/erlang
Start an interactive shell onto the target Android device, and launch erl.
$ adb shell
:/ $ /data/local/tmp/erlang/bin/erl
Eshel VX.Y.Z (abort with ^G)
1> q().
ok
2> :/ $ # Erlang/OTP is running on Android, congratulations! :-)
- native inet:gethostbyname/1 return {error, nxdomain} on Raspberry PI. Use dns resolver to by-pass the issue (see http://www.erlang.org/doc/apps/erts/inet_cfg.html)
The port derives some solutions from https://code.google.com/p/erlang4android/