When I started working in Dynamic Analysis, I find it very difficult because I didn't find enough tutorials and help to start working in this field. So in this blog, I will be trying to explain every point and aspect in detail, so that you can find it easy to make a progress, in this field.
The prerequisites for this task are mentioned below:
Any Linux Distro.
Android Emulator.
Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
These are the minimum requirements for starting your journey toward Dynamic Analysis.
1- Any Linux Distro:
You can use any Operating System, but I would suggest you use Linux because major tools are Linux-friendly. I would be Using Kali Linux here, but you can use your loved Linux Distro.
Just have a bootable Linux running either in your Drive, Virtual Environment, or Even Cloud.
I am using Kali Linux as my Linux Distro here. You can use your preferred one.
2- Android Emulator:
As we cannot run Mobile Applications in Linux, we have to use an Emulator here. So that we can run Mobile Applications on our Linux Machine. There are a lot of emulators but you can choose whatever you like.
LambdaTest:
This is a really awesome, powerful, and really really efficient platform where you can perform testing inside the browser, so you don't need to use hardware resources for testing and analysis of Mobile Applications. It’s Cloud Based.
You can use this link to visit their websites and check out their plans.
Genymotion:
I really love this emulator. Because it provides you with a free plan for personal use and you can use it like you are using a real Android phone. But it is only limited to the android emulators. You can also buy their plans, but for the emulator, I don’t think you have to buy the plans.
Android Virtual Device(AVD):
We can also use an Android Virtual Device (AVD ) for use as an Emulator but it has a Major Drawback due to which I don't like this Emulator. It takes a lot of time to Initialize the Emulator and takes much of the Hardware Resources.
I have mentioned only 3 Emulators here. If you can afford to buy a Plan I would suggest you use LambdaTest using this link LambaTest.com, But if you want to go with free Plans then Genymotion is your best choice.
3- Android Debug Bridge (ADB):
This is a must tool before you get into the Analysis of Applications. You can use this tool for both Static and Dynamic Analysis. I have written another article on Static Analysis you can also read that article using this link.
Before installing this tool you have to update your Linux Binaries using this Command…
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
After updating your Linux Binaries run this command in your Terminal.
sudo apt install adb
and now you can use this tool.
For testing, you can type in your terminal
adb help
if you don't get any errors then Congratulations! You have installed this tool successfully.
Now let's get our hands dirty with Genymotion…
Installing Genymotion in Linux.
You have to install the virtual box first and then install Genymotion. Just run these commands step-by-step to set up everything properly.
sudo apt install virtualbox
after this go to this link (download Genymotion) and download Genymotion for your Linux Version. I am using Debian-based Kernel, so I have downloaded a BIN file. After downloading it open a Terminal and Execute these commands.
sudo chmod +x nameofgenymotionfile.bin
Before executing this command first move into the directory in which you have downloaded this bin file, also where I have mentioned nameofgenymotionfile.bin, you have to write the name of the BIN file you downloaded. After that execute this command.
./nameofgenymotionfile.bin
and after successfully running these commands and if everything works fine, you can see it in your Application Explorer. Like this…
Just run this and add an Android Emulator and start that.
After you see a running Android Emulator like this, you are good to go now!
I am sharing some screenshots here.
After that select a device and hit “Next”, and then on the next screen “Install”, to install that Emulator. It will take some time to download some files and when the downloading is finished you can see a screen like this. Just click on the device you want to start like this.
After taking some time you would be able to see a real device(of course virtualized device), in front of your eyes like this.
So it’s working properly now one last thing to do is make sure we can access this Emulator using ADB.
Open your Terminal and type these commands
adb devices
If you see your device like this screenshot below, we are ready for Dynamic Analysis and we can easily use this workspace for Dynamic Analysis. Because everything is interlinked and can work now…
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Good Bye.