Running Shell commands though java code on Android?

Question

I've got an app that's supposed to use some shell commands to copy a file from the sdcard to /system/media/. It will require root, and I am testing on a rooted device. I'm using runtimes to execute the shell commands, but it's not working. Here's what I've got for my runtimes

public void RunAsRoot{String[] commands = {"sysrw", "rm /data/local/bootanimation.zip", "sysro"};{
    Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su");
    DataOutputStream os = new DataOutputStream(p.getOutputStream());            
    for (String tmpCmd : commands) {
    os.writeBytes(tmpCmd+"\n");
    }           
    os.writeBytes("exit\n");  
    os.flush();
}

But my logcat only shows two of them not getting rejected

07-30 03:14:11.112: WARN/su(3593): request rejected (10047->0 /system/bin/sh)
07-30 03:14:11.132: DEBUG/su(3592): 10047 com.bba.stormdroid executing 0 /system/bin/sh using shell /system/bin/sh : sh
07-30 03:14:11.152: WARN/su(3594): request rejected (0->0 /system/bin/sh)
07-30 03:14:11.182: WARN/su(3595): request rejected (0->0 /system/bin/sh)
07-30 03:14:11.202: WARN/su(3596): request rejected (0->0 /system/bin/sh)
07-30 03:14:11.242: DEBUG/su(3597): 10047 com.bba.stormdroid executing 0 /system/bin/sh using shell /system/bin/sh : sh

Those two look to be the sysrw and sysro commands, yet the app still asks for root permission when I trigger this code. I'm new to working with root stuff and I can't seem to figure out how to get this to work.

This isn't working for me and I'm not getting any FileNotFound exceptions or anything in Java. Also, SuperSU intercepts the root request and I'm able to grant it so I know that getRuntime() is working. For some reason it just won't let me manipulate files in the /system/media folder. — fIwJlxSzApHEZIl
– fIwJlxSzApHEZIl, Commented Mar 14, 2013 at 0:24
Sorry for the naive question: this only works with a rooted device, isn't it? — Diana
– Diana, Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 10:09

user496854 · Accepted Answer · 2011-07-31 21:46:20Z

28

To run root commands, you have to use the flllowing format:

    public void RunAsRoot(String[] cmds){
            Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su");
            DataOutputStream os = new DataOutputStream(p.getOutputStream());            
            for (String tmpCmd : cmds) {
                    os.writeBytes(tmpCmd+"\n");
            }           
            os.writeBytes("exit\n");  
            os.flush();
}

where you pass in an array of strings, each string being a command that needs to be executed. For example:

String[] commands = {"sysrw", "rm /data/local/bootanimation.zip", "sysro"};

edited Jul 31, 2011 at 21:46

answered Jul 30, 2011 at 9:32

user496854

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7 Comments

Ben Over a year ago

When I put that in my onClick, it says the ()'s around (String[] cmds) should be ;'s, which just adds more errors when I do that.

user496854 Over a year ago

I just edited my original answer to show an example of the string array that needs to be passed in

s.d Over a year ago

One thing I wonder is why input is via outputstream and output via inputstream, naming issue ?

nkg Over a year ago

Is it possible to get the output of the command I just executed..? for example "ls /data"

vgokul129 Over a year ago

The above code seems not working with non-Rooted devices

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