Skip to main content

Build a Custom Kernel for Android on Debian

These instructions are written for Debian Bullseye, but should be straightforward to adapt to other Linux distributions.

Prepare to Build the Kernel Image​

To create a viable custom kernel for Android, first install the dependencies:

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends docker.io git patch tar

The next steps depend on the version of Android you're after.

Android 7 and 8​

  1. Clone the goldfish kernel repository and checkout the android-goldfish-3.18 branch.
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/goldfish
cd goldfish/
git checkout android-goldfish-3.18 -f
export GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT=$(realpath .)
  1. Download this patch and save it to $GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT:

android-goldfish-3.18.patch

  1. Apply the patch.
patch -p1 < android-goldfish-3.18.patch
  1. Save this file to `$GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/:

corellium_defconfig-3.18 (Note: this file is specific to Android 7 and 8.)

  1. Rename the defconfig file.
mv $GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/corellium_defconfig-3.18 $GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/corellium_defconfig
  1. Preparation is complete. Proceed to the section, Build the Kernel.

Android 9 and 10​

  1. Clone the goldfish kernel repository and checkout the android-goldfish-4.4-dev branch.
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/goldfish
cd goldfish/
git checkout android-goldfish-4.4-dev -f
export GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT=$(realpath .)

  1. Download this tarball and save it to $GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT: goldfish.tar.gz

  2. Once that's saved, replace the Goldfish platform drivers.

rm --force --recursive drivers/platform/goldfish
mkdir drivers/platform/goldfish
tar --extract --directory drivers/platform/goldfish --file goldfish.tar.gz --gunzip
  1. Save this file to $GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/:

corellium_defconfig

(Note: this file is specific to Android 9 and 10.)

Preparation is complete. Proceed to the section, Build the Kernel.

Android 11​

  1. Clone the common kernel repository and checkout the android11-5.4.161_r00 branch.
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/common
cd common/
git checkout android11-5.4.161_r00 -f
export COMMON_CHECKOUT=$(realpath .)
  1. Download this patch and save it to $COMMON_CHECKOUT:

android-common-5.4.patch

  1. Apply the patch.
patch -p1 < android-common-5.4.patch
  1. Download the corellium-drivers.tar.gz tarball and save it to $COMMON_CHECKOUT:

drivers-corellium.tar.gz

  1. Extract the tarball to the correct directory.
mkdir drivers/corellium/
tar --extract --directory drivers/corellium --file drivers-corellium.tar.gz --gunzip
  1. Save this file to $COMMON_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/:

corellium_defconfig

(Note: this file is specific to Android 11.)

  1. Preparation is complete. Proceed to the section, Build the Kernel.

Android 12​

  1. Clone the common kernel repository and checkout the android12-5.10.81_r00 branch.
git clone https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/common
cd common/
git checkout android12-5.10.81_r00 -f
export COMMON_CHECKOUT=$(realpath .)
  1. Download this patch and save it to $COMMON_CHECKOUT:

android-common-5.10.patch

  1. Apply the patch.
patch -p1 < android-common-5.10.patch
  1. Download the corellium-drivers.tar.gz tarball and save it to $COMMON_CHECKOUT:

drivers-corellium.tar.gz

  1. Extract the tarball to the correct directory.
mkdir drivers/corellium/
tar --extract --directory drivers/corellium --file drivers-corellium.tar.gz --gunzip
  1. Save this file to `$COMMON_CHECKOUT/arch/arm64/configs/:

corellium_defconfig

(Note: this file is specific to Android 12.)

  1. Preparation is complete. Proceed to the section, Build the Kernel

Build the Kernel​

For portability, build the kernel inside a Docker container.

Android 7 through 10​

To build the kernel image for Android 7, 8, 9, or 10, use the following:

mkdir goldfish-build-environment/
cd goldfish-build-environment/
cat > Dockerfile << END
FROM ubuntu:16.04
RUN apt-get update && apt-get upgrade --assume-yes && apt-get install --assume-yes --no-install-recommends bc bison flex gcc gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu libc6-dev make
END
sudo docker build --tag=goldfish-build-environment .
sudo docker run --interactive --tty --mount=type=bind,source=$GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT,target=/goldfish goldfish-build-environment bash -c 'cd /goldfish/ && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make corellium_defconfig && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make'

Android 11 and 12​

To build the kernel image for Android 11 or 12, use the following:

mkdir common-build-environment/
cd common-build-environment/
cat > Dockerfile << END
FROM ubuntu:18.04
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install --assume-yes --no-install-recommends autoconf automake bc bison build-essential ca-certificates cpio curl device-tree-compiler flex g++ gcc gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu gettext git-core gnupg gperf groff lib32ncurses5-dev lib32stdc++6 lib32z-dev libc6-dev libc6-dev-i386 libffi-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libncursesw5-dev libpopt-dev libssl-dev libtool libx11-dev libxml2-utils make ninja-build openjdk-8-jdk-headless openjdk-8-jre-headless openssh-client p7zip-full pkg-config python python3 python3-pip python3-venv rsync sudo unzip uuid-dev wget x11proto-core-dev xsltproc xz-utils zip zlib1g-dev
END
sudo docker build --tag=common-kernel-build-environment .
sudo docker run --interactive --tty --mount=type=bind,source=$COMMON_CHECKOUT,target=/common common-kernel-build-environment bash -c 'cd /common/ && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make corellium_defconfig && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make'

Tweak and Rebuild the Kernel Image​

Once the build is finished, a usable kernel image is found in your checkout directory under arch/arm64/boot/Image.

You can now tweak the kernel as you like.

Rebuild the Android 7, 8, 9, or 10 kernel image with your changes by running:

sudo docker run --interactive --tty --mount=type=bind,source=$GOLDFISH_CHECKOUT,target=/goldfish goldfish-build-environment bash -c 'cd /goldfish/ && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make'

Rebuild the Android 11 or 12 kernel image with your changes by running:

sudo docker run --interactive --tty --mount=type=bind,source=$COMMON_CHECKOUT,target=/common common-kernel-build-environment bash -c 'cd /common/ && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make corellium_defconfig && ARCH=arm64 CROSS_COMPILE=aarch64-linux-gnu- make'