Android Installation Guide

Droidspaces on Android is designed to be a "Zero Terminal" experience. From the first install to running a full Linux distribution, everything is handled through the intuitive Android app.

Prerequisites

1. Rooted device with supported rooting solutions from here
2. Compatible kernel with Droidspaces support enabled (see Kernel Configuration Guide)

Step 1: Install the App

1. Download the Droidspaces APK from the latest release.
2. Install the APK on your device.
3. Grant root access and open the app.

Step 2: Automatic Backend Setup

On the first launch, Droidspaces performs an Atomic Installation of the backend system: - It detects your device architecture (aarch64, armhf, etc.). - It extracts the droidspaces and busybox binaries to /data/local/Droidspaces/bin. - It performs an atomic move to ensure the binaries are installed correctly even if an older version is currently running. - It verifies checksums to ensure zero corruption.

Step 3: Setting Up Your First Container

You don't need to manually extract rootfs files. The app handles it:

1. Download a rootfs tarball: We recommend using our official rootfs tarballs - which are specifically optimized for Android - or the official Linux Containers images.
2. Open the Containers Tab: Tap the middle icon in the bottom navigation bar.
3. Add a Container: Tap the "+" button at the bottom right.
4. Choose your Tarball: Select the downloaded .tar.xz or .tar.gz file.
5. Configuration Wizard:
   • Name: Give your container a friendly name.
   • Features: Toggle Hardware Access, IPv6, Network Isolation, Android storage integration, etc., according to your needs.
   • Container Type: We recommend Sparse Image for better performance and stability on Android’s f2fs storage, as well as to prevent weird SELinux/Keyring issues.
6. Installation: The app will extract the tarball and apply Post-Extraction Fixes automatically (DNS, Masking useless/dangerous services, and Safe Udev).

Verification & Settings

You can verify your system status at any time: 1. Go to Settings (gear icon) -> Requirements. 2. Tap Check Requirements. This runs the full droidspaces check suite internally. 3. Kernel Config: If you're a kernel developer, you can find a copyable droidspaces.config defconfig fragment, similar to this page, to make sure your kernel is perfectly compatible with Droidspaces.

Next Steps

• Android App Usage Guide for management details.
• GPU Acceleration Guide to enable hardware-accelerated desktop environments.
• Linux CLI Guide for expert command-line access.

© 2026 Droidspaces  ·  GPLv3  ·  by ravindu644 and contributors