[HOW-TO] Build Port Authority v2.4.5 with PR #156

[xcpn]

This is a step-by-step tutorial on how to patch Port Authority with pull request #156 and build an unsigned (debug) APK with version 2.4.5.

Disclaimer

The steps have only been tested in Debian 12. I will try to make it as easy as possible for users with minimum to no development knowledge, but you need to at least know your way around Linux on a basic level. It's best to setup a quick Debian 12 VM for the sole purpose of building the APK and then disposing it. This way we can ensure a clean environment and reproducibility, otherwise some steps may fail. Experienced users can just copy what's needed.

Assuming you are going to use a VM and then dispose it, I will not provide cleanup steps after a successful build. It's best to use a VM so you don't end up with unnecessary packages and environment modifications on you main system after the fact.

1. Install necessary packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git curl unzip zip ca-certificates openjdk-17-jdk

2. Install and configure SDK (Command Line Tools)

Create the SDK parent directroy.

mkdir -p "$HOME/Android/Sdk"
cd "$HOME/Android/Sdk"

Download latest Command Line Tools and setup layout.

curl -L -o cmdline-tools.zip https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-13114758_latest.zip

mkdir -p cmdline-tools
unzip -q cmdline-tools.zip -d cmdline-tools
mv cmdline-tools/cmdline-tools cmdline-tools/latest

cd ~

3. Configure environment variables in Bash

Open the rc file with nano ~/.bashrc. Then paste the following lines on the bottom of the file.

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT="$HOME/Android/Sdk"
export PATH="$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools"

To save the changes and exit do Ctrl+S and Ctrl+X.

Make the changes take effect by sourcing the file.

. ~/.bashrc

4. Install necessary SDK components.

yes | sdkmanager --licenses
sdkmanager "platform-tools" "build-tools;34.0.0" "platforms;android-34"

5. Clone the Port Authority repository and apply PR #156.

Clone and checkout branch.

git clone https://github.com/aaronjwood/PortAuthority.git
cd PortAuthority
git checkout development

Configure Git so it doesn't complain. No need to modify these values, just copy-paste as is.

git config user.name "foo"
git config user.email "foo@bar"

Apply the fix.

curl -L https://github.com/aaronjwood/PortAuthority/pull/156.patch | git am

6. Build the APK

./gradlew assembleDebug

Assuming the build was successful, your APK will be in /app/build/outputs/apk/free/debug/. Copy it in your home directory.

cp app/build/outputs/apk/free/debug/PortAuthority-2.4.5-free-debug.apk ~/
cd ~

Done

You can now move the file to your phone and install it. This is a debug and not a signed release. It doesn't change something functionally for you but you will see a Leaks app installed alongside and you are not gonna be able to uninstall it (technically not an individual app), just hide it from your drawer. This is the LeaksCanary tool and comes as a debug component, it detects memory leaks.

I can add steps to create/use your own Keystore to sign the APK and generate a full release (also disables LeaksCanary), but that is out of scope. If a handful of people ask for that, I will edit this tutorial on a later date and add optional signing steps.

Download: If you want to install a signed release instead of a debug and don't want to go through all the steps, you can download mine directly via this link. More details in my repository.

[0xDE57]

Thank you.

Build instructions were slightly different for me on arch + android studio.

Install jdk17:
sudo pacman -S jdk17-openjdk

Then selecting jdk17 for "Gradle JDK" in:

File > Settings > Build, Execution, Deployment > Build Tools > Gradle

As an asside: jdk17 is pretty old now, might be nice long term to update to a newer version of gradle (and resolve gradle changes that break when doing so) working, with newer jdk. And update dependencies, etc...

[xcpn]

Some users told me they have older systems and their newest package was jdk17 (also some users reported success with jdk17/bt34 in the pr), tried to create a working build and have it make use for as many people as I can. Don't want to have them mess with SDKMAN or whatever to get newer versions.

Certainly someone could try building with newer versions and use build-tools;35.0.0 or higher for example, but this setup definitely works for now. Also we are hanging on this app for dear life at this point. It's pretty old now, it will stop working at some point and we'll have to move on.

Doubt the dev will start maintaining again, I think it's abandoned and users should look into alternatives like Vernet.