Setting Up a Working Expo Android Build (Without Android Studio)

This guide walks you through the complete journey of getting an Expo React Native app to build and run on an Android device, without ever installing Android Studio. It’s based on a real-world troubleshooting log from a clean Linux system and explains not just what to do, but why each step matters.

Why This Guide Exists

Expo’s npx expo run:android command promises a smooth developer experience, but only if your environment is correctly configured. On Linux, that often means manually installing and wiring together the Android SDK, Java, and ADB. Android Studio bundles all of this automatically, but if you prefer a leaner setup (or are working on a headless server), this guide shows you how to do it entirely from the command line.

We’ll go step by step through the actual errors encountered, the reasoning behind each fix, and how to avoid common pitfalls.

Step 1: Install and Verify ADB

What is ADB? Android Debug Bridge (adb) is the command-line tool that lets your computer communicate with an Android device over USB or Wi-Fi. Expo uses it to install and launch your app.

Check if ADB is installed

which adb || command -v adb

If you see adb not found, it’s not installed.

Install ADB via APT

Since we’re on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian family), we use apt:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y adb

Why sudo? Installing system packages requires elevated privileges.

Verify device connection

Plug in your Android device with USB debugging enabled (found in Developer Options), then run:

adb devices

You’ll likely see:

List of devices attached
pfcaivx8usm7orr4    unauthorized

This means your device is connected but hasn’t trusted your computer yet. Unlock your phone and tap “Allow” on the popup. Then run adb devices again:

List of devices attached
pfcaivx8usm7orr4    device

Success! Your device is now ready for development.

Step 2: Install the Expo CLI Package

When you run npx expo run:android in a project that doesn’t have expo installed locally, you’ll get:

ConfigError: Cannot determine the project's Expo SDK version because the module `expo` is not installed.

This happens because npx can run global binaries, but the Expo build system needs the actual expo package in your node_modules.

Fix it by installing Expo

npm install expo

Note: You may see deprecation warnings, these are common in the React Native ecosystem and usually safe to ignore for now.

Once installed, you’re ready for the next step, but you’ll quickly hit another wall.

Step 3: Install Java (OpenJDK)

Expo’s Android build process relies on Gradle, which requires Java. If Java isn’t installed, you’ll see:

ERROR: JAVA_HOME is not set and no 'java' command could be found in your PATH.

Install OpenJDK 17

Android build tools officially support JDK 17, so we install that:

sudo apt install -y openjdk-17-jdk

Verify it worked:

java -version

You should see something like:

openjdk version "17.0.16" 2025-07-15

Java is now ready.

Step 4: Set Up the Android SDK (Without Android Studio)

This is the trickiest part. Expo expects the Android SDK to be in a specific location with specific tools installed. Android Studio normally handles this, but we’ll do it manually. why ?, because they did not sponser me ;)

Download the Command-Line Tools

Google provides a minimal SDK package that includes sdkmanager, the tool used to install the rest of the SDK.

wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-11076708_latest.zip -O ~/Downloads/commandlinetools-linux.zip

Pro tip: Always get the latest link from Android Studio’s command-line tools page. Link : https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/cmdline-tools#android_sdk_command-line_tools_50_canary

Install to a system-wide location

We’ll place the SDK in /usr/lib/android-sdk, a clean and conventional path:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools
sudo unzip ~/Downloads/commandlinetools-linux.zip -d /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest

Fix the directory structure

The ZIP file contains a nested cmdline-tools folder, which breaks the expected layout. We need:

/usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager

But we currently have (can be diffrent for you):

/usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/cmdline-tools/bin/sdkmanager

So we move the inner contents up one level:

sudo mv /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/cmdline-tools/* /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/
sudo rmdir /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/cmdline-tools

Set environment variables

Add these lines to your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/usr/lib/android-sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools

Then reload your shell (close all - you can restart the device):

source ~/.zshrc  # or source ~/.bashrc

Verify sdkmanager

sdkmanager --version

Output: 12.0 → Working!

Step 5: Install Android Build Components

Now we use sdkmanager to install the required SDK packages:

sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0"

But here’s the catch: If you run this as a regular user and the SDK is in a sudo-owned directory, permissions will block the install, especially for build-tools.

In our logs, platform-tools (which includes adb) installed fine, but build-tools silently failed.

Workaround: Manual copy (when auto-install fails)

Sometimes, the build process extracts tools to a temporary folder (like /home/x7dl8p/Android/sdk/build-tools). If that happens, you can manually move them to the correct SDK location:

sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/android-sdk/build-tools/34.0.0
sudo cp -r /home/x7dl8p/Android/sdk/build-tools/* /usr/lib/android-sdk/build-tools/34.0.0/

How do you know it worked? Run:

ls /usr/lib/android-sdk/build-tools/34.0.0

You should see aapt, zipalign, apksigner, etc.

Step 6: Accept Licenses and Fix Permissions

Even with all tools in place, the build may still fail with:

License for package NDK (Side by side) 27.1.12297006 not accepted.

And:

Exception while marshalling ... package.xml. Probably the SDK is read-only

These are two separate but related issues:

1. Accept all SDK licenses

Use the full path to sdkmanager (since sudo doesn’t inherit your PATH):

sudo /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/bin/sdkmanager --licenses --sdk_root=/usr/lib/android-sdk

When prompted, type y and press Enter for each license.

2. Fix SDK directory ownership

The SDK was created with sudo, so your user can’t write to it. Fix that:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /usr/lib/android-sdk

Now your user owns the entire SDK directory, and Gradle can read/write as needed.

Step 7: Run the Build!

Finally, run:

npx expo run:android

If everything is set up correctly, you’ll see:

› Building app...
...
build succesfully,

Your app will install and launch on your connected Android device.

You did it, no Android Studio required!

Pro Tips for Future Setups

To avoid repeating this process, here’s a streamlined script you can use on a fresh machine (after installing Node.js and Java):

# 1. Install ADB
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y adb

# 2. Set up Android SDK
wget https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-11076708_latest.zip -O /tmp/clt.zip
sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools
sudo unzip /tmp/clt.zip -d /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest
sudo mv /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/cmdline-tools/* /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/
sudo rmdir /usr/lib/android-sdk/cmdline-tools/latest/cmdline-tools

# 3. Set env vars
echo 'export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/usr/lib/android-sdk' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT/platform-tools' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# 4. Fix ownership
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /usr/lib/android-sdk

# 5. Install SDK components
sdkmanager "platform-tools" "platforms;android-34" "build-tools;34.0.0"

# 6. Accept licenses
sdkmanager --licenses --sdk_root=$ANDROID_SDK_ROOT

# 7. In your Expo project
npm install expo
npx expo run:android

Final Thoughts

Setting up Android development on Linux without Android Studio is absolutely possible, but it requires understanding how the pieces fit together:

• ADB talks to your device
• Java powers Gradle
• SDK tools compile your app
• Licenses and permissions are silent gatekeepers

By following this guide, you not only fix your current issue, you gain deeper insight into the Android build pipeline, making you a more resilient developer.

-- Mohammad