M 101: Genymotion (15 pts)

What You Need for This Project

Purpose

To prepare a Genymotion Android emulator, so you can easily install apps from Google Play and audit their security.

Genymotion is a very nice, luxurious Android virtual machine, more convenient and efficient than the emulator Google Studio provides.

Task 1: Installing Genymotion

Dowloading Genymotion

In a Web browser, go to

https://www.genymotion.com/download/

Download the Genymotion for your OS. Install it with the default options.

Ubuntu Users

If you are using Ubuntu, execute these commands: 
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install virtualbox -y
cd
cd Downloads
ls -l
You should see the name of the downloaded file, which should be something like genymotion-2.7.2-linux_x64.bin. Use that name in the next two commands: 
chmod +x genymotion-2.7.2-linux_x64.bin
./genymotion-2.7.2-linux_x64.bin
Install the software with the default options. Once it's installed, launch it with these commands: 
cd /opt/genymobile/genymotion/ 
./genymotion

Creating a Virtual Device

After Genymotion starts, it asks if you want to add a new virtual device. Click Yes.

Sign in with your Genymotion account to see available devices.

On the left side, expand "Android API" and check "5.1 - API 22"

On the right side, click "Google Nexus 6", as shown below.

Click NEXT.

On the next screen, at the bottom, change the networking to Bridge and select the network interface that goes to the Internet on your host system, as shown below.

Click INSTALL.

After the virtual device downloads, start it.

The Android device starts up, showing the Home Screen, as shown below.

Installing Google Apps

To test apps, we need access to the Google Play Store. Genymotion now makes that very easy. However, you cannot use this method inside China--see the next section for another method.

In your Genymotion machine, at the top right, click the "OPEN GAPPS" button, outlined in green in the image above.

A box opens, titled "OPEN GAPPS". Click the Accept button.

Troubleshooting

If you see an error, saying:

Open GApps archive is corrupted.Do you want to retry?

You can download OpenGAPPS from this page, as shown below:

https://opengapps.org

Select these options:

  • Platform: x86
  • Android: Select your version
  • Variant: pico
Drag the downloaded file onto your Genymotion device to install it.

After installing Google Apps, close your Genymotion device and restart it.

When your device restarts, click on the round button at the bottom center of the home screen, to see all apps.

You should see "Play Store", outlined in green in the image below.

Launching Play Store

Click "Play Store".

When you are prompted to, log in with a Gmail account, and follow the on-screen instructions to set up Google Play.

The Play Store opens, as shown below.

M 101: ID (15 pts)

On the right side of Genymotion, in the black bar, click the icon titled ID, colored pink in the image above.

An Identifiers box pops up, as shown on the right side in the image above.

Find the text in that box that is covered by the green box in the image above. That's the flag.

Installing Chrome

In the Play Store, search for chrome. Install "Google Chrome", as shown below.

Modifications made to support Chinese users 6-1-19
Sneakernet OVA note added 8-9-19
Updated to Nexus 6 1-22-19
Updated 1-20-21
Error -47 note added 1-27-21
Updated 8-22-22