A30a: Installing Genymotion with ADB on a Mac or Linux Host

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/fun-zone/

Click "Download Genymotion Personal Edition", as shown below.

In the next screen, click "Create an account". Fill in the form with your email address and other details, as shown below.

Accept the terms and click "Create account".

Download links appear. Download the correct version for your OS. There are four choices:

If you are using Windows, download the version including VirtualBox unless VirtualBox is already installed.

While the download proceeds, check your email and activate your Genymotion account.

Installing Genymotion

If you are using Mac or Window, double-click the installer file and install the software 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.

Scroll to the bottom of the list and double-click

Google Pixel 3 - 9.0 - API 28 - 1080x 2160

outlined in green in the image below.

In the "Install virtual device" box, click INSTALL.

Click Next twice.

The virtual device downloads.

Click Finish.

In Genymotion, your device appears in the top section, under the heading "My installed devices", as shown below.

Starting the Genymotion Device

In the Genymotion window, double-click

Google Pixel 3 - 9.0 - API 28 - 1080x 2160

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.

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.

When you are prompted to, click "Restart now".

When your device restarts, click on the hone screen, hold down the mouse button, and swipe up 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.

Agree to the terms.

The Play Store opens, as shown below.

Installing Chrome

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

Task 2: Connecting with ADB

Finding Kali's IP Address

Start your VMware Kali virtual machine and connect to the Internet.

On Kali, in a Terminal, execute this command: 

ip addr
Find your IP address, as highlighted in the image below.

Find the Host Adapter Name

On your host system, open a Terminal or Command Prompt.

If you are using Mac OS, execute this command: 

ifconfig
Find the adapter with an IP address on the same subnet as your Kali machine.

On my system, it was vmnet8, as highlighted in the image below.

Adding a Second Network Adapter to the Genymotion Machine

If your Genymotion virtual Android phone is running, close it.

Launch VirtualBox. If you are using a Mac, you may have to install VirtualBox first from:

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

In VirtualBox, click to select your "Google Pixel 3" device, as shown below. Click Settings.

On the Network tab, the first Adapter is set to "Host-only", as shown below. Don't change anything here--this adapter is reuired for Genymotion.

Click the "Adapter 2" tab. Set this adapter to Bridged and connect it to the host adapter Kali is using, as shown below.

Click Advanced and allow "Promiscuous Mode", as shown below.

Click OK.

Troubleshooting

After this networking adjustment, you must always start VMware before Genymotion. Otherwise Genymotion will give an error and tell you to open Virtualbox to adjust the networking.

Enabling USB Debugging

In Settings, at the top, click the back-arrow three times to get back to the main Settings page.

Scroll to the bottom and click System.

Click Advanced, "Developer Options"

Scroll down slowly to find the "USB Debugging" option, as shown below.

Click the "USB Debugging" and click OK. The slider should turn green, as shown below.

Finding your Android Device from Kali

This is a very powerful technique to find hosts on a LAN with ARP packets.

On Kali, in a Terminal, execute this command, replacing the IP address with the IP address of your Kali machine: 

netdiscover -r 172.16.123.154/24
You should see three VMware adapters and one that is different, as shown below.

The different one is your Genymotion Android device.

Connecting to your Android Device with ADB

On Kali, in a Terminal, execute these commands, replacing the IP address with the IP address of your Genymotion Android device: 
apt update
apt install android-tools-adb -y
adb connect 172.16.123.154
adb devices -l

Troubleshooting

If you see an error message saying "E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)", restart your Kali machine.
You should see your Genymotion device in the "List of devices attached", as shown below.

Posted 4-9-19