apktool is an Android apk decompilation program. It is command line based, and requires java to run. It can be run on both Windows and Linux systems.
Officially, apktool was last updated in February 2013. But development on apktool is highly active, and it makes sense to get the latest version with all bug fixes and cutting edge features. If you need the latest development version of apktool, you need to compile apktool from source.
I tried this on a Debian 7 x64 based VPS on an OpenVZ virtualization.
First download and extract the Android SDK (you need aapt from the SDK):
Visit http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
Click on “DOWNLOAD FOR OTHER PLATFORMS”
Download the version for Linux 64-bit: Eg: http://dl.google.com/android/adt/22.6.2/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321.zip
wget http://dl.google.com/android/adt/22.6.2/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321.zip unzip adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321.zip cd adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321/
Find the location of aapt and add its path to the PATH variable:
find . -iname 'aapt' export PATH=$PATH:/home/adt-bundle-linux-x86_64-20140321/sdk/build-tools/android-4.4.2
Get the latest development version source:
git clone https://code.google.com/p/android-apktool/ cd android-apktool/ ./gradlew build fatJar
If all went well, you’ll get a “build successful” message.
The new jar will be saved as ./brut.apktool/apktool-cli/build/libs/apktool-cli.jar
Joel G Mathew, known in tech circles by the pseudonym Droidzone, is an opensource and programming enthusiast.
He is a full stack developer, whose favorite languages are currently Python and Vue.js. He is also fluent in Javascript, Flutter/Dart, Perl, PHP, SQL, C and bash shell scripting. He loves Linux, and can often be found tinkering with linux kernel code, and source code for GNU applications. He used to be an active developer on XDA forums, and his tinkered ROMS used to be very popular in the early 2000s.
His favorite pastime is grappling with GNU compilers, discovering newer Linux secrets, writing scripts, hacking roms, and programs (nothing illegal), reading, blogging. and testing out the latest gadgets.
When away from the tech world, Dr Joel G. Mathew is a practising ENT Surgeon, busy with surgeries and clinical practise.