Android app that runs Linux distributions via proot — no root, no Termux required.
- Install and run Linux distributions (Alpine, Debian, Ubuntu, and 5 more) on any Android device
- Full package manager support:
apk,apt-get - Compile and run C, Rust, and other programs inside the guest
- targetSdk 35 — Play Store compatible
Alpine, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Manjaro, Rocky Linux
proot uses Linux ptrace() to intercept syscalls and translate filesystem paths, creating a virtual root filesystem without actual root privileges.
The app bundles:
- Patched proot (C, ~90 source files) — handles Android-specific seccomp filters, SELinux, and W^X restrictions
- pr-cli (Rust, ~2K LOC) — replaces the original proot-distro.sh bash script
- Android APK (Kotlin + Compose) — install/login/remove UI with embedded terminal
Android enforces several restrictions on app processes:
- W^X (Write-XOR-Execute): Prevents executing files in app-writable directories
- SELinux: Blocks certain filesystem operations
- Zygote seccomp: Blocks 18+ syscalls via BPF filter
Our proot fork handles all of these:
- SIGSYS handlers intercept blocked syscalls and emulate them in userspace
- The
PROOT_LOADERmechanism uses nativeLibraryDir to bypass W^X - Fake root (
--change-id=0:0) makesdpkgandapt-getwork without real root CLONE_VM/CLONE_VFORKstripping enables Rust'scargo buildto work inside proot
- Android SDK with NDK r27c (auto-downloaded by build script)
- Rust toolchain with
aarch64-linux-androidtarget - Java 17+
# 1. Build proot
scripts/build.sh --arch=arm64
# 2. Build test binarycd src/proot-integration-test && cargo build --target aarch64-linux-android --release
# 3. Build pr-cli (embeds test binary)cd src/pr-cli && cargo build --target aarch64-linux-android --release
# 4. Copy binaries to APK
cp build/out/arm64/proot android/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libproot.so
cp build/out/arm64/loader android/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libproot-loader.so
cp src/pr-cli/target/aarch64-linux-android/release/pr-cli \
android/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libpr-cli.so
# 5. Build APKcd android && ./gradlew assembleDebug# Install Alpine or Debian via the app UI, then:
adb shell run-as id.or.oo.pr files/usr/bin/pr-cli test alpine
adb shell run-as id.or.oo.pr files/usr/bin/pr-cli test debian37 tests across 8 suites: distro, clone, readlink, gcc, rust, git, pipe, general
cd src/pr-cli && cargo testsrc/proot/ # Patched proot C source
src/pr-cli/ # Rust CLI — install, login, remove, test, backup, etc.
src/proot-integration-test/ # Guest-side test binary (TAP output)
src/scripts/ # Distro plugins (.sh), bootstrap.sh
android/ # Android APK (Kotlin + Jetpack Compose + JNI)
scripts/ # Host-side build scripts
vendor/ # Git submodules (upstream proot, termux-proot)
docs/ # Technical documentation
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
docs/important-notes.md | Critical constraints, seccomp handlers — read first |
docs/proot-improvement.md | Our proot fork vs upstream and Termux (27 sections) |
docs/phase7-targetSdk35.md | How targetSdk 35 works (PROOT_LOADER mechanism) |
docs/phase8-rust-support.md | vfork/CLONE_VM fix, link2symlink readlink fix |
docs/phase9-integration-tests.md | Integration test suite (37/37 pass) |
- proot — upstream proot v5.4.0 (GPL-2.0)
- termux-proot — Termux's proot fork with Android patches (GPL-2.0)
- proot-distro — distro plugins (GPL-3.0)
This project uses different licenses for different components. See LICENSE for details.
| Component | License | Why |
|---|---|---|
src/proot/ (C) | GPL-2.0-or-later | Derivative of proot (GPL-2.0) and termux-proot (GPL-2.0) |
src/scripts/plugins/ | GPL-3.0-or-later | Derivative of termux-proot-distro plugins (GPL-3.0) |
src/pr-cli/ (Rust) | MIT | Clean reimplementation of proot-distro CLI |
src/proot-integration-test/ (Rust) | MIT | Standalone test binary |
android/ (Kotlin) | MIT | App UI and JNI bridge |
scripts/, docs/ | MIT | Build scripts and documentation |