[FIXED] Building Android APK in gitlab w/ auto download of android sdk

Issue

I have an Android project currently building an APK in github actions:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Setup JDK 11
      uses: actions/setup-java@v1
      with:
        java-version: '11'
    - name: Build Application
      run: |
        ./gradlew clean assembleDebug

Translated to this in GitLab:

stages:
  - build

build:
  image: openjdk:11
  stage: build
  when: manual
  script:
    - ./gradlew assembleDebug
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - app/build/outputs/

In GitHub build I am getting an error:

SDK location not found. Define a valid SDK location with an ANDROID_HOME environment variable

What I don't understand is that I cannot find anything in my GitHub build where it downloads the Android SDK. Why is this build working in GitHub but not GitLab?

Solution

Android SDK is included in the preinstalled software on GitHub-hosted Actions runner. That's why you don't have to install it in the case when you are using GitHub.

In GitLab, you are using the openjdk:11 image for your job. The Android SDK is not installed in the openjdk:11 image. To deal with this, you could change the image: parameter in your job to use an image with the SDK already installed or install the SDK as part of your job.

Answered By - sytech
Answer Checked By - Cary Denson (JavaFixing Admin)