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Android ADB session: audit the phone, then close the door

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The steps on the phone that no tool should take for me: turning debugging on, trusting this computer, and turning it all off again. The audit itself is android-iac (note).

The short way: one command

android-iac audit

It finds the wireless debugging port by mDNS (or asks for the one on the phone's screen), pairs the first time (asking the pairing port and the six digit code, which goes to adb on stdin and is never printed), connects, runs doctor, inspect and diff, disconnects, and ends with the reminder for step 3. Its exit code is the diff's. A phone already attached over USB is used as is and left attached. The steps below are what it does, for when something fails half-way.

Open the session

Developer options must exist once: Settings, About phone, tap Build number seven times.

Wireless (the phone and this desk on the home WiFi; the phone sits at 192.168.1.31):

  1. Settings, System, Developer options, Wireless debugging on, and trust the network.

  2. Pair device with pairing code: the screen shows a port and a six digit code.

  3. Here:

    adb pair 192.168.1.31:PAIRING_PORT    # asks for the code
adb connect 192.168.1.31:PORT         # the port on the MAIN Wireless debugging screen

Pairing happens once per computer; the connect port changes every time the toggle flips.

USB: Developer options, USB debugging on, plug the cable, unlock the phone and accept the RSA prompt for this computer. Leave "Always allow" unchecked if the session is a one-off.

Audit

android-iac doctor     # must end with no FAIL
android-iac inspect    # the summary; --json for the full report, never saved inside the repo
android-iac diff; echo $?

doctor compares ro.product.model with the spec, and refuses a different phone.

Close the session

  1. Here: adb disconnect (wireless) or unplug the cable.
  2. On the phone, Developer options: Revoke USB debugging authorizations, then turn off Wireless debugging and USB debugging.
  3. Optional: turn Developer options off altogether, at the top of that screen.

android-iac diff reports the toggles as manual during every audit: that line is the reminder for this step, not a finding to fix while the session is open.

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