Complete Linux Installer brings full Ubuntu desktop environments (XFCE4 + VNC), VT100 pseudo-terminal emulation, and one-click developer stacks directly to your Android device — without needing root permissions.
Turn any Android phone or tablet into a full graphical desktop environment or portable development workstation.
Operates entirely in user-space via native PRoot ptrace system call interception. No root access, bootloader unlocking, or system modifications required.
One-click installation of full lightweight XFCE 4 desktop environment with TigerVNC server and web-based noVNC for windowed GUI access on phone or tablet screens.
Built-in VT100/XTerm terminal emulator with full ANSI color support, PTY window resize, scroll buffer, and custom quick-action keys (Ctrl, Alt, Esc, Tab, Arrows).
Interactive POSIX PTY terminal environment supporting Zsh, Bash, Tmux, Htop, Neovim, and custom toolbar key bindings.
Automatic architecture detection and native execution support for 64-bit ARM (aarch64), 64-bit x86 (amd64), and 32-bit ARM (armhf) processors.
Automatic mounting of Android storage (/sdcard) and system pseudofs (/proc, /sys, /dev) alongside Link2Symlink SELinux compatibility.
Install complete desktop environments and CLI developer stacks with a single tap in the Software Hub.
Full lightweight graphical Linux desktop environment featuring XFCE4 desktop manager, XFCE terminal, TigerVNC server, and noVNC web access.
View Desktop Setup Logic →root@android:~# vncserver :1 -geometry 1280x720
New 'android:1 (root)' desktop is android:1
Starting applications specified in /root/.vnc/xstartup
root@android:~# echo "Connect via VNC Viewer on localhost:5901"
Connect via VNC Viewer on localhost:5901
Complete JavaScript & TypeScript backend environment featuring Node.js, npm, Yarn, GCC build-essential, Neovim, and Git.
View Installation Logic →ubuntu@android:~$ node -v
v20.18.0
ubuntu@android:~$ npm --version
10.8.2
ubuntu@android:~$ git status
On branch main. Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
Modern Python development environment with Python 3, pip3, virtualenv, GCC C/C++ compiler tools, Git, and Neovim.
View Installation Logic →ubuntu@android:~$ python3 --version
Python 3.14.0
ubuntu@android:~$ pip3 list
Package Version --- pip 24.0, setuptools 69.5.1
Build and debug Android applications inside Linux on Android using OpenJDK 17, ADB, Fastboot, Gradle, and Git.
View Installation Logic →ubuntu@android:~$ java -version
openjdk version "17.0.12" 2024-07-16
ubuntu@android:~$ adb devices
List of devices attached
Turn your Android phone into a local HTTP web server and embedded database system powered by NGINX and SQLite3.
View Installation Logic →ubuntu@android:~$ service nginx start
* Starting NGINX web server nginx ... [ OK ]
ubuntu@android:~$ curl -I http://localhost
HTTP/1.1 200 OK Server: nginx/1.24.0
Access your Android Linux environment remotely from your laptop or PC command line over local Wi-Fi or LAN.
View Installation Logic →ubuntu@android:~$ /usr/sbin/sshd -p 2222
Server listening on port 2222.
user@desktop:~$ ssh ubuntu@192.168.1.50 -p 2222
Welcome to Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (GNU/Linux aarch64)
From early XDA Developers root chroot scripts to a modern 100% rootless Jetpack Compose application.
First created on XDA Developers as the "Ubuntu Installer" and "Complete Linux Installer" project, pioneering chroot-based Linux deployments on early Android devices.
Expanded distribution images (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Arch) and custom rootfs image mounting tools hosted on linuxonandroid.com.
Rebuilt from the ground up: complete rootless operation via PRoot ptrace, POSIX PTY native C++ bridge, Jetpack Compose Material3 UI, and arch-aware mirror automation.
Setting up Linux on your Android phone takes less than 2 minutes.
Install Complete Linux Installer directly from the Google Play Store, or join open beta testing for pre-release builds.
Get on Google Play Store →Launch the app, select your target architecture, and tap Download & Install RootFS. The app unpacks and configures Ubuntu automatically.
Navigate to the Terminal tab for interactive shell access or open the Software Hub to launch developer software stacks.
