How to Create Android Update Zip Package

There are several ways to install applications or library files to an
Android
Phone. You can use Market application to find and install or
adb command line tool to install or push the files to Android file system. These are all easy to implement for single file but if you have several applications or library files to install at once, it might be better to use
update zip file. The update zip file is Android advanced system to install applications or lib files to Android file system using recovery tool. This method is commonly used by rom or theme developers to distribute their package.

Creating an update zip file is quite easy, all you have to do is put the files in corresponding directory in Android file system and an
update-script file to copy the files. For example, to install
Calculator.apk into system/app and copy
libsec-ril.so file into system/lib :

Create an empty folder (eg. C:\myupdate)
Create C:\myupdate\system\app folder for
Calculator.apk and C:\myupdate\system\lib folder for
libsec-ril.so
Create C:\myupdate\META-INF\com\google\android folder for
update-script file.
Create the update-script file with the following syntax:

show_progress 0.1 0

copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:

show_progress 0.1 10

Line 1&5 : show progress bar

Line 3: copy system folder from update package to Android’s /system

Note: you should add one extra line at the end of the file (Line 6)

Compress the entire contents of C:\myupdate folder to zip (not the
myupdate folder itself)
Sign the myupdate.zip file
java -jar signapk.jar certificate.pem key.pk8 myupdate.zip update.zip

Note: you can find tutorial on how to sign the update.zip file
here

Copy the update.zip file to sdcard and apply it from recovery console

update-script syntax reference (definitions from recovery.c android source code):

copy_dir
Syntax: copy_dir <src-dir> <dst-dir> [<timestamp>]

Copy the contents of <src-dir> to <dst-dir>. The original contents of <dst-dir> are preserved unless something in <src-dir> overwrote them.

Ex: copy_dir PACKAGE:system SYSTEM:

format
Syntax: format <root>

Format a partiti0n

Ex:format SYSTEM:, will format entire /system . Note: formatting erases data irreversibly.

delete
Syntax: delete <file1> [... <fileN>]

Delete file.

EX: delete SYSTEM:app/Calculator.apk, will delete
Calculator.apk from
system/app directory.

delete_recursive
Syntax: delete_recursive <file-or-dir1> [... <file-or-dirN>]

Delete a file or directory with all of it’s contents recursively

Ex: delete_recursive DATA:dalvik-cache, will delete /data/dalvik-cache directory with all of it’s contents

run_program
Syntax: run_program <program-file> [<args> ...]

Run an external program included in the update package.

Ex: run_program PACKAGE:install_busybox.sh, will run install_busybox.sh script (shell command) included in the update package.

set_perm
Syntax: set_perm <uid> <gid> <mode> <path> [... <pathN>]

Set ownership and permission of single file or entire directory trees, like ‘chmod’, ‘chown’, and ‘chgrp’ all in one

Ex: set_perm 0 2000 0550 SYSTEM:etc/init.goldfish.sh

set_perm_recursive
Syntax: set_perm_recursive <uid> <gid> <dir-mode> <file-moe> <path> [... <pathN>]

Set ownership and permission of a directory with all of it’s contents recursively

Ex: set_perm_recursive 0 0 0755 0644 SYSTEM:app

show_progress
Syntax: show_progress
<fraction> <duration>

Use of the on-screen progress meter for the next operation, automatically advancing the meter over <duration> seconds (or more rapidly if the actual rate of progress can be determined).

Ex: show_progress 0.1 0

symlink
Syntax: symlink <link-target> <link-path>

Create a symlink (like ‘ln-s’). The <link-path> is in root:path format, but <link-target> is

for the target filesystem (and may be relative)

Definition of roots and partitions (from root.c android source code)

ROOT:     (Linux block device) /mountpoint/ fs, size
Description.

BOOT:     (/dev/mtdblock[?]) / (RAM)  Raw
Kernel, ramdisk and  boot config.
DATA:     (/dev/mtdblock5)   /data/   yaffs2, 91904kb
User, system config,  app config, and apps (without  a2sd)
CACHE:    (/dev/mtdblock4)   /cache/  yaffs2, 30720kb
OTA cache,  Recovery/update config and temp
MISC:     (/dev/mtdblock[?]) N/A     Raw
[TODO: Get info on MISC:]
PACKAGE:  (Relative to package file) N/A
Pseudo-filesystem for update  package.
RECOVERY: (/dev/mtdblock[?]) / (RAM) Raw,     [?]kb
The recovery  and update environment's kernel and ramdisk.
Similar to BOOT:.
SDCARD:   (/dev/mmcblk0(p1)) /sdcard/ fat32,  32MB-32GB
The microSD card. Update zip is usually here.
SYSTEM:   (/dev/mtdblock3)   /system/ yaffs2, 92160kb
The OS partition,    static and read-only.
TMP:                         /tmp/    in RAM
Standard Linux temporary directory.
Cleared on poweroff/reboot.

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