How do I request root access in Android?

Question

I need to get root access for rooted devices, and I was wondering how I can request root access. I need the access for the file system. Thanks a lot.

Are you targeting the native platform, or trying to do this in Java? — Keith Layne, Sep 03 '11 at 21:15

score 25 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 03 '11 at 21:15

25

Just exec the command su and within that Process you have root priviliges:

Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("su");

See this blog post for full example.

answered Sep 03 '11 at 21:15

dacwe

So... I do this before getting directory information, like folders and such? – Michell Bak Sep 03 '11 at 21:17
Do rooted phones not have a root password then? – Keith Layne Sep 03 '11 at 21:24
4

@keith layne: When you run `su` the `Superuser` app starts which can grant the request. – dacwe Sep 03 '11 at 21:31
48

-1 **This answer is highly misleading**. The posted code will accomplish **absolutely nothing** as only a process started by `su` will actually run as root - **The android app itself does not switch to running as root**. The code given here only starts a root shell, which immediately quits due to lack of being given any work to do. – Chris Stratton Jun 01 '13 at 02:07
19

@ChrisStratton: I clearly state that "within that process you will have root privileges". How is that misleading? – dacwe Jun 01 '13 at 08:46
7

Within what process? The one that dies without doing anything? How is someone supposed to realize that from this answer? Instead they think it means the "calling" process. People are citing this answer in mistake elsewhere. – Chris Stratton Jun 01 '13 at 10:55
Chris Stratton is right, this answer is overrated and doesn't exactly answers the question. – xmen Jun 09 '13 at 01:16
I am getting "Caused by: java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "su": error=13, Permission denied". How can I configure my emulator to get this permission? – sadat Apr 03 '20 at 05:57

liuyix · Answer 2 · 2017-08-02T07:00:20.133

7

WARNING

Most root devices use Superuser or SuperSU, if you wanna root ability in your app, you should claim superuser permission in your app manifest.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_SUPERUSER" />

More detailed information, you should check HOW-To SU by Chainfire (The author of SuperSU) and look into the example source libsuperuser(https://github.com/Chainfire/libsuperuser)

edited Aug 02 '17 at 07:00

answered Aug 08 '13 at 09:13

liuyix

9

`"Due to changes in Android 5.0 Lollipop, this permission has been deprecated and is completely ignored from SuperSU v2.30 onwards"` - [How-To SU](http://su.chainfire.eu/) – Ashish Tanna Mar 11 '15 at 20:33