SailfishOS Android Signature Spoofing for XA2 devices

(or other devices using LXC containers for the android runtime)

Compatibility

This only works with Sailfish devices that uses the Android 8.* runtime, e.g. the "Xperia XA2".

If you are using an older Sailfish device, like the "Xperia X" which uses the Android 4.4 runtime, please checkout this: sailfish-signature-spoofing

How this works

This is a compiled set of instructions and tools wrapped in Docker image to fetch, deodex, patch and upload back AlienDalvik files on Sailfish phones.

Most of the existing tools assume adb as transport. In Sailfish it's a bit tricky so I replaced it with Rsync. Please note that Rsync is run in completely insecure manner, so don't leave it running in public unprotected networks.

Overview of the steps performed by the scripts:

fetch via rsync /opt/alien/system/{framework,app,priv-app}
deodex using vdexExtractor
apply hook and core patches from haystack
push back changed files, saving backups in /home/nemo/system.img.pre.haystack

Instructions

Starting Rsync daemon on Sailfish

Make sure Android subsystem is stopped
Make sure you PC is in connected to the same WiFi network as your phone
Figure out your phone's IP address. It's shown in "Developer mode". We will use it later
Enable developer mode
Open terminal app or connect via SSH
Become root by executing devel-su
Create minimalistic Rsync config

cat > /root/rsyncd-alien.conf << 'EOF'
[alien]
 path=/opt/alien
 readonly=false
 uid=root
 gid=root 
EOF

run daemon in foreground with logging

rsync --daemon --no-detach --verbose --config=/root/rsyncd-alien.conf --log-file=/dev/stdout

make sure your firewall accepts connections on port 873

iptables -A connman-INPUT -i wlan0 -p tcp -m tcp --dport 873 -j ACCEPT

Execute docker image

Clone this repo from GitHub.

Make sure docker is available on you machine and running

Make sure you checked out all the code from the gut submodules, e.g.:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Make sure to pass --env SAILFISH= with the IP of the phone

docker run --rm -ti --env SAILFISH=<PHONE_IP_ADDRESS> yeoldegrove/sailfish-signature-spoofing-lxc

Final steps

kill running rsync by pressing Ctrl-C
start Android subsystem (or just run some app). This will take time, depending on number of apps you have
From that point you can install microG (nightly) F-Droid. Don't forget to enable "Unstable updates" from "Expert mode"

Reverting the changes (if needed)

cd /opt/alien/system
cp -r --reply=yes -v framework.pre_haystack/* framework/
cp -r --reply=yes -v app.pre_haystack/* app/
cp -r --reply=yes -v priv-app.pre_haystack/* priv-app/

cd /opt/alien/system_jolla
cp -r --reply=yes -v framework.pre_haystack/* framework/
cp -r --reply=yes -v app.pre_haystack/* app/
cp -r --reply=yes -v priv-app.pre_haystack/* priv-app/

building the docker image yourself