Overview

As more customers leverage either standalone Microsoft Intune or Microsoft Endpoint Manager for cloud management of their devices they also seek an efficient means to upskill administrators on Intune features and capabilities without the need to purchase devices upfront for testing.

 

Scenario

I recently delivered a workshop where attendees experienced the above issue with limited access to physical mobile devices which prompted me to further investigate an option for the administrators to emulate an Android device locally on their Windows 10 machine. In this post I am going to share the installation and configuration of the Android Studio software for emulation of Android devices.

Check out my colleague John Guy’s blog for instructions on how to setup an Android Emulator for MacOS: Setting up an Android Emulator for testing Intune features on Apple macOS – Azure Cloud & AI Blog

 

Installation

The Android Studio software is available for download from Android’s developer site:

https://developer.android.com/studio

 

For a review of the requirements before installation you can browse:

https://developer.android.com/studio/run/emulator#requirements

Most notably disable Hyper-V features on the Windows 10 operating system, you can follow the below steps:

• Browse to Control Panel
• Select Programs and Features
• Select Turn Windows Features on or off
• Uncheck Hyper-V, Virtual Machine Platform, Windows Hypervisor Platform and Windows Sandbox

• Select Ok
• Select Restart Now

Once the download of Android Studio is completed, initiate the installation by selecting Run as administrator and follow the prompts to complete the installation. Modify settings as you require for your environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Create the Android Virtual Device

To create the Android Virtual Device (AVD) start by launching the AVD Manager tool from Android Studio:

• Select Tools
• From the drop down menu, select AVD Manager.

 

• Select Create Virtual Device

 

• Configure Select Hardware

1. Select Phone
2. Ensure Play Store option is available
3. Select desired screen size
4. Select Next

• Configure the System Image

1. Select x86 Images
2. Ensure the target Operating System selected includes Google Play.

TIP – If you intend to test Conditional Access and Compliance Settings feature based on an older operating system version then select Android 9.0 (Google Play), alternatively you can select the Android 10.0 (Google Play) operating system.

3. Select Download to begin download of image file

4. Once the download has completed, select the image and click Next

 

• Configure Android Virtual Device (AVD)

1. Provide a name for the Android Virtual Device
2. Select the screen orientation
3. Select Finish

Deploy more devices

After the initial AVD deployment is completed, you can deploy more AVDs by selecting the Duplicate option from the drop down menu.

 

Configure AVD internet connection

• Configure the AVD Proxy Settings

1. Select …
2. Select Settings
3. Select Proxy. Configure as required for your environment

• Enabe Wifi for internet connectivity

1. Enable AndroidWifi for internet connection
2. Disable Mobile Data if you have an onboard SIM on your host Windows 10 machine to avoid any additional charges

Install the Company Portal

1. Select Play Store

1. Search for Company Portal in Play Store
2. Select Install

• Sign in to Company Portal

 

• Example of AVD with applications deployed