This guide explains how to run AIM for Android 1.10.9.1 in an Android 2.3.3 emulator and connect it to Open OSCAR Server. The app talks to hardcoded AOL hostnames, so setup consists of redirecting those hostnames in the emulator and installing your server's root CA certificate.
The examples in this guide assume your server's hostname is ras.dev, the hostname passed to make docker-run. If you
use a different hostname, substitute it wherever ras.dev appears.
[!NOTE] Open OSCAR Server is not affiliated with or endorsed by AOL or Yahoo. AIM and AIM for Android are trademarks of their respective owners. This project does not distribute the AIM for Android app; you are responsible for ensuring that obtaining and using it complies with the laws that apply to you.
An Intel Mac, x86_64 Linux with KVM, or Windows with Windows Hypervisor Platform enabled On Windows, run the commands in PowerShell. Apple Silicon and other ARM hosts are not supported by the legacy Android version that runs the app.
Windows (PowerShell):
To enable Windows Hypervisor Platform, run the following in an Administrator PowerShell window, then reboot.
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform
After installing the emulator in step 3 of the setup procedure, emulator -accel-check should report
WHPX(...) is installed and usable.
The Android SDK tools require JDK 17 or later.
Linux:
On Ubuntu, run the following. On other distributions, install the equivalent package.
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk-headless
macOS:
brew install --cask temurin@17
Windows (PowerShell):
winget install EclipseAdoptium.Temurin.17.JDK
Confirm that java -version reports version 17 or later. If your shell sets JAVA_HOME, point it at JDK 17 or
later.
Configure and run an SSL-enabled Open OSCAR Server instance using the Docker Setup Guide. The Web API
must be enabled (WEBAPI_ENABLED=true, the default).
Download AIM 1.10.9.1 by searching for AIM 1.10.9.1 APK.
Linux:
export ANDROID_HOME="$HOME/Android/Sdk"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/emulator:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"
curl -O https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-linux-11479570_latest.zip
mkdir -p "$ANDROID_HOME"
unzip commandlinetools-linux-11479570_latest.zip -d "$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools"
mv "$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/cmdline-tools" "$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest"
macOS:
brew install --cask android-commandlinetools
export ANDROID_HOME="$(brew --prefix)/share/android-commandlinetools"
export PATH="$ANDROID_HOME/emulator:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools:$ANDROID_HOME/cmdline-tools/latest/bin:$PATH"
Windows (PowerShell):
$env:ANDROID_HOME = "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Android\Sdk"
$env:Path = "$env:ANDROID_HOME\emulator;$env:ANDROID_HOME\platform-tools;$env:ANDROID_HOME\cmdline-tools\latest\bin;$env:Path"
curl.exe -O https://dl.google.com/android/repository/commandlinetools-win-11479570_latest.zip
Expand-Archive commandlinetools-win-11479570_latest.zip "$env:ANDROID_HOME\cmdline-tools"
Move-Item "$env:ANDROID_HOME\cmdline-tools\cmdline-tools" "$env:ANDROID_HOME\cmdline-tools\latest"
Create the Emulator
sdkmanager "platform-tools" "emulator" "platforms;android-10" "system-images;android-10;default;x86"
avdmanager create avd -n aim_api10 -k "system-images;android-10;default;x86" -d "3.2in HVGA slider (ADP1)"
sdkmanager prompts you to accept each SDK license; enter y to continue. avdmanager may print
Could not load devices from ... devices.xml errors. These are harmless.
Android 2.3.3 (API 10) is the oldest x86 system image still available, and it was current when this version of AIM was released in 2011. The ADP1 device profile matches the small 320x480 screen the app was designed for.
Start the Emulator
emulator -avd aim_api10 -writable-system -no-snapshot-save -gpu swiftshader_indirect -no-boot-anim
Always start the emulator with -writable-system. Without it, the changes made in the next two steps are discarded.
If the emulator fails to boot, replace -gpu swiftshader_indirect with -gpu off.
In a second terminal, add the AOL hostnames to the emulator's hosts file. 10.0.2.2 is the emulator's address for
the host machine. If the server runs on a different machine, use that machine's IP address instead.
macOS / Linux:
adb root
adb remount
adb pull /system/etc/hosts .
cat >> hosts <<'EOF'
10.0.2.2 api.oscar.aol.com
10.0.2.2 api.screenname.aol.com
10.0.2.2 login.oscar.aol.com
10.0.2.2 my.screenname.aol.com
EOF
adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
Windows (PowerShell):
adb root
adb remount
adb pull /system/etc/hosts .
$entries = "`n10.0.2.2 api.oscar.aol.com`n10.0.2.2 api.screenname.aol.com`n10.0.2.2 login.oscar.aol.com`n10.0.2.2 my.screenname.aol.com`n"
[IO.File]::AppendAllText("$PWD\hosts", $entries)
adb push hosts /system/etc/hosts
Alternatively, you can redirect these hostnames for your whole network with DNS poisoning: configure a local DNS server you control, such as dnsmasq or Pi-hole, to answer for them with your server's IP address. The emulator uses the host machine's DNS settings, so this works as long as the host uses that DNS server.
On the host machine, download your server's root CA certificate from http://ras.dev/certs/ca.crt, or copy it from
certs/ca.crt in your Open OSCAR Server directory. The download requires the host machine to resolve ras.dev.
On Windows, use
curl.exeinstead ofcurlin this step.
curl -O http://ras.dev/certs/ca.crt
Then run the following commands from the directory containing ca.crt.
curl -O https://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/bouncycastle/bcprov-jdk18on/1.78/bcprov-jdk18on-1.78.jar
adb pull /system/etc/security/cacerts.bks .
keytool "-J-Dorg.bouncycastle.bks.enable_v1=true" -importcert -v -trustcacerts -noprompt -alias openoscarca -file ca.crt -keystore cacerts.bks -storetype BKS-V1 -providerclass org.bouncycastle.jce.provider.BouncyCastleProvider -providerpath bcprov-jdk18on-1.78.jar -storepass changeit
adb root
adb remount
adb push cacerts.bks /system/etc/security/cacerts.bks
adb shell chmod 644 /system/etc/security/cacerts.bks
adb reboot
Install and Launch the Client
adb install -r </path/to/app.apk>
adb shell am start -n com.aol.mobile.aim/com.aol.mobile.aim.ui.AimActivity
Substitute </path/to/app.apk> with the path to the .apk file downloaded in step 1.
Sign in with your Open OSCAR Server screen name and password.
sdkmanager or avdmanager reports that it requires JDK 17 or later
Point JAVA_HOME at JDK 17 or later.
The emulator exits with x86 emulation currently requires hardware acceleration!
The host has no usable hypervisor. On Windows, enable Windows Hypervisor Platform as described in the prerequisites,
then confirm with emulator -accel-check. On Linux, confirm that KVM is available (/dev/kvm exists).
The client can't connect
Open https://api.oscar.aol.com/ in the emulator's browser. If successful, you should see the following payload:
{"response":{"statusCode":200,"statusText":"Ok","data":{}}}
If the page fails to load, the emulator can't reach the server: confirm the server is running, and check the hosts file entries from step 5 and the certificate from step 6.