Utility to extract and repack Android backups created with adb backup (ICS+).
Largely based on BackupManagerService.java from AOSP.
-
Create abe.jar with
./gradlew build -
Create an archive including all libraries and shell scripts to start abe with
./gradlew distZip
abe in this example refers to the shell script created with ./gradlew distZip
Syntax:
unpack: abe unpack <backup.ab> <backup.tar> [password]
pack: abe pack <backup.tar> <backup.ab> [password]
pack for 4.4: abe pack-kk <backup.tar> <backup.ab> [password]
If you don't specify a password the backup archive won't be encrypted but only compressed.
Alternatively abe can also be started through gradle with ./gradlew run.
More details about the backup format and the tool implementation in the associated blog post:
http://nelenkov.blogspot.com/2012/06/unpacking-android-backups.html