This project provides reverse tethering over adb for Android: it
allows devices to use the internet connection of the computer they are plugged
on. It does not require any root access (neither on the device nor on the
computer). It works on GNU/Linux and Windows.
ret is a fork of Gnirehtet by Genymobile.
Currently, it relays TCP and UDP over IPv4 traffic, but it does not support IPv6 (yet?).
The Android application requires at least API 21 (Android 5.0).
You need a recent version of adb (where adb reverse is implemented, it
works with 1.0.36).
It is available in the Android SDK platform tools.
On Debian-based distros, you can alternatively install the package
android-tools-adb.
On Windows, if you need adb only for this application, just download the
platform-tools and extract the following files to the
ret directory:
adb.exeAdbWinApi.dllAdbWinUsbApi.dll
Make sure you enabled adb debugging on your device(s).
Download the latest release and extract it.
The Linux archive (ret-linux64-<version>.zip) contains:
ret.apkretret-ui
The Windows archive (ret-win64-<version>.zip) contains:
ret.apkret.exeret-ui.exeret-run.cmd
Each release also lists the SHA-256 of both archives in SHA256SUMS.txt.
The ret app is a different Android app from the Gnirehtet one, so ret does
not upgrade or control it. Uninstall the old app once:
adb uninstall com.genymobile.gnirehtet
The first ret run installs the new app and asks for the VPN permission again.
Note: On Windows, replace ./ret by ret in the following commands.
The application has no UI, and is intended to be controlled from the computer only.
If you want to activate reverse tethering for exactly one device, just execute:
./ret run
Reverse tethering remains active until you press Ctrl+C.
On Windows, for convenience, you can double-click on ret-run.cmd instead (it
just executes ret run, without requiring to open a
terminal).
The very first start should open a popup to request permission:
A "key" logo appears in the status bar whenever ret is active:
Alternatively, you can enable reverse tethering for all connected devices (present and future) by calling:
./ret autorun
The relay server then runs only while a client runs: it starts with the first client and stops when the last one stops, for example when its device is unplugged or the client is stopped from the device.
You can execute the actions separately (it may be useful if you want to reverse tether several devices simultaneously).
Start the relay server and keep it open:
./ret relay
Install the apk on your Android device:
./ret install [serial]
In another terminal, for each client, execute:
./ret start [serial]
To stop a client:
./ret stop [serial]
To reset the tunnel (useful to get the connection back when a device is unplugged and plugged back while ret is active):
./ret tunnel [serial]
The serial parameter is required only if adb devices outputs more than one
device.
For advanced options, run ./ret --help, or ./ret help <command> for the
details of one command (for example ./ret help start).
ret-ui is a window that does the same as the commands above. Its main page
lists the connected devices and shows the logs. Each device has a button to
start or stop its client, and a menu (the … button) to reset its tunnel or
reinstall the client. Headsets are shown with a headset icon, phones with a
phone icon.
The relay server runs by itself: it starts as soon as a client is started or found running, and stops once no client runs anymore. The header shows its state.
The gear button opens the settings, grouped by category:
- Connection: the port of the relay server, the DNS servers and the routes
- Devices: auto-start, which starts the client on every device as soon as it is connected (on by default)
- Appearance: the theme, light, dark or the same as the system
It is in the release archives next to ret. Start it with ./ret-ui (on
Windows, double-click on ret-ui.exe), with ret.apk in the same directory,
like for ret.
It reads the same environment variables as ret.
The window remembers its settings in config.toml, in a ret directory of the
user configuration directory:
- Linux:
~/.config/ret/config.toml(or$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ret/config.toml) - Windows:
%APPDATA%\ret\config.toml - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/ret/config.toml
The window creates it with the default settings when it starts, and saves it as soon as a setting changes. You can also edit it by hand, every key is optional:
version = 1
port = 31416
dns_servers = ["1.1.1.1", "9.9.9.9"]
routes = ["10.0.0.0/8"]
autostart = true
theme = "system" # or "light", "dark"version is the layout of the file, which ret writes and upgrades itself. If
the file cannot be read, or was written by a newer version of ret, the window
starts with the default settings, logs the error and leaves the file untouched.
The window also saves its logs, one file per day, keeping the last 7, in a
ret/logs directory of the user data directory:
- Linux:
~/.local/share/ret/logs(or$XDG_DATA_HOME/ret/logs) - Windows:
%APPDATA%\ret\logs - macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/ret/logs
The ret program exposes a simple command-line interface that executes
lower-level commands. You can call them manually instead.
To start the relay server:
./ret relay
To install the apk:
adb install -r ret.apk
To start a client:
adb reverse localabstract:ret tcp:31416
adb shell am start -a dev.hoppou.ret.START \
-n dev.hoppou.ret/.RetActivity
To stop a client:
adb shell am start -a dev.hoppou.ret.STOP \
-n dev.hoppou.ret/.RetActivity
ADB defines a custom path to the adb executable:
ADB=/path/to/my/adb ./ret runRET_APK defines a custom path to ret.apk:
RET_APK=/usr/share/ret/ret.apk ./ret runRUST_LOG sets which logs are printed (info by default), for example to
print debug logs:
RUST_LOG=debug ./ret runIt also accepts per-component levels, such as
RUST_LOG=info,TcpConnection=debug.
It is short for reverse tethering. The upstream name, gnirehtet, is tethering reversed:
rev <<< tethering
(in Bash)
Read the developers page.
Copyright (C) 2017 Genymobile
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.