SkieWhat is adb and why does Skie provisioning from a laptop use it?
adb, the Android Debug Bridge, is a free tool from Google that lets a computer send commands to an Android device over USB. Skie uses it for laptop provisioning because it can install Skie and set the device owner on a fresh device with one pasted command. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.
adb ships as part of Google's platform-tools. It is the same tool Android developers use every day, and nothing about it is specific to Skie. When USB debugging is on, the computer can talk to the device, install an app and, on an unprovisioned device, set the device owner.
Skie uses adb because it is the supported, documented way to set a device owner from a computer. The Provision page in the dashboard builds the command for you, including the enrolment token for that student and group, and you paste it into a terminal. The command downloads the published Skie release, installs it and sets it as device owner.
adb is only needed during provisioning. After Skie owns the device, the device blocks developer options and adb through policy, so it cannot be used to sideload apps or change settings later. That is a deliberate hardening switch, which is on by default.
You install adb once per computer. If you prefer not to use a laptop at all, the Skie Provision app on an Android phone does the same job over Wi-Fi, and no adb is needed on your side.
Practical tip: keep one provisioning laptop for the whole rollout so adb, the cable and the habit are all in one place. The next entries cover checking whether adb is installed and installing it.
- Free Google tool, part of platform-tools
- Needed only while provisioning
- Skie blocks adb on the device afterwards
- The Provision app removes the need for it