Android Studio fails to install update (error : Failed to read or create install properties file.)

Question

Screenshot of error

I am running [ Android Studio 2.3 Build #AI-162.3764568, built on February 24, 2017 JRE: 1.8.0_112-release-b06 amd64

Answer 1

Solution 1:

Use: sudo chown $USER: $ANDROID_HOME -R

My solution is setting folder permissions (and sub-folders using -R).

Root cause:

The permission of my Android SDK directory was set to write only by root so android-studio was unable to write any changes.

Detailed Process:

Take $ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools for example:

sudo chown $USER: $ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

Before executing the command line:

bin ls -la $ANDROID_HOME/
total 56
drwxr-xr-x@  26 gongzelong  staff    832 Nov  3 01:51 .
drwx------@ 104 gongzelong  staff   3328 Nov  6 17:55 ..
-rw-r--r--@   1 gongzelong  staff  18436 Oct 26 21:17 .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x    2 gongzelong  staff     64 Nov  4 01:47 .downloadIntermediates
-rw-r--r--    1 gongzelong  staff     16 Nov  6 17:46 .knownPackages
drwxr-xr-x   41 gongzelong  staff   1312 Nov  4 23:08 .temp
-rw-r--r--@   1 gongzelong  staff   1158 Aug 30  2018 SDK Readme.txt
drwxr-xr-x@   2 gongzelong  staff     64 Aug 29  2016 add-ons
drwxr-xr-x@  34 gongzelong  staff   1088 Nov  3 01:47 build-tools
drwxr-xr-x@   6 gongzelong  staff    192 Apr 24  2019 cmake
drwxr-xr-x@  51 gongzelong  staff   1632 Oct 24  2016 docs
drwxr-xr-x   17 root        wheel    544 Nov 12  2019 emulator
drwxr-xr-x@   8 gongzelong  staff    256 Jul 31  2018 extras
drwxr-xr-x@   3 gongzelong  staff     96 Nov  7  2017 fonts
drwxr-xr-x@   9 gongzelong  staff    288 Apr 21  2020 licenses
drwxr-xr-x@   6 gongzelong  staff    192 Apr 24  2019 lldb
drwxr-xr-x    7 gongzelong  staff    224 Nov  4 22:47 ndk
drwxr-xr-x@  20 gongzelong  staff    640 Sep 29  2018 ndk-bundle
drwxr-xr-x@   5 gongzelong  staff    160 Dec 15  2016 patcher
**drwxr-xr-x   19 root        wheel    608 Nov 12  2019 platform-tools**
drwxr-xr-x@  16 gongzelong  staff    512 Nov  3 01:47 platforms
drwxr-xr-x@  33 gongzelong  staff   1056 Feb 17  2020 skins
drwxr-xr-x@  14 gongzelong  staff    448 Nov  3 01:51 sources
drwxr-xr-x@  13 gongzelong  staff    416 Apr  8  2019 system-images
drwxr-xr-x@   2 gongzelong  staff     64 Feb  4  2018 temp
drwxr-xr-x   15 gongzelong  staff    480 Oct 26 21:18 tools

After executing the command line:

➜  bin ls -la $ANDROID_HOME/
total 56
drwxr-xr-x@  26 gongzelong  staff    832 Nov  3 01:51 .
drwx------@ 104 gongzelong  staff   3328 Nov  6 17:55 ..
-rw-r--r--@   1 gongzelong  staff  18436 Oct 26 21:17 .DS_Store
drwxr-xr-x    2 gongzelong  staff     64 Nov  4 01:47 .downloadIntermediates
-rw-r--r--    1 gongzelong  staff     16 Nov  6 17:46 .knownPackages
drwxr-xr-x   41 gongzelong  staff   1312 Nov  4 23:08 .temp
-rw-r--r--@   1 gongzelong  staff   1158 Aug 30  2018 SDK Readme.txt
drwxr-xr-x@   2 gongzelong  staff     64 Aug 29  2016 add-ons
drwxr-xr-x@  34 gongzelong  staff   1088 Nov  3 01:47 build-tools
drwxr-xr-x@   6 gongzelong  staff    192 Apr 24  2019 cmake
drwxr-xr-x@  51 gongzelong  staff   1632 Oct 24  2016 docs
drwxr-xr-x   17 root        wheel    544 Nov 12  2019 emulator
drwxr-xr-x@   8 gongzelong  staff    256 Jul 31  2018 extras
drwxr-xr-x@   3 gongzelong  staff     96 Nov  7  2017 fonts
drwxr-xr-x@   9 gongzelong  staff    288 Apr 21  2020 licenses
drwxr-xr-x@   6 gongzelong  staff    192 Apr 24  2019 lldb
drwxr-xr-x    7 gongzelong  staff    224 Nov  4 22:47 ndk
drwxr-xr-x@  20 gongzelong  staff    640 Sep 29  2018 ndk-bundle
drwxr-xr-x@   5 gongzelong  staff    160 Dec 15  2016 patcher
**drwxr-xr-x   19 gongzelong  wheel    608 Nov 12  2019 platform-tools**
drwxr-xr-x@  16 gongzelong  staff    512 Nov  3 01:47 platforms
drwxr-xr-x@  33 gongzelong  staff   1056 Feb 17  2020 skins
drwxr-xr-x@  14 gongzelong  staff    448 Nov  3 01:51 sources
drwxr-xr-x@  13 gongzelong  staff    416 Apr  8  2019 system-images
drwxr-xr-x@   2 gongzelong  staff     64 Feb  4  2018 temp
drwxr-xr-x   15 gongzelong  staff    480 Oct 26 21:18 tools

Then we do the update in SDK management:

before and after install sdk result screenshot

Solution 2:

Run Android Studio as administration.

sudo /Applications/Android\ Studio\ 4.1.0.app/Contents/MacOS/studio

It could also install the android sdk update successfully