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Android Logs Events And Protobuf Parser

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README.md

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![ALEAPP](assets/ALEAPP_logo.png)

# Android Logs Events And Protobuf Parser

If you want to contribute hit me up here: https://abrignoni.github.io

Blog posts here: https://leapps.org/blog

## Download

Pre-built releases need no Python installation: [ALEAPP GitHub Releases](https://github.com/abrignoni/ALEAPP/releases),
or [LEAPPs Releases](https://leapps.org/releases) for the whole LEAPP family.

| Platform | Download |
| -------- | -------- |
| Windows (Intel/AMD) | `ALEAPP-*-windows-x64-portable.zip` |
| Windows (ARM) | `ALEAPP-*-windows-arm64-portable.zip` |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | `ALEAPP-*-macos-arm64.dmg` |
| macOS (Intel) | `ALEAPP-*-macos-x64.dmg` |
| Linux (Intel/AMD) | `ALEAPP-*-linux-x64.AppImage` |
| Linux (ARM) | `ALEAPP-*-linux-arm64.AppImage` |

Each download holds one program, `aleapp`. `SHA256SUMS.txt` in each release lets you check a download.

**GUI**: open ALEAPP the usual way: by double-clicking `aleapp.exe` from the zip on
Windows, ALEAPP in Applications on macOS, or the AppImage on Linux. Started without
arguments, it opens the window.

**CLI**: give `aleapp` arguments in a terminal and it runs as a command line instead. The
output folder must already exist. On Windows, use `aleapp.exe` from the zip.

```
aleapp.exe -t zip -i C:\path\to\extraction.zip -o C:\path\to\output\
```

On Linux, run the AppImage with the same arguments. On macOS it is inside the app; to
type just `aleapp` in a terminal, link it onto your PATH once:

```
sudo ln -s /Applications/ALEAPP.app/Contents/MacOS/aleapp /usr/local/bin/aleapp
```

## Requirements

**Python 3.10 or above**

### Dependencies

Dependencies for your python environment are listed in `requirements.txt`. Install them using the below command. Ensure
the `py` part is correct for your environment, eg `py`, `python`, or `python3`, etc.

`py -m pip install -r requirements.txt`
or
`pip3 install -r requirements.txt`

For the exact mister_skinnylegs dependency chain the releases are built with, install
`requirements-msl-lock.txt` over that, without dependencies:

`pip3 install --no-deps -r requirements-msl-lock.txt`

To run on **Linux**, you will also need to install `tkinter` separately like so:

`sudo apt-get install python3-tk`

## Building the binaries

`packaging/build.py` builds `aleapp` with PyInstaller for the machine it runs on, from the
same virtual environment. It installs `requirements.txt`, the pinned build tools and
`requirements-msl-lock.txt` first.

```
python packaging/build.py exe          # dist/ALEAPP/, and dist/ALEAPP.app on macOS
python packaging/build.py smoke        # run what it built, without opening a window
python packaging/build.py installer    # Windows: Inno Setup installer; macOS: .dmg; Linux: AppImage
```

`exe --onefile` makes `dist/aleapp` (`dist\aleapp.exe` on Windows) as a single file
instead. The Windows installer needs [Inno Setup](https://jrsoftware.org/isdl.php); on
Linux, `smoke` needs a display, which `xvfb-run` provides. `python packaging/build.py --help`
has the rest.

## Usage

### CLI

```
$ python aleapp.py -t <zip | tar | fs | gz | raw> -i <path_to_extraction> -o <path_for_report_output>
```

`raw` reads a disk image (`.img`, `.dd`, `.bin`, or any numbered `.001` segment of
a split set), or an acquisition and the segments or files beside it (EnCase/EWF
`.E01`, SMART `.s01`, EWF2 `.Ex01`, AFF `.aff`, AFM `.afm`, any `.aff` in an AFD folder,
AFF4 `.aff4`, an Apple `.dmg`, with any `.dmgpart` files beside it, `.sparseimage` or
`.sparsebundle` folder, or a virtual machine disk, `.vhd`, `.vhdx`, `.vmdk` or `.qcow2`), in
place: no mounting and no administrator rights. Its NTFS, FAT32, FAT16, FAT12, exFAT, ext2/3/4,
F2FS, HFS+, APFS, QNX6, QNX4, ETFS, EFS, SquashFS, JFFS2, UBI/UBIFS, YAFFS and QNX IFS
volumes are searched directly (and a U-Boot environment or Belkin NVRM store is read as one
file), and
only the files an artifact asks for are read out of the image. Logical evidence, an
EnCase `.L01` or an FTK Imager `.ad1`, is read as the files it holds. The GUI picks
`raw` on its own for those extensions, and for a sparse bundle or AFD folder chosen with
its folder button. See `admin/docs/raw_image_input.md`.

An encrypted image opens with its password (`--image_password_file` or
`--image_password_env`), or, when it is sealed to a certificate, with that certificate's
RSA private key (`--image_private_key`). A BitLocker volume in an image opens with its
password or recovery password, given the same way, or its startup key
(`--bitlocker_key`, repeatable), and an APFS volume macOS encrypted in software with its
password or personal recovery key, given the same way. At a terminal whatever is missing
is asked for, and the GUI asks in dialogs; a BitLocker or APFS volume nothing opens is
reported and not searched.

`tar` also reads an xz-compressed tar (`.tar.xz`), and the GUI picks `tar` for that
extension. A compressed tar, `.tar.gz` included, is decompressed once into the report folder
before any file is read, so the run needs free space there for the uncompressed tar. The
copy is deleted when the run ends, and the run log says how long the step took.

### GUI

```
$ python aleappGUI.py
```

### Help

```
$ python aleapp.py --help
```

## Contributing artifact plugins

Each plugin is a Python source file which should be added to the `scripts/artifacts` folder which will be loaded dynamically each time ALEAPP is run.

The plugin source file must contain a dictionary named `__artifacts_v2__` at the very beginning of the module, which defines the artifacts that the plugin processes. The keys in the `__artifacts_v2__` dictionary should be IDs for the artifact(s) which must be unique within ALEAPP. The values should be dictionaries containing the following keys:

- `name`: The name of the artifact as a string.
- `description`: A description of the artifact as a string.
- `author`: The author of the plugin as a string.
- `version`: The version of the artifact as a string.
- `date`: The date of the last update to the artifact as a string.
- `requirements`: Any requirements for processing the artifact as a string.
- `category`: The category of the artifact as a string.
- `notes`: Any additional notes as a string.
- `paths`: A tuple of strings containing glob search patterns to match the path of the data that the plugin expects for the artifact.
- `function`: The name of the function which is the entry point for the artifact's processing as a string.

For example:

```python
__artifacts_v2__ = {
    "cool_artifact_1": {
        "name": "Cool Artifact 1",
        "description": "Extracts cool data from database files",
        "author": "@username",
        "version": "0.1",
        "date": "2022-10-25",
        "requirements": "none",
        "category": "Really cool artifacts",
        "notes": "",
        "paths": ('*/com.android.cooldata/databases/database*.db',),
        "function": "get_cool_data1"
    },
    "cool_artifact_2": {
        "name": "Cool Artifact 2",
        "description": "Extracts cool data from XML files",
        "author": "@username",
        "version": "0.1",
        "date": "2022-10-25",
        "requirements": "none",
        "category": "Really cool artifacts",
        "notes": "",
        "paths": ('*/com.android.cooldata/files/cool.xml',),
        "function": "get_cool_data2"
    }
}
```

The functions referenced as entry points in the `__artifacts__` dictionary must take the following arguments:

- An iterable of the files found which are to be processed (as strings)
- The path of ALEAPP's output folder(as a string)
- The seeker (of type FileSeekerBase) which found the files
- A Boolean value indicating whether or not the plugin is expected to wrap text

For example:

```python
def get_cool_data1(files_found, report_folder, seeker, wrap_text):
    pass  # do processing here
```

Plugins are generally expected to provide output in ALEAPP's HTML output format, TSV, and optionally submit records to
the timeline. Functions for generating this output can be found in the `artifact_report` and `ilapfuncs` modules.
At a high level, an example might resemble:

```python
__artifacts_v2__ = {
    "cool_artifact_1": {
        "name": "Cool Artifact 1",
        "description": "Extracts cool data from database files",
        "author": "@username",  # Replace with the actual author's username or name
        "version": "0.1",  # Version number
        "date": "2022-10-25",  # Date of the latest version
        "requirements": "none",
        "category": "Really cool artifacts",
        "notes": "",
        "paths": ('*/com.android.cooldata/databases/database*.db',),
        "function": "get_cool_data1"
    }
}

import datetime
from scripts.artifact_report import ArtifactHtmlReport
import scripts.ilapfuncs

def get_cool_data1(files_found, report_folder, seeker, wrap_text):
    # let's pretend we actually got this data from somewhere:
    rows = [
     (datetime.datetime.now(), "Cool data col 1, value 1", "Cool data col 1, value 2", "Cool data col 1, value 3"),
     (datetime.datetime.now(), "Cool data col 2, value 1", "Cool data col 2, value 2", "Cool data col 2, value 3"),
    ]

headers = ["Timestamp", "Data 1", "Data 2", "Data 3"]

# HTML output:
    report = ArtifactHtmlReport("Cool stuff")
    report_name = "Cool DFIR Data"
    report.start_artifact_report(report_folder, report_name)
    report.add_script()
    report.write_artifact_data_table(headers, rows, files_found[0])  # assuming only the first file was processed
    report.end_artifact_report()

# TSV output:
    scripts.ilapfuncs.tsv(report_folder, headers, rows, report_name, files_found[0])  # assuming first file only

# Timeline:
    scripts.ilapfuncs.timeline(report_folder, report_name, rows, headers)

```

## Test data and sample_data for your PR

A PR that adds or changes an artifact is easiest to review and merge when it arrives with
two things: a small test fixture cut from a real extraction, and `sample_data` values that
record what the module produced. Scripts generate both. Here is the whole flow.

One rule before anything else: whatever you commit here becomes public. Only use data you
are allowed to share, like a test device you populated yourself, a public research image,
or a file you sanitized by hand. Never casework.

**1. Cut a fixture from your extraction**

```
python admin/test/scripts/make_test_data.py <module> --case 1 --input <extraction.zip>
```

This pulls the files your module's `paths` patterns match out of the extraction and writes
the case file `admin/test/cases/testdata.<module>.json` plus one small zip per artifact
under `admin/test/cases/data/<module>/`.

Size rules: under 10 MB per zip, commit it with the PR. Between 10 and 25 MB, commit the
case file and attach the zip to a PR comment. Bigger than that, say so in the PR and a
maintainer will arrange a handoff.

**2. Record the expected output**

```
TZ=UTC python admin/test/scripts/test_module.py <module> -a all -c all
```

This runs the module against the fixture and writes a snapshot of the output under
`admin/test/results/<module>/`. Commit the snapshot too. It becomes the baseline that
guards the module after merge. Keep the `TZ=UTC` part: the committed snapshots are UTC
and CI runs UTC.

**3. Run the same comparison CI will run**

```
python admin/test/scripts/run_test_cases.py --module <module>
```

**4. Generate the sample_data values**

```
python admin/scripts/validate_sample_data.py --emit <extraction.zip> --key <image_name>
```

This runs ALEAPP end to end on your extraction and prints ready-to-paste `sample_data`
blocks for the modules changed on your branch. Paste them into your module's
`__artifacts_v2__` and add the app name and version you saw on the image. If a count is
zero, check the source file really is empty before recording it.

**5. Commit it all and open the PR**

Commit the module, the case file, the fixture zips, and the recorded snapshot together.
More detail lives in
[admin/docs/testing/create_module_test_cases.md](admin/docs/testing/create_module_test_cases.md).

If your extraction cannot be shared, open the PR anyway and say so. A fixture can often be
cut from a public research image instead, or the real file can be sanitized by hand. The
review does not stop while we work that out.

## Code signing policy

Free code signing provided by [SignPath.io](https://about.signpath.io/), certificate by
[SignPath Foundation](https://signpath.org/).

The Windows builds are not signed yet. ALEAPP is applying to SignPath Foundation's free code
signing program for open source projects, and this policy applies to every Windows release
signed under it.

The Windows executables attached to
[GitHub Releases](https://github.com/abrignoni/ALEAPP/releases) are built from this
repository by GitHub Actions, on GitHub-hosted runners
([`release.yml`](.github/workflows/release.yml)). Under this policy, SignPath signs only
what that workflow built. The macOS disk images are signed separately, with an Apple
Developer ID, and notarised by Apple.

SignPath signs `aleapp.exe`, the single-file program in the portable zip. Third-party files
packed inside it are not signed on their own.

### Team roles

- Committers and reviewers: [@abrignoni](https://github.com/abrignoni),
  [@JamesHabben](https://github.com/JamesHabben),
  [@Johann-PLW](https://github.com/Johann-PLW), [@stark4n6](https://github.com/stark4n6)
- Approvers: [@abrignoni](https://github.com/abrignoni),
  [@Johann-PLW](https://github.com/Johann-PLW)

Changes proposed by people who are not committers are reviewed by a committer before they
are merged. Every release signing request is approved by an approver.

### Privacy policy

ALEAPP processes extractions locally, on the machine it runs on. This program will not
transfer any information to other networked systems unless specifically requested by the
user or the person installing or operating it.

The same policy covers the other LEAPPs:
[leapps.org/releases#code-signing-policy](https://leapps.org/releases#code-signing-policy).

## Acknowledgements

This tool is the result of a collaborative effort of many people in the DFIR community.

ALEAPP logo courtesy of Kevin Pagano. The earlier ALEAPP logo was by Derek Eiri.

Repository info

Default branch: main
Latest version: v2026.4.3
Created: 2020-02-23
Last activity: 2026-10-13
License: MIT
Open issues: 41
Watchers: 27

Contributors

abrignoni

2.7k contributions

actions-user

571 contributions

stark4n6

358 contributions

ydkhatri

174 contributions

Johann-PLW

153 contributions