> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.macstadium.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Manage Android emulators with the Orka3 CLI

> Orka3 CLI emulator commands: deploy, list, and delete Android emulators alongside macOS VMs on Apple silicon nodes.

<Note>
  Android emulator support is in early access as of Orka 3.7.0-alpha. Apple silicon nodes only. Commands, defaults, and behavior may change before general availability. For a full conceptual overview, connection steps, and known limitations, see [Android emulators on Orka](/orka/orka-resources/android-emulators).
</Note>

## Understanding Orka emulators

An Orka emulator is an Android emulator (AVD) that runs on the same physical host node as a macOS VM, reachable from inside that VM over an ADB relay bridge. Emulators are Apple silicon only: Apple silicon does not support nested virtualization, so the emulator runs as a host-level process rather than inside the VM.

An emulator's lifecycle is tied to its parent VM: deleting the VM automatically cleans up its emulator(s). You can also delete an emulator manually before deleting the parent VM.

## Emulator commands

### orka3 emulator deploy

Deploy an Android emulator attached to a running macOS VM. The parent VM must already be `Running`.

Platform, device profile, and image type values pass straight through to the Android SDK's `avdmanager` and `sdkmanager` tooling, so any combination those tools support works on a best-effort basis. The only hard constraint is architecture: only platforms with an ARM-native system image are supported, since the emulator runs directly on the Apple silicon host.

<Note>Deploying an emulator blocks until it reaches `Running` or `Failed`, or until the timeout elapses, whichever comes first. A timeout is not necessarily a failure: the emulator may still be `Pending` while its AVD boots. Run `orka3 emulator list` to poll status.</Note>

**Syntax:**

```bash theme={null}
orka3 emulator deploy --vm VM_NAME [--platform PLATFORM] [--device DEVICE] [--image-type IMAGE_TYPE] [--cpu CPU] [--memory MEMORY_MB] [--timeout MINUTES] [flags]
```

**Options:**

```
--vm string           Name of the running macOS VM to attach the emulator to (required)
--platform string     (Optional) Android platform level (default "android-36")
--device string       (Optional) Device profile (default "pixel_9")
--image-type string   (Optional) System image type (default "google_apis")
--cpu int             (Optional) CPU cores to allocate to the emulator
--memory int          (Optional) Memory in MB to allocate to the emulator
--timeout int         (Optional) Deploy timeout in minutes (default 5)
-h, --help             Display help for deploy
```

Commonly used values:

* Platforms: `android-35`, `android-36`
* Device profiles: `pixel_8`, `pixel_9`, `pixel_tablet`
* Image types: `google_apis`, `google_apis_playstore`, `default`

**Examples:**

```bash theme={null}
# Deploy an emulator with default platform, device, and image type
orka3 emulator deploy --vm my-macos-vm

# Deploy a specific platform and device
orka3 emulator deploy --vm my-macos-vm --platform android-35 --device pixel_8

# Deploy with a Play Store image and custom resources
orka3 emulator deploy --vm my-macos-vm --image-type google_apis_playstore --cpu 4 --memory 4096

# Deploy with a longer timeout
orka3 emulator deploy --vm my-macos-vm --device pixel_tablet --timeout 10
```

The response includes `adbRelayIP` and `adbRelayPort`. Always use these values to connect over ADB rather than a hardcoded IP or port; see [Android emulators on Orka](/orka/orka-resources/android-emulators#connecting-from-inside-the-vm) for connection steps.

<Note>First deploy on a node may be slower than later ones: Android SDK components (roughly 2 to 4 GB per platform and image type pair) download at deploy time if not already cached on the host node. There is no pre-caching in early access.</Note>

### orka3 emulator list

List Android emulators.

**Syntax:**

```bash theme={null}
orka3 emulator list [EMULATOR_NAME] [--vm VM_NAME] [--output wide|json] [flags]
```

**Options:**

```
--vm string           (Optional) Filter by parent VM name
-o, --output string   (Optional) Output format: table (default)|wide|json
-h, --help             Display help for list
```

**Examples:**

```bash theme={null}
# List all emulators
orka3 emulator list

# List emulators attached to a specific VM
orka3 emulator list --vm my-macos-vm

# Check a specific emulator's status as JSON
orka3 emulator list my-macos-vm-avd-0 --output json
```

Use this to poll emulator status (`Pending`, `Running`, or `Failed`) after a deploy call times out. When `phase` is `Failed`, the response includes an `errorMessage` explaining why.

### orka3 emulator delete

Delete an Android emulator.

<Note>Manual delete is only needed to remove an emulator before its parent VM is deleted. Deleting the VM cleans up its emulator(s) automatically.</Note>

**Syntax:**

```bash theme={null}
orka3 emulator delete EMULATOR_NAME [flags]
```

**Options:**

```
-h, --help   Display help for delete
```

**Examples:**

```bash theme={null}
orka3 emulator delete my-macos-vm-avd-0
```

## Known limitations

Early access scope, node-level network isolation, NAT-only networking, and other current limitations are covered in [Android emulators on Orka](/orka/orka-resources/android-emulators#early-access-scope-and-known-limitations).


## Related topics

- [Manage macOS VM images with the Orka3 CLI](/orka/orka3-cli-reference/image-management.md)
- [Android emulators on Orka (Early Access)](/orka/orka-resources/android-emulators.md)
- [Command Quick Reference](/orka/orka3-cli-reference/command-quick-reference.md)
- [Android virtual devices](/remote-desktop-vdi/configuration/android-virtual-devices.md)
- [Orka Release Notes](/orka/orka-upgrades-and-release-notes/orka-release-notes.md)