Magisk ships with a feature complete BusyBox binary (including full SELinux support). The executable is located at `/data/adb/magisk/busybox`. Magisk's BusyBox supports runtime toggle-able "ASH Standalone Shell Mode". What this standalone mode means is that when running in the `ash` shell of BusyBox, every single command will directly use the applet within BusyBox, regardless of what is set as `PATH`. For example, commands like `ls`, `rm`, `chmod` will **NOT** use what is in `PATH` (in the case of Android by default it will be `/system/bin/ls`, `/system/bin/rm`, and `/system/bin/chmod` respectively), but will instead directly call internal BusyBox applets. This makes sure that scripts always run in a predictable environment and always have the full suite of commands no matter which Android version it is running on. To force a command *not* to use BusyBox, you have to call the executable with full paths.
Every single shell script running in the context of Magisk will be executed in BusyBox's `ash` shell with standalone mode enabled. For what is relevant to 3rd party developers, this includes all boot scripts and module installation scripts.
For those who want to use this "Standalone Mode" feature outside of Magisk, there are 2 ways to enable it:
1. Set environment variable `ASH_STANDALONE` to `1`<br>Example: `ASH_STANDALONE=1 /data/adb/magisk/busybox sh <script>`
2. Toggle with command-line options:<br>`/data/adb/magisk/busybox sh -o standalone <script>`
To make sure all subsequent `sh` shell executed also runs in standalone mode, option 1 is the preferred method (and this is what Magisk and Magisk Manager internally uses) as environment variables are inherited down to child processes.
Please read the [Boot Scripts](#boot-scripts) section to understand the difference between `post-fs-data.sh` and `service.sh`. For most module developers, `service.sh` should be good enough if you just need to run a boot script.
In all scripts of your module, please use `MODDIR=${0%/*}` to get your module's base directory path; do **NOT** hardcode your module path in scripts.
#### system.prop
This file follows the same format as `build.prop`. Each line comprises of `[key]=[value]`.
#### sepolicy.rule
If your module requires some additional sepolicy patches, please add those rules into this file. The module installer script and Magisk's daemon will make sure this file is copied to somewhere `magiskinit` can read pre-init to ensure these rules are injected properly.
Each line in this file will be treated as a policy statement. For more details how a policy statement is formatted, please check [magiskpolicy](tools.md#magiskpolicy)'s documentation.
All files you want Magisk to replace/inject for you should be placed in this folder. Please read through the [Magic Mount](details.md#magic-mount) section to understand how Magisk mount your files.
A Magisk Module Installer is a Magisk Module packaged in a zip file that can be flashed in Magisk Manager or custom recoveries such as TWRP. An installer have the same file structure as a Magisk module (please check the previous section for more info). The simplest Magisk Module Installer is just a Magisk Module packed in a zip file, with addition to the following files:
-`update-binary`: Download the latest [module_installer.sh](https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/blob/master/scripts/module_installer.sh) and rename/copy that script as `update-binary`
-`updater-script`: This file should only contain the string `#MAGISK`
By default, `update-binary` will check/setup the environment, load utility functions, extract the module installer zip to where your module will be installed, and finally do some trivial tasks and cleanups, which should cover most simple modules' needs.
If you need to customize the module installation process, optionally you can create a new script in the installer called `customize.sh`. This script will be *sourced* (not executed!) by `update-binary` after all files are extracted and default permissions and secontext are applied. This is very useful if your module includes different files based on ABI, or you need to set special permissions/secontext for some of your files (e.g. files in `/system/bin`).
If you need even more customization and prefer to do everything on your own, declare `SKIPUNZIP=1` in `customize.sh` to skip the extraction and applying default permissions/secontext steps. Be aware that by doing so, your `customize.sh` will then be responsible to install everything by itself.
This script will run in Magisk's BusyBox `ash` shell with "Standalone Mode" enabled. The following variables and shell functions are available for convenience:
if [context] is not set, the default is "u:object_r:system_file:s0"
for all files in <directory>, it will call:
set_perm file owner group filepermission context
for all directories in <directory> (including itself), it will call:
set_perm dir owner group dirpermission context
```
##### Easy Replace
You can declare a list of folders you want to directly replace in the variable name `REPLACE`. The module installer script will pickup this variable and create `.replace` files for you. An example declaration:
```
REPLACE="
/system/app/YouTube
/system/app/Bloatware
"
```
The list above will result in the following files being created: `$MODPATH/system/app/YouTube/.replace` and `$MODPATH/system/app/Bloatware/.replace`
#### Notes
- When your module is downloaded with Magisk Manager, `update-binary` will be **forcefully** replaced with the latest [`module_installer.sh`](https://github.com/topjohnwu/Magisk/blob/master/scripts/module_installer.sh) to ensure all installer uses up-to-date scripts. **DO NOT** try to add any custom logic in `update-binary` as it is pointless.
- Due to historical reasons, **DO NOT** add a file named `install.sh` in your module installer. That specific file was previously used and will be treated differently.
- **DO NOT** call `exit` at the end of `customize.sh`. The module installer would want to do finalizations.
You can submit a module to **Magisk-Module-Repo** so users can download your module directly in Magisk Manager.
- Follow the instructions in the previous section to create a valid installer for your module.
- Create `README.md` (filename should be exactly the same) containing all info for your module. If you are not familiar with the Markdown syntax, the [Markdown Cheat Sheet](https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet) will be handy.
- Create a repository with your personal GitHub account, and upload your module installer to the repo
- Create a request for submission via this link: [submission](https://github.com/Magisk-Modules-Repo/submission)
## Module Tricks
#### Remove Files
How to remove a file systemless-ly? To actually make the file *disappear* is complicated (possible, not worth the effort). Replacing it with a dummy file should be good enough! Create an empty file with the same name and place it in the same path within a module, it shall replace your target file with a dummy file.
#### Remove Folders
Same as mentioned above, actually making the folder *disappear* is not worth the effort. Replacing it with an empty folder should be good enough! A handy trick for module developers is to add the folder you want to remove into the `REPLACE` list within `customize.sh`. If your module doesn't provide a corresponding folder, it will create an empty folder, and automatically add `.replace` into the empty folder so the dummy folder will properly replace the one in `/system`.
Since `/` is read-only on system-as-root devices, Magisk provides an overlay system to enable developers to replace files in rootdir or add new `*.rc` scripts. This feature is designed mostly for custom kernel developers.
Overlay files shall be placed in the `overlay.d` folder in boot image ramdisk, and they follow these rules:
1. All `*.rc` files in `overlay.d` will be read and concatenated **AFTER**`init.rc`
2. Existing files can be replaced by files located at the same relative path
3. Files that correspond to a non-existing file will be ignored
In order to have additional files which you want to reference in your custom `*.rc` scripts, add them in `overlay.d/sbin`. The 3 rules above does not apply to everything in this specific folder, as they will directly be copied to Magisk's internal `tmpfs` directory (which used to always be located at `/sbin`).
Due to changes in Android 11, the `/sbin` folder is no longer guaranteed to exist. In that case, Magisk randomly generates the `tmpfs` folder. Every occurrence of the pattern `${MAGISKTMP}` in your `*.rc` scripts will be replaced with the Magisk `tmpfs` folder when `magiskinit` injects it into `init.rc`. This also works on pre Android 11 devices as `${MAGISKTMP}` will simply be replaced with `/sbin` in this case, so the best practice is to **NEVER** hardcode `/sbin` in your `*.rc` scripts when referencing additional files.
