Setting Up a Custom OTA Server for Evolution X Unofficial builds

This guide explains how to set up a custom OTA (Over-The-Air) server for your Evolution X build.

Prerequisites

A GitHub account
A storage server (e.g., Sourceforge, Cloudflare R2, etc.) for hosting your builds
A properly configured Android build environment

Create an overlay in your device tree

Inside your device tree, locate the overlay-evolution folders you created and inside of them create Updater directory with its subfolders (assuming you committed the Evolution X init changes)


mkdir -p /${device}/${your_phone_codename}/overlay-evolution/Updater/res/values/

Remember to replace /$device/${your_phone_codename} with the actual path to your device tree.

In the values folder create the file strings.xml and insert the following lines where (user) is your GitHub username

strings.xml


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<resources xmlns:xliff="urn:oasis:names:tc:xliff:document:1.2">
  <string name="updater_server_url" translatable="false">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/(user)/OTA/vic/builds/{device}.json</string>
  <string name="menu_changelog_url" translatable="false">https://raw.githubusercontent.com/(user)/OTA/vic/changelogs/<xliff:g id="device_name">%1$s</xliff:g>.txt</string>
</resources>

Build and Setup Your OTA Repository

Build your ROM

Create your Evolution X build using your Android build environment.


m evolution

Ensure the build is successful and all required files are generated.
Upload the Evolution X zip file and the needed .img files to install in the target device

Upload Files to Your OTA Repository

In your forked OTA repository, remove all the existing JSON and TXT files.
Locate and copy the JSON file(s) into the “builds” folder of your OTA repository.


cp out/target/product/${device}/${device}.json /path/to/OTA/repo/builds/

Get your Evolution X build download link and paste it in the JSON
Edit the JSON file as necessary to fill in all the remaining required fields for your OTA update.

Configure Changelogs

Inside the changelogs folder, create a new file named (device).txt where (device) is your device identifier.
Add the following content to the (device).txt file:

- (device).txt

${device}.txt


This is Android ${version} QPRx with ${month} ${year} security patches

Notes:
==============================
- LineageOS-based source. Signed build.
- Make sure to be on ${device} firmware first.
- Clean flash is required if coming from March 2024 or older builds.
- Always dirty flash at your own risk. If your device bootloops, revert to an older build that boots.
- ${root advice}
- Play Integrity passes, RCS works (As of mm/dd/yyyy).
- Includes ${brand} camera.

Device changes:
==============================
* (List all changes for your device, including modifications to the device kernel and vendor files.)

Notable ROM changes:
==============================
* (List all major changes made to the Evolution X project repositories.)

Finalize and Commit

After updating your files, commit and push your changes with a descriptive message:


git add . && git commit -m "(Device): Initial release" git push

Test your OTA build on the target device before releasing to the public.