Develop Reference

Phone is rooted but can't pull files from /data/data folder

My phone Samsung Galaxy S5 mini is rooted. I'm trying to pull files from /data/data/myapp.package/ to folder on my PC.
adb pull /data/data/myapp.package E:\myapp\myapp.package
it gives me this error
adb: error: failed to copy '/data/data/myapp.package' to 'E:\myapp\myapp.package': Permission denied
I found many questions like mine but no answer solved my problem. Some suggested to execute this command adb root before pulling files. Some suggested to install adbd insecure app to enable root access. In fact after installing that app, phone disappeared from adb terminal. Both solution didn't work for me.
BTW, I can copy files using cp command from adb shell but I have to copy files to sdcard and then pull from sdcard. I'm looking for solution which allows me to copy files directly from /data/data/myapp.package to my PC
Any solution?

For your adb to be able to access /data/data directly (for adb pull), your adbd should be running as root - which can generally be done by adb root command.
adb root would not work on commercial devices like Samsung Galaxy S5 mini as commercial devices have ro.secure=1, i.e., the adbd can't be restarted as root due to a check of property called ro.secure. adbd insecure app circumvents this and restarts adbd in root mode to enable adb pull, etc. to work.
In short, if adbd insecure app doesn't work for you, it's not possible to do adb pull from /data/data in your existing ROM. It might be possible if you change the ROM / do some boot.img tweaks, but I would probably suggest trying latest version / different versions of adbd insecure app before going for ROM changes.
Read more on rooting here.

First you need to hit these two command from command line
adb root
adb remount
then
adb pull /data/data/myapp.package E:\myapp\myapp.package

This is my example pulling DB file from the root directory
adb -e shell "run-as com.example.project cp /data/data/com.example.project/databases/project.db /sdcard"
The key is run-as

Here's a one-liner that lets you pull a file without installing anything else and without having to copy it to a public location on the device to then pull it to your computer:
adb exec-out su -c cat /data/data/myapp.package/my_file.apk > my_file.apk
What this does:
adb exec-out runs a command and outputs the raw binary output
su -c runs the provided command as root
cat <file> prints out the file contents
> <file> redirects the output from adb (i.e. the raw file contents) to a local file.

adb: error: remote object '/data/data/com.me.myproject' does not exist

1. Added adb path to ~/.bash_profile
export PATH="/Users/myname/Library/Android/sdk/platform-tools:$PATH"
2. Logged in to emulator
adb -s emulator-5554 shell
3. changed permission of the app folder and parent folder
chmod 777 /data/data/com.me.myproject
chmod 777 /data/data
4. Still can not get stuff from outside. Why?
adb -s emulator-5554 pull /data/data/com.me.myproject

I had the same problem and I did this:
adb shell
run-as com.yourPackageName (not rooted device)
cp 'database/file_you_want.db' '/sdcard/file_you_want.db'
exit
exit (now you will be back to main terminal window)
adb pull /sdcard/xx.db

That's because your debugging Android device is not rooted.
If you have a physical rooted device or have an emulated device, try executing this before, to restart ADB in root mode. Then any command should work:
adb root

The reason is the file you wanted to copy needs root permission. It's better to copy the file to /mnt/sdcard/ where you have a right to interact with.
cp <file> /mnt/sdcard/
adb pull /mnt/sdcard/<file>

connect mobile to laptop then open adb console
a). cp msg-store.db /mnt/sdcard/ ==>inside /data/data/packagename/databases/
b). adb pull /mnt/sdcard/msg-store.db/ ===>This will stored in local computer.

prefixing the remote path with ./ or removing the leading / makes the whole difference for me ??? I guess because the system folder must be relative to root's home?
Darn it, those stupid Linux folks wasted my time again. I admit my whole life is about relative paths but this one got me good.
Make sure you use \ for your target file, stupid Bill G. also decided to go backwards with his slashes and that created a whole mess. :)
PS. What's even weirder both files in my examples were pulled (copied) to the BASH shell current folder NOT c:\
That's stupid or what :)
FAILS
adb -s 192.168.1.120:5555 pull /system/media/bootanimation.zip c:\boot1.zip
SUCCEEDS
adb -s 192.168.1.120:5555 pull ./system/media/bootanimation.zip c:\boot1.zip
SUCCEEDS
adb -s 192.168.1.120:5555 pull system/media/bootanimation.zip c:\boot1.zip

Copy folder from Android app to local Windows directory

I'm trying to use the Android Adb Command Prompt to copy a folder inside the app container to a local Windows folder. The device is running Android 5.1.1 and is not rooted.
adb pull or cp aren't working. How can I copy a folder?
The following approaches aren't working:
Approach 1
adb shell
adb pull /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs C:/temp/test
error: device not found
Inside the shell you can't see to do adb pull. See here.
Approach 2
DDMS can't access the data folder.
Approach 3
adb shell
run-as DroidSample.DroidSample
cp /files/MetroLog/MetroLogs/ C:/temp/test
cp: /files/MetroLog/MetroLogs/: No such file or directory
Approach 4
adb shell
run-as DroidSample.DroidSample
cp /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs/ C:/temp/test
cp: /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs is a directory (not copied).
This is also not working.
Approach 5
adb shell
run-as DroidSample.DroidSample
chmod 777 /files/MetroLog/MetroLogs
exit
exit
adb pull /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs C:/temp/test
adb shell run-as DroidSample.DroidSample
chmod 700 /files/MetroLog/Metrologs
remote object '/data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs' does not exist
So also this isn't working.
Approach 6
adb shell
mkdir /sdcard/tmp
cp /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs /sdcard/tmp
cp: /data/data/DroidSample.DroidSample/files/MetroLog/MetroLogs: Permission denied
This is also not working.
Approach 7
The only thing which half work is this
adb exec-out run-as DroidSample.DroidSample cat "files/MetroLog/MetroLogs/Log - 20160509.log" > C:/temp/test/test.log
But here I don't get the original file and I also have to know the exact file name. Additionally, that I loose line breaks and I have to do this for each file. Not that what I want.
So I'm running out of ideas. How can I access the internal stored files and copy them over?

You have almost solved the problem. As the storage of this kind is secured, you need to do one additional step. You need to copy the file from secured location to sdcard of the device. And then you can copy it anywhere via usb or android pull. Here are the command sequence I executed successfully.
adb shell
run-as DroidSample.DroidSample
cd shared_prefs
cp DroidSample.DroidSample_preferences.xml /sdcard/DroidSample.DroidSample_preferences.xml
exit
exit
adb pull /sdcard/DroidSample.DroidSample_preferences.xml C:/test/
That's it.
And I really appreciate the way you posted your question. Best of luck.

You're trying to gain read access to /data partition on actual android device. Such thing is not possible without root access, even if the app folder is yours. For the reason that permissions to read /data partition are not granted and cannot be granted, unless you're using an emulator. On emulator, which by default is with admin privileges for developer, you can access the data partition to read and write. On actual device you cannot. Not with adb, not with DDMS.
So basically speaking, anything that requires access to those files under /data is not going to work. Whether you sue cp command or pull command. The moment your kernel reads the beginning of your path which starts with /data/... it says: Oops, no can do.

You are trying to access /data folder of android device which is not accessible in unrooted device.

How to Root an Android Emulator?

I know there are quite a few question like this around but none of them really seems to work for me.
I am writing a program that automatically updates and installs itself, however to install the update it requires user confirmation but I do not want this as the device I will deploy on will never be physically used by anyone. So to try work around this I want to root the device and use a runtime command in the code to get it to just install.
To test this out I want to try it on the (AVD) emulator first however it (obviously) needs to be rooted. So how would i go about this?
I have tried commands in the adb shell (and out of it with the adb shell) like:
mount -o rw,remount -t yaffs2 /dev/block/mtdblock03 /system
push su /system/xbin/su
chmod 06755 /system
chmod 06755 /system/xbin/su
and a few others I can't find again at this moment but they will always give me errors such as cannot stat 'su' and stuff like that (will edit if i can find the commands and recreate again) or they just don't say anything and it doesn't appear to work.
If it helps i'm using xamarin in visual studio.

When working with android emulators, just do:
adb.exe root - restart adbd with root permissions
adb.exe unroot - restart adbd without root permissions
You can find adb.exe at: android_sdk\platform-tools\
You can confirm if the device is rooted by doing:
adb.exe shell
Inside the shell type: whoami. Then type exit to exit the shell
Example
P:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb.exe shell
generic_x86:/ $ whoami
shell
generic_x86:/ $ exit
P:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb.exe root
P:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb.exe shell
generic_x86:/ # whoami
root
generic_x86:/ # exit
P:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb.exe unroot
P:\Android\sdk\platform-tools>adb.exe shell
generic_x86:/ $ whoami
shell
generic_x86:/ $ exit

You can use https://www.genymotion.com/. All devices created are rooted by default. For example start a device then type adb shell command. It will open a rooted shell.

Android ADB access to application databases without root

Can anyone tell me, is it possible to use the ADB to pull and push a database from an app, without root privileges on the phone?
For example, I know the location on my rooted magic and dream is:
/data/data/com.xxxx.xxxx/databases/xxxx
I know that you can use ADB without root, but when trying to use the shell - you can't view that location without root privaliges. But I have been told you can use push and pull if you know the file you want?
Basically I want to pull a database from MY app on a non rooted phone modify it and push it back on.
Only trouble I have is, the two phones I have are both root and I don't have access to a non root one to try it out.

While Nilhcem's answer didn't work for me, it lead me in the right direction (for that I upvoted) and I now have a working solution.
Old answer that may not work with newer versions of Android:
#Transfer file from app databases directory to PC
adb shell
$ run-as package.name
$ cd ./databases/
$ ls -l #Find the current permissions - r=4, w=2, x=1
$ chmod 666 ./dbname.db
$ exit
$ exit
adb pull /data/data/package.name/databases/dbname.db ~/Desktop/
#Transfer file from PC to app databases directory (requires the above permission change)
adb push ~/Desktop/dbname.db /data/data/package.name/databases/dbname.db
adb shell
$ run-as package.name
$ chmod 660 ./databases/dbname.db #Restore original permissions
$ exit
$ exit
Alternate method using external storage (confirmed to work with 6.0.1):
#Transfer file from app databases directory to external storage
adb shell
$ run-as package.name
$ cp ./databases/dbname.db /sdcard/
$ exit
$ exit
#Transfer file from external storage to app databases directory
adb shell
$ run-as package.name
$ cp /sdcard/dbname.db ./databases/
$ exit
$ exit

A quick workaround is to use the run-as command to copy the database in a folder where you can have access, such as /sdcard and then, do a normal adb pull
adb shell
$ run-as package.name cp /data/data/package.name/dbname.db /sdcard/
$ exit
adb pull /sdcard/dbname.db
More information on the run-as command here
Note that the run-as command is available since API level 8 (Android 2.2) and can only be used if the application is debbugable.

On OxygenOS (based on Android 5.2) I've combined the two solutions provided by Pilot_51.
First, I used run-as to gain access to /data/data/package.name/databases, but from here I wasn't able to copy directly to /sdcard/ so I changed the permissions of the file. After that, I exited from run-as mode and used cp to copy the file in /sdcard/ storage. Finally, I was able to use adb pull
$ adb -s <DEVICE_ID> shell
$ run-as package.name
$ chmod 666 databases/dbname.db
$ exit
$ cp /data/data/package.name/databases/dbname.db /sdcard/dbname.db
$ exit
$ adb pull /sdcard/dbname.db ./dbname.db

We set the file permissions to readable for all users from within the app.
if (BuildConfig.DEBUG)
{
new File(mDB.getPath()).setReadable(true, false);
}
Then just pull the .db off with adb normally.
adb -d pull //data/data/xxxxx/databases/xxxxx.db .
NOTE: I've discovered that this needs to be done each time the database file is opened, for example in onCreate as well as the constructor of your SQLiteOpenHelper wrapper (when your database is not null) or perhaps onOpen. If only in onCreate, then the next time you run your app and the .db already exists, for some reason the permissions have been changed back. This might have something to do with how Android manages its data.

if you want to push db file into the application
first of all, place "file.db" under "/storage/emulated/0/" because of permission issue. then you should pretend as application to access data folder.
adb shell
$ run-as com.package.name
:/data/data/com.package.name $ cp /storage/emulated/0/file.db /data/data/com.package.name/databases/
it copies the file.db that in main folder to databases.