'aidl is missing' when trying to migrate a project created with eclipse to Android Studio

Question

I created an Android App project about 2 years ago in eclipse. It was working well, I have even it deployed on my cell phone.

Now I would like to continue working on it and I was recommended to use Android Studio.

I downloaded it and created a new empty project from Android Studio. Then added my files and tried to build the project.

I am not yet familiar with all the new things such as Graple, I only just red a bit online to learn about it.

When I build, I get the following error, any help would be appreciated.

gradlew compileDebugJava --stacktrace

:app:preBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:preDebugBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:checkDebugManifest
:app:preReleaseBuild UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportAppcompatV72220Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareComAndroidSupportSupportV42220Library UP-TO-DATE
:app:prepareDebugDependencies
:app:compileDebugAidl FAILED

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

• What went wrong: Execution failed for task ':app:compileDebugAidl'.

  aidl is missing

• Try:
  Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output.

• Exception is: org.gradle.api.tasks.TaskExecutionException: Execution failed for task ':app:compileDebugAidl'. at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.executeActions(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:6 9) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.execute(ExecuteActionsTaskExecuter.java:46) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.PostExecutionAnalysisTaskExecuter.execute(PostExecutionAnalysisTaskExecuter .java:35) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.execute(SkipUpToDateTaskExecuter.java:64) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ValidatingTaskExecuter.execute(ValidatingTaskExecuter.java:58) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.execute(SkipEmptySourceFilesTaskExecuter.j ava:42) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.execute(SkipTaskWithNoActionsExecuter.java:52 ) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.execute(SkipOnlyIfTaskExecuter.java:53) at org.gradle.api.internal.tasks.execution.ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskE xecuter.execute(ExecuteAtMostOnceTaskExecuter.java:43 ) at org.gradle.api.internal.AbstractTask.executeWithoutThrowingTaskFailure(AbstractTask.java:305) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.AbstractTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.executeTask(AbstractTaskPlanExecutor.jav a:79) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.AbstractTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.processTask(AbstractTaskPlanExecutor.jav a:63) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.AbstractTaskPlanExecutor$TaskExecutorWorker.run(AbstractTaskPlanExecutor.java:51) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.process(DefaultTaskPlanExecutor.java:23) at org.gradle.execution.taskgraph.DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.execute(DefaultTaskGraphExecuter.java:88) at org.gradle.execution.SelectedTaskExecutionAction.execute(SelectedTaskExecutionAction.java:29) at org.gradle.execution.DefaultBuildExecuter.execute(DefaultBuildExecuter.java:62) at org.gradle.execution.DefaultBuildExecuter.access$200(DefaultBuildExecuter.java:23) at org.gradle.e xecution.DefaultBuildExecuter$2.proceed(DefaultBuildExecuter.java:68) at org.gradle.execution.DryRunBuildExecutionAction.execute(DryRunBuildExecutionAction.java:32) at org.gradle.execution.DefaultBuildExecuter.execute(DefaultBuildExecuter.java:62) at org.gradle.execution.DefaultBuildExecuter.execute(DefaultBuildExecuter.java:55) at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.doBuildStages(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:149) at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.doBuild(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:106) at org.gradle.initialization.DefaultGradleLauncher.run(DefaultGradleLauncher.java:86) at org.gradle.launcher.exec.InProcessBuildActionExecuter$DefaultBuildController.run(InProcessBuildActionExecuter.java: 80) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExecuteBuildAction.run(ExecuteBuildAction.java:33) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExecuteBuildAction.run(ExecuteBuildAction.java:24) at org.gradle.launcher.exec.InProcessBuildActionExecuter.execute(InProcessBuildActionExecuter.java:36) at org.gradle .launcher.exec.InProcessBuildActionExecuter.execute(InProcessBuildActionExecuter.java:26) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.RunBuildAction.run(RunBuildAction.java:51) at org.gradle.internal.Actions$RunnableActionAdapter.execute(Actions.java:171) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$ParseAndBuildAction.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:237) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$ParseAndBuildAction.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:210) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.JavaRuntimeValidationAction.execute(JavaRuntimeValidationAction.java:35) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.JavaRuntimeValidationAction.execute(JavaRuntimeValidationAction.java:24) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$WithLogging.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:206) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.CommandLineActionFactory$WithLogging.execute(CommandLineActionFactory.java:169) at org.gradle.launcher.cli.ExceptionReportingAction.execute(ExceptionReportingAction.java:33) at org.gradle.launcher. cli.ExceptionReportingAction.execute(ExceptionReportingAction.java:22) at org.gradle.launcher.Main.doAction(Main.java:33) at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.EntryPoint.run(EntryPoint.java:45) at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.ProcessBootstrap.runNoExit(ProcessBootstrap.java:54) at org.gradle.launcher.bootstrap.ProcessBootstrap.run(ProcessBootstrap.java:35) at org.gradle.launcher.GradleMain.main(GradleMain.java:23) at org.gradle.wrapper.BootstrapMainStarter.start(BootstrapMainStarter.java:33) at org.gradle.wrapper.WrapperExecutor.execute(WrapperExecutor.java:130) at org.gradle.wrapper.GradleWrapperMain.main(GradleWrapperMain.java:48) Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException: aidl is missing at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder.compileAllAidlFiles(AndroidBuilder.java:960) at com.android.builder.core.AndroidBuilder$compileAllAidlFiles$0.call(Unknown Source) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.AidlCompile.compileAllFiles(AidlCompile.groovy:118) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.AidlComp ile.this$6$compileAllFiles(AidlCompile.groovy) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.AidlCompile$this$6$compileAllFiles.callCurrent(Unknown Source) at com.android.build.gradle.tasks.AidlCompile.doFullTaskAction(AidlCompile.groovy:168) at com.android.build.gradle.internal.tasks.IncrementalTask.taskAction(IncrementalTask.groovy:64) at org.gradle.internal.reflect.JavaMethod.invoke(JavaMethod.java:63) at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.AnnotationProcessingTaskFactory$IncrementalTaskAction.doExecute(Annotat ionProcessingTaskFactory.java:235) at org.gradle.api.internal.project.taskfactory.AnnotationProcessingTaskFactory$StandardTaskAction.execute(AnnotationPr ocessingTaskFactory.java:211) ... 47 more

BUILD FAILED

Answer 1

In my case I downloaded version 22 of Android M and Android 5.1.1 using Android Studio 1.2.1.1 but when I try to do a Hello World this same error showed me

So the solution was go to do right click in app like the image below and choose "Open Module Settings"

then there you have 2 options. I've changed both with the last version I had.

Compile SDK version to API 21 Lollipop

Finally clean the project and Build

UPDATE Here is my build.gradle to compare with your build.gradle.

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 21
    buildToolsVersion '21.1.2'

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.android.bmi"
        minSdkVersion 15
        targetSdkVersion 22
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"
    }
    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: ['*.jar'])
    compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:22.2.0'
}

UPDATED

TO Get Android Studio 1.3 follow this steps

1. Open the Settings window by choosing File > Settings.

2. Choose the Appearance & Behavior > System Settings > Updates panel.

3. On the Updates panel, choose the option Automatically check updates for: Canary Chanel.

4. On the Updates panel, select Check Now to check for the latest canary build.

5. Download and install the build when you are prompted.

Then you'll have something like this to update your Androud Studio to 1.3 and with this you can test Android M

Answer 2

just change your build tools version , this issue mean gradle cant build your project with your specific build tools.

I prefer update build tools to latest stable version , if dosent work downgrade to stable one