[android] SSL Proxy/Charles and Android trouble

I want to test Https calls from android device using Charles proxy tool. I need to see the raw request/response contents for debugging app. I've configured Charles by adding the host and port under "Proxy Settings" -> SSL Tab. When I run the app, all SSL calls seems to disappear quickly from the Charles. Does any one has any idea how to fix this issue. Charles documentation doesn't seem to have information for Android devices.

The top rated answers are working perfect (a bit old but still working), but I just want to mention that since Android N we all can configure your apps in order to have diff trust SSL certificates (for release , debug only and so on), including Charles SSL Proxy certificate (if you download the Charles certificate and put .pem file in your raw folder). More info can be found here: https://developer.android.com/training/articles/security-config.html

Also the official Charles documentation can be useful to setup this : https://www.charlesproxy.com/documentation/using-charles/ssl-certificates/

Hope this will help to setup Charles inside your app project not on every single Android device.

Edit - this answer was for an earlier version of Charles. See @semicircle21 answer below for the proper steps for v3.10.x -- much easier than this approach too... :-)

For what it's worth here are the step by step instructions for this. They should apply equally well in iOS too:

1. Open Charles
2. Go to Proxy > Proxy Settings > SSL
3. Check “Enable SSL Proxying”
4. Select “Add location” and enter the host name and port (if needed)
5. Click ok and make sure the option is checked
6. Download the Charles cert from here: Charles cert >
7. Send that file to yourself in an email.
8. Open the email on your device and select the cert
9. In “Name the certificate” enter whatever you want
10. Click OK and you should get a message that the certificate was installed

You should then be able to see the SSL files in Charles. If you want to intercept and change the values you can use the "Map Local" tool which is really awesome:

1. In Charles go to Tools > Map Local
2. Select "Add entry"
3. Enter the values for the file you want to replace
4. In “Local path” select the file you want the app to load instead
5. Click OK
6. Make sure the entry is selected and click OK
7. Run your app
8. You should see in “Notes” that your file loads instead of the live one

For me the issue was the IP address that charles was telling me to route to in my proxy settings was incorrect. To solve I ended up going to ifconfig in the terminal and the trying the different IP addresses (listed next to inet) at port 8888 for the current active connections

See here:

http://jaanus.com/blog/2012/02/12/debugging-http-on-an-android-phone-or-tablet-with-charles-proxy-for-fun-and-profit/

You would need to install the charles.crt certificate to your device.

for the Android7

refer to: How to get charles proxy work with Android 7 nougat?

for the Android version below Android7

From your computer, run Charles:

1. Open Proxy Settings: Proxy -> Proxy Settings, Proxies Tab, check "Enable transparent HTTP proxying", and remember "Port" in heart.

2. SSL Proxy Settings:Proxy -> SSL Proxy Settings, SSL Proxying tab, Check “enable SSL Proxying”, and add . to Locations:

3. Open Access Control Settings: Proxy -> Access Control Settings. Add your local subnet to authorize machines on you local network to use the proxy from another machine/mobile.

In Android Phone:

1. Configure your mobile: Go to Settings -> Wireless & networks -> WiFi -> Connect or modify your network, fill in the computer IP address and Port(8888):

2. Get Charles SSL Certificate. Visit this url from your mobile browser: http://charlesproxy.com/getssl

3. In “Name the certificate” enter whatever you want

4. Accept the security warning and install the certificate. If you install it successful, then you probably see sth like that: In your phone, Settings -> Security -> Trusted credentials:

Done.

then you can have some test on your mobile, the encrypted https request will be shown in Charles:

For the newer emulator it might be helpful to launch from command line using:

emulator -netdelay none -netspeed full -avd <emulator_name> -http-proxy http://<ip-address>:8888

Make sure you follow @User9527's advice above as well for the rest of the setup

I wasted 1 day finding the issue , my system was not asking connection "allow" or "reject". i though it was due to some certiifcate issue . tried all methods mentioned above but none of them worked . in the end i found "Firewall was real culprit ". if firewall settings is ON , they will not allow charles to connect with your laptop via proxy IP . make them off and all things will work smoothly .Not sure if that was relevent answer but just want to share.

Thanks for @bkurzius's answer and this update is for Charles 3.10+. (The reason is here)

1. Open Charles
2. Go to Proxy > SSL Proxy Settings...
3. Check “Enable SSL Proxying”
4. Select “Add location” and enter the host name and port (if needed)
5. Click ok and make sure the option is checked
6. Go to Help > SSL Proxying > Install Charles Root Certificate on a Mobile Device or Remote Browser..., and just follow the instruction. (use the Android's browser to download and install the certificate.)
7. In “Name the certificate” enter whatever you want
8. Click OK and you should get a message that the certificate was installed