Install node and npm

Using Ubuntu

$ sudo apt install curl
$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
$ sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
$ node -v
v10.17.0
$ npm -v
6.11.3

Using Debian, as root

$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | bash -
$ sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

Install react-native-cli

$ sudo npm install -g react-native-cli
$ react-native --version
react-native-cli: 2.0.1

Setup Android development environment

Download android studio. In my case downloaded file's name was android-studio-ide-191.6010548-linux.tar.gz and I kept it into my home directory. Then follow these steps

$ cd ~
$ tar xvzf android-studio-ide-191.6010548-linux.tar.gz
$ cd android-studio/bin/
$ ./studio.sh

After completing the installation of android studio, you need to install these from android studio.

• Android SDK
• Android SDK Platform
• Android Virtual Device

To do that just go to Appearance & Behavior → System Settings → Android SDK from android studio and select your SDK platform and install.

Then you need to set up ANDROID_HOME environment variables in order to build react native apps with native code. Now edit your .bashrc file and add these lines into it.

export ANDROID_HOME=$HOME/Android/Sdk
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/emulator
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/tools/bin
export PATH=$PATH:$ANDROID_HOME/platform-tools

After adding those lines save it and run source .bashrc via terminal to keep running source to get the aliases working in any new login terminal instances.

$ source .bashrc

Install java on your Ubuntu system

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install default-jdk
$ java -version
# Output
openjdk version "11.0.4" 2019-07-16
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.4+11-post-Ubuntu-1ubuntu218.04.3)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.4+11-post-Ubuntu-1ubuntu218.04.3, mixed mode, sharing)

So you have successfully installed java on your Ubuntu system. My version was Ubuntu 18.04.3 LTS. At this point you are all set of working with react-native.

Test your first react-native app

First connect your android phone with a usb. Then run these commands

$ react-native init testReactApp
$ cd testReactApp/
$ react-native start

# Open another terminal, go to testReactApp's directory and run this command
$ react-native run-android

After a while, you will see your running app into your android phone.