WIP: Add an explicit NDK version to RNTester and ReactAndroid

[gedeagas]

Summary

When I try to run RNTester with Gradle the RNTester Required me to use NDK 20.0.5594570. I can't seem to find an explicit NDK version anywhere in ReactAndroid and RNTester. This PR Aims to add an explicit NDK version to RNTester and ReactAndroid.

Changelog

[Android] [Added] - Add an explicit NDK version to RNTester and ReactAndroid.

Test Plan

Build manually from RNTester

[gedeagas]

cc @dulmandakh @safaiyeh

@fkgozali what is the NDK version does FB use internally on the RNTester buckconfig? I used the same version specified on the Gradle template file PR that @safaiyeh worked on.

[analysis-bot]

Platform	Engine	Arch	Size (bytes)	Diff
android	hermes	arm64-v8a	7,226,809	0
android	hermes	armeabi-v7a	6,875,593	0
android	hermes	x86	7,663,581	0
android	hermes	x86_64	7,551,365	0
android	jsc	arm64-v8a	9,371,974	0
android	jsc	armeabi-v7a	9,012,906	0
android	jsc	x86	9,234,330	0
android	jsc	x86_64	9,811,474	0

Base commit: 7b82df2

[analysis-bot]

Platform	Engine	Arch	Size (bytes)	Diff
ios	-	universal	n/a	--

Base commit: abff021

[fkgozali]

Actually I have a question about this explicit version specification: #29403 (comment)

what is the NDK version does FB use internally on the RNTester buckconfig?

FB uses a different internal version of the NDK, so it will conflict with the version you specify here, hence my question linked above

[fkgozali]

Based on #29403 (comment), I wonder if we can make https://github.com/facebook/react-native/blob/master/ReactAndroid/build.gradle#L249-L271 a little smarter by detecting the version you specify here. If that's possible, that would reduce confusion a lot.

Side note: is there a way to put all these "blessed versions" in one place so that we minimize repetition? E.g. perhaps we could put it in the root project config?

[gedeagas]

@fkgozali Kindly check I just updated the findNdkBuildFullPath() to only use the explicitly specified NDK. But this means that we will be dropping support for users that install the Android NDK outside of the SDK Manager.

For me, I think this is the best approach, considering that support for ANDROID_NDK_HOME, ndk.dir is deprecated and will be removed in the future.

[friederbluemle]

Thanks for the PR @gedeagas! I think in general we should keep this aligned with whatever the currently used version the Android Gradle plugin defaults to, unless there is a specific reason to use a different version.

For AGP versions 3.5 and later, this page states:

(Recommended) Use the ndkVersion property to set the NDK version.

Since React Native is currently using 3.6.4, we would set ndkVersion to 20.1.5948944, and update it together with the Android Gradle plugin (#29013). Would that work?

Also, I don't think it should be inside defaultConfig, only directly inside android. Or did you have any issues?

[friederbluemle]

Also (in case I missed it somewhere in the long discussion) - The point of ndkVersion is to not automatically select whatever NDK is installed locally, but to ensure that a specific state of the repository is always built with the same exact tools.

[gedeagas]

Yes, @friederbluemle, you are correct this pr is to ensure we all use the same version of NDK. And prevent people from using the different NDK version than we already specified on the React NativeGradle template file

We should use the same version of NDK on Gradle or Buck to ensure that a specific state of the repository is always built with the same exact tools.

[facebook-github-bot]

@fkgozali has imported this pull request. If you are a Facebook employee, you can view this diff on Phabricator.

[fkgozali]

Hmm looks like this broke the test_android CI? Can you take a look?

https://app.circleci.com/pipelines/github/facebook/react-native/6463/workflows/0393edd6-4185-490b-a1e1-d7366a43fe83/jobs/169076

FAILURE: Build failed with an exception.

* Where:
Build file '/root/react-native/ReactAndroid/build.gradle' line: 251

* What went wrong:
Could not determine the dependencies of task ':ReactAndroid:packageReactNdkLibs'.
> Could not create task ':ReactAndroid:buildReactNdkLib'.
   > NDK is not installed

[gedeagas]

@fkgozali we probably need to wait for this one #29050. The Android dockerfile is already being migrated to use Side by Side NDK.

Compile Native Libs is successful
https://app.circleci.com/pipelines/github/facebook/react-native/6480/workflows/d71dd86d-5783-4d2c-b826-26b202a252af/jobs/169292

[facebook-github-bot]

@ShikaSD has imported this pull request. If you are a Facebook employee, you can view this diff on Phabricator.

[fkgozali]

@gedeagas, @ShikaSD will merge this, but we need to adjust the config slightly to support FB CI.

[react-native-bot]

This pull request was successfully merged by @gedeagas in 5b34c98.

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