How to Install OpenCV on Debian 10 Linux

OpenCV (Open Source Computer Vision Library) is an open source computer vision library with bindings for C++, Python, and Java and supports all major operating systems. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install OpenCV on Debian 10 system.

OpenCV can be deployed on various platforms, including Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, etc. The OpenCV installation is quite simple.

Prerequisites#

Before starting installation, make sure you are logged in as root or sudo user.

Install OpenCV from Debian Repository#

Debian standard repositories includes OpenCV Python module. Run the following command to install the OpenCV packages:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install python3-opencv

It will also install the all necessary packages. Verify OpenCV installation by checking version, type:

python3 -c "import cv2; print(cv2.version)"

3.2.0

Install OpenCV from the Source#

If you would prefer the latest version of OpenCV library, you can get it directly from the source. Perform the following steps to install the latest OpenCV version from the source:

1. Install dependencies#

Run the following command to install required dependencies:

sudo apt install build-essential cmake git pkg-config libgtk-3-dev \
libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libswscale-dev libv4l-dev \
libxvidcore-dev libx264-dev libjpeg-dev libpng-dev libtiff-dev \
gfortran openexr libatlas-base-dev python3-dev python3-numpy \
libtbb2 libtbb-dev libdc1394-22-dev

2. Clone repositories#

Next, clone OpenCV and OpenCV contrib repositories using following commands:

mkdir ~/opencv_build && cd ~/opencv_build

git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv.git

git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv_contrib.git

Currently, while writing this tutorial, the latest stable version is 4.3.0.

3. Create build directory#

Now, create a temporary build directory and navigate to inside it:

cd ~/opencv_build/opencv && mkdir build && cd build

Use the CMake command to configure the OpenCV build:

cmake3 -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE \
-D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local \
-D INSTALL_C_EXAMPLES=ON \
-D INSTALL_PYTHON_EXAMPLES=ON \
-D OPENCV_GENERATE_PKGCONFIG=ON \
-D OPENCV_EXTRA_MODULES_PATH=~/opencv_build/opencv_contrib/modules \
-D BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON ..

It should return output as below:

-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/tecnstuff/opencv_build/opencv/build

4. Start compilation#

Execute the below command to start the compilation process:

make -j4

Ensure that here in -j option you should provide number of processor as per your system. You can find number of processor by typing nproc.

Depending on your system resources, compilation process may take few minutes.

5. Install OpenCV libraries#

To install OpenCV libraries, type:

sudo make install

...
-- Installing: /usr/local/share/opencv4/samples/python/video_threaded.py
-- Installing: /usr/local/share/opencv4/samples/python/video_v4l2.py
-- Installing: /usr/local/share/opencv4/samples/python/watershed.py

6. Verify installation#

To verify the installation issue the below command, it will show OpenCV version.

pkg-config --modversion opencv4

4.3.0

Conclusion#

This tutorial covered multiple ways to install OpenCV on your Debian 10 server.

If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to comment below.