.. _Linux-Installation:

Installation in Linux
*********************
These steps have been tested for Ubuntu 10.04 but should work with other distros as well.

Required Packages
=================

  * GCC 4.4.x or later
  * CMake 2.8.7 or higher
  * Git
  * GTK+2.x or higher, including headers (libgtk2.0-dev)
  * pkg-config
  * Python 2.6 or later and Numpy 1.5 or later with developer packages (python-dev, python-numpy)
  * ffmpeg or libav development packages: libavcodec-dev, libavformat-dev, libswscale-dev
  * [optional] libtbb2 libtbb-dev
  * [optional] libdc1394 2.x
  * [optional] libjpeg-dev, libpng-dev, libtiff-dev, libjasper-dev, libdc1394-22-dev

The packages can be installed using a terminal and the following commands or by using Synaptic Manager:

    .. code-block:: bash

       [compiler] sudo apt-get install build-essential
       [required] sudo apt-get install cmake git libgtk2.0-dev pkg-config libavcodec-dev libavformat-dev libswscale-dev
       [optional] sudo apt-get install python-dev python-numpy libtbb2 libtbb-dev libjpeg-dev libpng-dev libtiff-dev libjasper-dev libdc1394-22-dev

Getting OpenCV Source Code
==========================

You can use the latest stable OpenCV version available in *sourceforge* or you can grab the latest snapshot from our `Git repository <https://github.com/Itseez/opencv.git>`_.

Getting the Latest Stable OpenCV Version
----------------------------------------

* Go to our `page on Sourceforge <http://sourceforge.net/projects/opencvlibrary>`_;

* Download the source tarball and unpack it.


Getting the Cutting-edge OpenCV from the Git Repository
-------------------------------------------------------

Launch Git client and clone `OpenCV repository <http://github.com/itseez/opencv>`_

In Linux it can be achieved with the following command in Terminal:

.. code-block:: bash

   cd ~/<my_working _directory>
   git clone https://github.com/Itseez/opencv.git


Building OpenCV from Source Using CMake, Using the Command Line
===============================================================

#. Create a temporary directory, which we denote as <cmake_binary_dir>, where you want to put the generated Makefiles, project files as well the object files and output binaries.

#. Enter the <cmake_binary_dir> and type

   .. code-block:: bash

      cmake [<some optional parameters>] <path to the OpenCV source directory>

   For example

   .. code-block:: bash

      cd ~/opencv
      mkdir release
      cd release
      cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local ..

#. Enter the created temporary directory (<cmake_binary_dir>) and proceed with:

   .. code-block:: bash

      make -j8 # -j8 runs 8 jobs in parallel.
               # Change 8 to number of hardware threads available.
      sudo make install

.. note::

   If the size of the created library is a critical issue (like in case of an Android build) you can use the ``install/strip`` command to get the smallest size as possible. The *stripped* version appears to be twice as small. However, we do not recommend using this unless those extra megabytes do really matter.