Installing OpenCV 4.8.0 with opencv_contrib on Ubuntu 24.04

If you already have OpenCV installed on Ubuntu but do not have the opencv_contrib modules, you will need to reinstall OpenCV to include these additional modules. The opencv_contrib modules aren't typically included in the standard pre-built OpenCV packages and must be manually compiled along with OpenCV.

The SURF algorithm, since it is patented, is included in the opencv_contrib repository and requires setting the OPENCV_ENABLE_NONFREE flag during compilation to use it.

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Steps to Build OpenCV with opencv_contrib Modules

Step 1: Install Dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y 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 libgflags-dev libgoogle-glog-dev

Step 2: Clone OpenCV and opencv_contrib Repositories (version 4.8.0)

cd ~/Downloads
git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv.git
cd opencv
git checkout 4.8.0

cd ..
git clone https://github.com/opencv/opencv_contrib.git
cd opencv_contrib
git checkout 4.8.0

Step 3: Create a Build Directory

cd ~/Downloads/opencv
mkdir build
cd build

Step 4: Run CMake Configuration

cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
      -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local \
      -D OPENCV_EXTRA_MODULES_PATH=../../opencv_contrib/modules \
      -D OPENCV_ENABLE_NONFREE=ON \
      -D BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON \
      -D WITH_CUDA=OFF \
      ..

Step 5: Build OpenCV

make -j$(nproc)

Step 6: Install OpenCV

sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

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✅ You now have OpenCV 4.8.0 installed with opencv_contrib and nonfree modules (like SURF) enabled on Ubuntu 24.04.