Installation

Download and install pre-built NFIQ2 binaries for your platform

Download Pre-built Binaries

The easiest way to get started with NFIQ2 is to download pre-built versions from the official GitHub Releases page.

Unless you are actively developing code for NFIQ2, we highly recommend downloading from GitHub Releases instead of attempting to compile from source.

1. Visit GitHub Releases

   Navigate to the NFIQ2 Releases page and download the latest version for your platform.

   Look for the v2.3 release or newer.

2. Download for Your Platform

   Select the appropriate package for your operating system:

   • Windows (64-bit): NFIQ2-*-win64.zip
   • Windows (32-bit): NFIQ2-*-win32.zip
   • macOS: NFIQ2-*-macos.tar.gz
   • Linux: NFIQ2-*-linux.tar.gz
3. Extract the Archive

   Extract the downloaded archive to your preferred location.

System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems

Windows

• Windows 10 or later (64-bit recommended)
• Windows Server 2016 or later
• Visual C++ Redistributable (included in release packages)

Architectures: x64, x86

macOS

• macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later
• Both Intel and Apple Silicon (M1/M2) supported

Architectures: x86_64, arm64 (universal binaries available)

Xcode 10 and later does not support 32-bit applications. To build NFIQ2 for 32-bit macOS, use Xcode 9.4.x.

Linux

• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS or later
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 or later
• Other distributions with glibc 2.31+

Architectures: x86_64, aarch64

Hardware Requirements

• RAM: 512 MB minimum, 2 GB recommended
• Disk Space: 100 MB for library and CLI tool
• Processor: Any modern x86_64 or ARM64 processor

Installation Paths

Default Installation Locations

When using NIST’s official release packages, files are installed to the following locations:

Windows (64-bit)

# Libraries
C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\lib\

# Headers
C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\include\

# Executables
C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\bin\

# Model Files
C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\bin\nist_plain_tir-ink.txt

What’s Included

Each release package contains:

Library Components

• NFIQ2 Library: Core library for computing quality scores
• Header Files: C++ API headers for integration
• Model Files: Random forest parameters (e.g., nist_plain_tir-ink.txt)

Command-line Tool

• nfiq2: Standalone executable for computing quality scores from the command line

Dependencies

Release packages include all required dependencies:

• OpenCV (Apache 2 License)
• FingerJetFX OSE (LGPLv3)
• digestpp (Public Domain)
• Biometric Evaluation Framework (Public Domain, CLI only)
• NIST Fingerprint Image Resampler (Public Domain, CLI only)

Verify Installation

After installation, verify that NFIQ2 is working correctly:

Windows

cd "C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\bin"
nfiq2.exe --version

Expected output:

NFIQ 2.3.0

macOS / Linux

/usr/local/nfiq2/bin/nfiq2 --version

Expected output:

NFIQ 2.3.0

Environment Setup

For easier command-line access, add NFIQ2 to your system PATH:

Windows (PowerShell)

# Add to PATH temporarily
$env:Path += ";C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\bin"

# Add to PATH permanently (requires admin)
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable(
    "Path",
    [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "Machine") + ";C:\Program Files\NFIQ 2\bin",
    "Machine"
)

Building from Source

If you need to build NFIQ2 from source (for development or customization), refer to the detailed build instructions in the GitHub repository README.

Building from source requires satisfying multiple dependencies and is recommended only for developers. Always use the pre-built binaries for production deployments.

Next Steps

Now that you have NFIQ2 installed, continue to the Quickstart Guide to compute your first quality score.