Get started with embedding PDI

Consider the following dependencies while embedding PDI:

• Complete set of dependent PDI files

• OSGi features for PDI

• Kettle (non-OSGi) plugins

• Pentaho license file

Complete set of dependent PDI files

The following PDI directories contain a complete set of all JAR files needed:

• pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/lib

• pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/libswt/<os>

• pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/classes

These dependencies must be included in your class path. You can copy the directories into your project’s directory structure or specify the path directly to your PDI installation, as shown in the following example code:

java -classpath "lib/*;libswt/linux/*;classes/*" MyApp.java
java -classpath "$PDI_DI_DIR/lib/*;$PDI_DI_DIR/libswt/linux/*; $PDI_DI_DIR/classes/*" MyApp.java

OSGi features for PDI

To use the OSGi features of PDI, make the pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/system directory available to your application. This directory is required for proper Karaf initialization. You can use either of following methods to specify this directory:

• Copy the pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/system directory into the *<working directory>*/systems directory of your application.

• Set the pentaho.user.dir system property to point to the PDI pentaho/design-tools/data-integration directory, either through the following command line option (-Dpentaho.user.dir=<pdi install>/data-integration) or directly in your code (System.setProperty( "pentaho.user.dir", new File("<pdi install>/data-integration")); for example).

Kettle (non-OSGi) plugins

Make the kettle plugins (non-OSGi) available to your application. With a standard install, the kettle engine looks for plugins in either *<working directory>*plugins or *<user.home>*/.kettle/plugins. You can use either of following methods to make the default kettle plugins available:

• Copy the pentaho/design-tools/data-integration/plugins directory into the <working directory>/plugins directory of your application.

• Set the KETTLE_PLUGIN_BASE_FOLDERS system property to point to the PDI pentaho/design-tools/data-integration directory, either through the following command line option (-DKETTLE_PLUGIN_BASE_FOLDERS=<pdi install>/data-integration) or directly in your code (System.setProperty( "KETTLE_PLUGIN_BASE_FOLDERS", new File("<pdi install>/data-integration") ); for example).

Once the plugin location(s) are properly configured, you can add custom plugins to your specific locations. You can also add custom plugins in other locations as long as they are registered with the appropriate implementation of PluginTypeInterface prior to initializing the kettle environment, as shown in the following code example:

StepPluginType.getInstance().getPluginFolders().add( new PluginFolder( "<path to the plugin folder>" , false, true ) );

Pentaho license file

Before initializing the Kettle environment, you must install the PDI Enterprise Edition license file for each user account. Then, to ensure that the Pentaho Server uses the same location to store and retrieve your Pentaho license, you must also create a PENTAHO_INSTALLED_LICENSE_PATH system environment variable for each account. The location of your license path must be available to the user accounts that run the Pentaho Server. For information about installing the license and setting the variable path, see Manage licenses using the command line interface in the Install Pentaho Data Integration and Analytics guide.