How do I access PI System data from Java or Linux?

PI System is traditionally Windows-centric, but modern APIs make cross-platform access straightforward.

PI Web API (Recommended)

The best option for Java and Linux — it's a REST API accessible from any platform.

Java with HttpClient

import java.net.http.*;
import java.net.URI;

HttpClient client = HttpClient.newBuilder()
    .authenticator(new Authenticator() {
        protected PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
            return new PasswordAuthentication("user", "pass".toCharArray());
        }
    })
    .build();

HttpRequest request = HttpRequest.newBuilder()
    .uri(URI.create("https://piwebapi/piwebapi/points?nameFilter=sinusoid"))
    .GET()
    .build();

HttpResponse<String> response = client.send(request, HttpResponse.BodyHandlers.ofString());
System.out.println(response.body());

Java with Spring RestTemplate

RestTemplate rest = new RestTemplate();
rest.getInterceptors().add(new BasicAuthenticationInterceptor("user", "pass"));

String url = "https://piwebapi/piwebapi/streams/{webId}/recorded?startTime=*-1d";
JsonNode data = rest.getForObject(url, JsonNode.class, webId);

PI JDBC Driver (Legacy)

AVEVA provides a JDBC driver for PI OLEDB:

• Requires a Windows machine running PI JDBC Gateway
• Java applications connect via JDBC to the gateway
• The gateway translates to PI OLEDB calls

This adds complexity — prefer PI Web API for new projects.

OMF (OSIsoft Message Format)

For writing data from Linux/Java:

curl -X POST https://piwebapi/piwebapi/omf \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest" \
  -d '[{"containerid": "c1", "values": [{"Timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z", "Value": 42}]}]'

Python on Linux

Python with requests is the most popular non-Windows approach:

import requests
from requests_kerberos import HTTPKerberosAuth

response = requests.get(
    "https://piwebapi/piwebapi/dataservers",
    auth=HTTPKerberosAuth(),
    verify="/path/to/ca-cert.pem"
)

Authentication on Linux

• Kerberos works on Linux — configure /etc/krb5.conf and use kinit to get tickets
• Basic auth works if enabled on PI Web API (not recommended for production)
• Bearer tokens via OIDC — configure PI Web API with your identity provider

Docker / Kubernetes

For containerized workloads:

• Use PI Web API as the data access layer
• No PI client libraries needed in containers
• Authenticate via service accounts or OIDC tokens