ctrlX Data Layer and OSI PI Integration
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Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
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Input and output integration overview
The ctrlX plugin is designed to gather data seamlessly from the ctrlX Data Layer middleware, widely used in industrial automation.
This setup converts Telegraf into a lightweight PI Web API publisher, letting you push any Telegraf metric into the OSI PI System with a simple HTTP POST.
Integration details
ctrlX Data Layer
The ctrlX Telegraf plugin provides a means to gather data from the ctrlX Data Layer, a communication middleware designed for professional automation applications. This plugin allows users to connect to ctrlX CORE devices, enabling the collection and monitoring of various metrics related to industrial and building automation, robotics, and IoT. The configuration options allow for detailed specifications of connection settings, subscription properties, and sampling rates, facilitating effective integration with the ctrlX Data Layer to meet customized monitoring needs, while leveraging the unique capabilities of the ctrlX platform.
OSI PI
OSI PI is an data management and analytics platform used in energy, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure. The PI Web API is its REST interface, exposing endpoints such as /piwebapi/streams/{WebId}/value that accept JSON payloads containing a Timestamp
and Value
. By pairing Telegraf’s flexible HTTP output with this endpoint, any metric Telegraf collects—SNMP counters, Modbus readings, Kubernetes stats—can be written directly into PI without installing proprietary interfaces. The configuration above authenticates with Basic or Kerberos, serializes each batch to JSON, and renders a minimal body template that aligns with PI Web API’s single-value write contract. Because Telegraf already supports batching, TLS, proxies, and custom headers, this approach scales from edge gateways to cloud VMs, allowing organizations to back-fill historical data, stream live telemetry, or mirror non-PI sources (e.g., Prometheus) into the PI data archive. It also sidesteps older SDK dependencies and enables hybrid architectures where PI remains on-prem while Telegraf agents run in containers or IIoT devices.
Configuration
ctrlX Data Layer
[[inputs.ctrlx_datalayer]]
## Hostname or IP address of the ctrlX CORE Data Layer server
## example: server = "localhost" # Telegraf is running directly on the device
## server = "192.168.1.1" # Connect to ctrlX CORE remote via IP
## server = "host.example.com" # Connect to ctrlX CORE remote via hostname
## server = "10.0.2.2:8443" # Connect to ctrlX CORE Virtual from development environment
server = "localhost"
## Authentication credentials
username = "boschrexroth"
password = "boschrexroth"
## Use TLS but skip chain & host verification
# insecure_skip_verify = false
## Timeout for HTTP requests. (default: "10s")
# timeout = "10s"
## Create a ctrlX Data Layer subscription.
## It is possible to define multiple subscriptions per host. Each subscription can have its own
## sampling properties and a list of nodes to subscribe to.
## All subscriptions share the same credentials.
[[inputs.ctrlx_datalayer.subscription]]
## The name of the measurement. (default: "ctrlx")
measurement = "memory"
## Configure the ctrlX Data Layer nodes which should be subscribed.
## address - node address in ctrlX Data Layer (mandatory)
## name - field name to use in the output (optional, default: base name of address)
## tags - extra node tags to be added to the output metric (optional)
## Note:
## Use either the inline notation or the bracketed notation, not both.
## The tags property is only supported in bracketed notation due to toml parser restrictions
## Examples:
## Inline notation
nodes=[
{name="available", address="framework/metrics/system/memavailable-mb"},
{name="used", address="framework/metrics/system/memused-mb"},
]
## Bracketed notation
# [[inputs.ctrlx_datalayer.subscription.nodes]]
# name ="available"
# address="framework/metrics/system/memavailable-mb"
# ## Define extra tags related to node to be added to the output metric (optional)
# [inputs.ctrlx_datalayer.subscription.nodes.tags]
# node_tag1="node_tag1"
# node_tag2="node_tag2"
# [[inputs.ctrlx_datalayer.subscription.nodes]]
# name ="used"
# address="framework/metrics/system/memused-mb"
## The switch "output_json_string" enables output of the measurement as json.
## That way it can be used in in a subsequent processor plugin, e.g. "Starlark Processor Plugin".
# output_json_string = false
## Define extra tags related to subscription to be added to the output metric (optional)
# [inputs.ctrlx_datalayer.subscription.tags]
# subscription_tag1 = "subscription_tag1"
# subscription_tag2 = "subscription_tag2"
## The interval in which messages shall be sent by the ctrlX Data Layer to this plugin. (default: 1s)
## Higher values reduce load on network by queuing samples on server side and sending as a single TCP packet.
# publish_interval = "1s"
## The interval a "keepalive" message is sent if no change of data occurs. (default: 60s)
## Only used internally to detect broken network connections.
# keep_alive_interval = "60s"
## The interval an "error" message is sent if an error was received from a node. (default: 10s)
## Higher values reduce load on output target and network in case of errors by limiting frequency of error messages.
# error_interval = "10s"
## The interval that defines the fastest rate at which the node values should be sampled and values captured. (default: 1s)
## The sampling frequency should be adjusted to the dynamics of the signal to be sampled.
## Higher sampling frequencies increases load on ctrlX Data Layer.
## The sampling frequency can be higher, than the publish interval. Captured samples are put in a queue and sent in publish interval.
## Note: The minimum sampling interval can be overruled by a global setting in the ctrlX Data Layer configuration ('datalayer/subscriptions/settings').
# sampling_interval = "1s"
## The requested size of the node value queue. (default: 10)
## Relevant if more values are captured than can be sent.
# queue_size = 10
## The behaviour of the queue if it is full. (default: "DiscardOldest")
## Possible values:
## - "DiscardOldest"
## The oldest value gets deleted from the queue when it is full.
## - "DiscardNewest"
## The newest value gets deleted from the queue when it is full.
# queue_behaviour = "DiscardOldest"
## The filter when a new value will be sampled. (default: 0.0)
## Calculation rule: If (abs(lastCapturedValue - newValue) > dead_band_value) capture(newValue).
# dead_band_value = 0.0
## The conditions on which a sample should be captured and thus will be sent as a message. (default: "StatusValue")
## Possible values:
## - "Status"
## Capture the value only, when the state of the node changes from or to error state. Value changes are ignored.
## - "StatusValue"
## Capture when the value changes or the node changes from or to error state.
## See also 'dead_band_value' for what is considered as a value change.
## - "StatusValueTimestamp":
## Capture even if the value is the same, but the timestamp of the value is newer.
## Note: This might lead to high load on the network because every sample will be sent as a message
## even if the value of the node did not change.
# value_change = "StatusValue"
OSI PI
[[outputs.http]]
## PI Web API endpoint for writing a single value to a PI Point by Web ID
url = "https://${PI_HOST}/piwebapi/streams/${WEB_ID}/value"
## Use POST for each batch
method = "POST"
content_type = "application/json"
## Basic-auth header (base64-encoded "DOMAIN\\user:password")
headers = { Authorization = "Basic ${BASIC_AUTH}" }
## Serialize Telegraf metrics as JSON
data_format = "json"
json_timestamp_units = "1ms"
## Render the JSON body that PI Web API expects
body_template = """
{{ range .Metrics -}}
{ "Timestamp": "{{ .timestamp | formatDate \"2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00\" }}", "Value": {{ index .fields 0 }} }
{{ end -}}
"""
## Tune networking / batching if needed
# timeout = "10s"
# batch_size = 1
Input and output integration examples
ctrlX Data Layer
-
Industrial Automation Monitoring: Utilize this plugin to continuously monitor key performance indicators from a manufacturing system controlled by ctrlX CORE devices. By subscribing to specific data nodes that provide real-time metrics such as resource availability or machine uptime, manufacturers can dynamically adjust their operations for increased efficiency and minimal downtime.
-
Energy Consumption Analysis: Collect energy consumption data from IoT-enabled ctrlX CORE platforms in a smart building setup. By analyzing trends and patterns in energy use, facility managers can optimize operating strategies, reduce energy costs, and support sustainability initiatives, making informed decisions about resource allocation and predictive maintenance.
-
Predictive Maintenance for Robotics: Gather telemetry data from robotics applications deployed in warehousing environments. By monitoring vibration, temperature, and operational parameters in real-time, organizations can predict equipment failures before they occur, leading to reduced maintenance costs and enhanced robotic system uptime through timely interventions.
-
Cross-Platform Data Integration: Connect data gathered from ctrlX CORE devices into a centralized Cloud data warehouse using this plugin. By streaming real-time metrics to other systems, organizations can create a unified view of operational performance across various manufacturing and operational systems, enabling data-driven decision-making across diverse platforms.
OSI PI
-
Remote Pump Stations Telemetry Bridge: Install Telegraf on edge gateways at oil-field pump stations, gather flow-meter and vibration readings over Modbus, and POST them to the PI Web API. Operations teams view real-time data in PI Vision without deploying heavyweight PI interfaces, while bandwidth-friendly batching keeps satellite links economical.
-
Green-Energy Micro-Grid Dashboard: Export inverter, battery, and weather metrics from MQTT into Telegraf, which relays them to PI. PI AF analytics can calculate real-time power balance and feed a campus dashboard; historical deltas inform sustainability reports.
-
Brownfield SCADA Modernization: Legacy PLCs logged to CSV are ingested by Telegraf’s
tail
input; each row is parsed and immediately sent to PI via HTTP, creating a live data stream that co-exists with archival files while the SCADA upgrade proceeds incrementally. -
Synthetic Data Generator for Training: Telegraf’s
exec
input can run a script that emits simulated sensor patterns. Posting those metrics to a non-production PI server through the Web API supplies realistic datasets for PI Vision training sessions without risking production tags.
Feedback
Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.
Powerful Performance, Limitless Scale
Collect, organize, and act on massive volumes of high-velocity data. Any data is more valuable when you think of it as time series data. with InfluxDB, the #1 time series platform built to scale with Telegraf.
See Ways to Get Started
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