> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://academy.pentaho.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://academy.pentaho.com/pdi-developer-path-sandbox/try-it-pdi-in-2-hours.md).

# Try It — PDI in 2 Hours

A free, hands-on taster of Pentaho Data Integration. Five short labs, one real pipeline, about two hours — using the Developer Edition. No prior Pentaho experience, no commitment.

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**🧪 SANDBOX — draft content.** For review only. Items marked REPLACE-ME need an owner's confirmation.
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Not sure if PDI fits your stack? Spend two hours finding out. You'll build a real pipeline — validation, joins, change history, and a template that onboards new feeds from a control file — and finish by running your **own data** through it.

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<p align="center"><i class="fa-flask" style="color:orange;">:flask:</i><br><strong>5 labs</strong><br><em>hands-on, one storyline</em></p>
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<p align="center"><i class="fa-clock" style="color:cyan;">:clock:</i><br><strong>~2 hours</strong><br><em>of labs, in a 5-hour session</em></p>
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<p align="center"><i class="fa-gauge-high" style="color:green;">:gauge-high:</i><br><strong>10 minutes</strong><br><em>to your first running pipeline</em></p>
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Every lab is hands-on and guided step by step by the embedded Lab Guide. Run it on a provided lab VM, or on your own machine with **Pentaho Developer Edition** — free for evaluation, development and learning.
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<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2FRWmSBPpeiwQIwldIBLW8%2Fpdi_2hr.png?alt=media&amp;token=1bdedca6-1852-4dbd-8f32-26d5fc1578e7" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

***

<h3 align="center">Before you start</h3>

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**What you'll need**

Nothing but curiosity — no prior Pentaho experience, no coding. If you can use a spreadsheet, you can finish this lab. Bring a CSV of your own data for the Bring your own data step if you'd like the best part.

The labs take about two hours; on the hosted route, your session lasts 5 hours, so there is time to explore. Your voucher is valid for 5 days.
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**The fine print**

Developer Edition is licensed under BSL 1.1: free for evaluation, development and learning, and it doesn't expire. Production use is what needs a commercial licence — the wrap-up covers exactly what that adds.
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***

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#### What you'll build

One pipeline that grows lab by lab: yesterday's sales validated with bad rows routed to a reject file, enriched with a JSON customer master and product catalogue, loaded into a warehouse table that **tracks every historical change**, and finally generalised into a template that ingests differently-shaped feeds from a control file — no pipeline edits.

Then you point it at your own data.
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***

<h3 align="center">The two hours</h3>

<p align="center"><i class="fa-flask" style="color:orange;">:flask:</i> five hands-on labs, with a short get-ready page before, then two short pages to finish: bring your own data, and from lab to production</p>

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### <i class="fa-rocket" style="color:blue;">:rocket:</i> Get ready

`~10m — before the session`

Check your machine, start the sample database, confirm PDI opens. None of the two hours is spent on setup.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2FwSdbLgXuWoynlCyEsSPM%2Fos_check.png?alt=media&amp;token=dfc52b79-10b2-4114-874c-b07f82e5c7d5" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

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The lab opens several windows. Arrange them manually so the Lab Guide and PDI are both visible as you work.
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### <i class="fa-arrow-progress" style="color:blue;">:arrow-progress:</i> Your first win

`~10m`

Open a finished pipeline and run it. Preview live data at any step, watch two bad rows get caught — before any theory.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2F1tj8jHERjzBVz9v6kuUW%2Fwin_preview.png?alt=media&amp;token=c515b8fb-44fd-42db-85de-46b56dd5cba7" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
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### <i class="fa-hammer" style="color:blue;">:hammer:</i> Build it yourself

`~20m`

From an empty canvas: read the sales CSV (PDI detects the columns for you), validate the keys, write the rejects to a file for the source team.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2F6MDmSu2IRhVJpSfj7abw%2Fcheck_keys.png?alt=media&amp;token=dab4d0ba-6dcd-4900-bfda-f900fe33506e" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
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### <i class="fa-diagram-venn" style="color:blue;">:diagram-venn:</i> Enrich and join

`~20m`

Join CSV sales, a JSON customer master and the product catalogue on one canvas — no staging tables — and compute a margin that exists in no source file.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2FpuHjDaBhRfJoWBMqagL5%2Fenrich.png?alt=media&amp;token=d5673fc9-089e-4133-a430-c66deac3bfc6" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
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### <i class="fa-clock-rotate-left" style="color:blue;">:clock-rotate-left:</i> Track history with one step

`~20m`

Load a warehouse dimension that keeps history — a Type 2 slowly changing dimension, normally a page of hand-written MERGE SQL, here one configured step. Change a customer, reload, and watch the old version survive.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2Fdb4CvfzgleVbrwefRqqT%2Fscd.png?alt=media&amp;token=8cf99848-b96d-4d9b-be13-0e5825f8f727" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
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### <i class="fa-wand-magic-sparkles" style="color:purple;">:wand-magic-sparkles:</i> One pipeline, many files

`~20m`

Metadata injection: a control file drives one template pipeline across three differently-shaped feeds. Then you onboard a fourth feed by adding **one line to a CSV** — no pipeline edits.

<figure><img src="https://1407627559-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F3zO083cdmEBCaZG8U9P2%2Fuploads%2F5qQnG71cMMfVENJt1rv6%2Fmdi.png?alt=media&amp;token=3765641c-8963-4e86-a384-d3bbf3a79187" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
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### <i class="fa-user" style="color:green;">:user:</i> Bring your own data

`~15m`

Point PDI at a file of yours. Structure discovered, previewed and profiled in minutes — most people learn something about their own data here.
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### <i class="fa-flag-checkered" style="color:orange;">:flag-checkered:</i> From lab to production

`~15m`

What running this every night at 2am actually takes — scheduling, monitoring, scale-out, governance — and what the licensed platform adds to what you used today. Finishes with a ten-question recap.
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***

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**Ready for more?**

If the two hours clicked, Level 1 — Practitioner is the full version of this story: 55 lessons, 34 workshops, and a capstone pipeline you build yourself — the first step on the PDI Developer path.
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**Talk to us**

Brought your own data and started sketching a real use case? That's exactly the conversation we want to have — reach out through the buttons at the end of the lab, or ask your Pentaho Account Executive about a guided evaluation.
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***

<p align="center"><a href="/pdi-developer-path-sandbox/pdi-developer.md" class="button secondary" data-icon="arrow-left">Back to the PDI Developer path</a></p>


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