Setting up Pi-hole

Feek · 26 Jun 2017 at 22:03

There have been a handful of updates recently, I kept losing connection to FTL although the pi-hole itself was working. Run pihole -up to make sure you're up to date.

Biz.Kid09 · 28 Jun 2017 at 17:16

Just set up pi-hole in a ubuntu server on my ESXI server, working pretty good. I have a BT HomeHub so I have manually assigned the DNS on my own machine for now, I need to do some more research about installing DHCP on ubuntu as well so I can turn it off on my HH.

the-evaluator · 28 Jun 2017 at 17:34

There's a DHCP server built into Pi-hole, might be worth a look.

The1nonly1 · 29 Jun 2017 at 23:25

I'm in same position having to manually set DNS on each device. Over the weekend, I'm going to try DHCP with Pi-Hole.

Sp00n · 30 Jun 2017 at 13:31

It works fine and is super easy to set up, just make sure to disable dhcp on the router

The1nonly1 · 30 Jun 2017 at 22:19

Sp00n said:
It works fine and is super easy to set up, just make sure to disable dhcp on the router

Im guessing that I keep firewall enabled on HH5 and only turn off DHCP on it?

Sp00n · 30 Jun 2017 at 23:43

The1nonly1 · 1 Jul 2017 at 01:10

Sp00n said:
Yep

Thanks!

bledd · 1 Jul 2017 at 13:20

The1nonly1 said:
I'm in same position having to manually set DNS on each device. Over the weekend, I'm going to try DHCP with Pi-Hole.

Ditch your router and get one that lets you specify a DNS server for your DHCP clients.

The1nonly1 · 2 Jul 2017 at 00:16

bledd said:
Ditch your router and get one that lets you specify a DNS server for your DHCP clients.

Any recommendations under £60?

whiskycycle · 12 Jul 2017 at 16:44

Any recommended blacklists/repository to add to a default config?

Definitely seen an improvement in how much rubbish gets through, but want to see if I can get some more blockage on there without knacking normal browsing!

Well chuffed with this running on the Pi3 though, I can see myself going full @Feek and getting an army of these things.

Feek · 12 Jul 2017 at 16:48

undergroove said:
I can see myself going full @Feek and getting an army of these things.

Oh don't, I just did a count and I've got nine of them. All of them are actively doing something except one Zero W which is just a little play box.

whiskycycle · 12 Jul 2017 at 18:01

Feek said:
Oh don't, I just did a count and I've got nine of them. All of them are actively doing something except one Zero W which is just a little play box.

Indeed! Got a few friends fiddling with them now, off the back of them getting one for Pi-hole... one lad left work yesterday to pick up a load of pre-cut MDF he'd ordered for a couple of Pi-cade!

Tute · 17 Jul 2017 at 15:15

I've got a BT Infinity modem connected through an Apple Airport router at the moment, using a Pi could I just ditch the Airport, connect the modem via USB and get the Pi to do all the routing? I assume i'd be limited only by the fact that I have a single LAN port but that isn't really an issue.

Could I daisy chain Pis through the house with network cable to ensure wireless coverage?

the-evaluator · 17 Jul 2017 at 15:21

I don't think you understand what Pi-Hole is, it's a DNS server, not a router and not a wireless access point so it won't do what you're wanting.

You could setup a Pi to be a NAT router and WAP but you'd be better off sticking with your current setup. You'd need an extra ethernet port too but you can get USB adapters. You couldn't just plug the modem in via USB.

If you want some DNS based ad-blocking then Pi-Hole is well worth a look but as I said, it's not going to do any routing for you.

Feek · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:38

Because I don't look at the Pihole console very often, I generally miss when there's been an update.

I use PRTG network monitor (the free version, up to 100 sensors) on my home network so I set up an HTTP Advanced sensor which checks the console page every hour and if it sees the text "Update available" it sends me an email. Neat, huh?

the-evaluator · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:44

Great idea - I'll setup a sensor on my PRTG installation.

I log into the console on my Pi fairly often to check for updates to the underlying OS but I like this idea.

bloodiedathame · 18 Jul 2017 at 16:57

I updated mine the other day, did mean reformatting my Pi though as I could not figure out how to change the static IP that I set.

All tickety-boo now though.

meandu229 · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:02

There are cron jobs built in to do the updating for you they just need uncommenting.
And if you want a mail to tell you about the updates see below.
From https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/send-e-mail-or-notification-when-pihole-up-updates-pi-hole/563/2

you can already do this, you'll need to make some modifications
1. install mail as described in section 4.8 of this18 manual
2.enable the Pi-hole update in /etc/cron.d/pihole (uncomment line 22)
3. modify /opt/pihole/update.sh (these modification will solve the "command not found" errors)
line 82: piholeVersion=$(/etc/.pihole/pihole -v -p -c)
line 83: piholeVersionLatest=$(/etc/.pihole/pihole -v -p -l)
line 85: webVersion=$(/etc/.pihole/pihole -v -a -c)
line 86: webVersionLatest=$(/etc/.pihole/pihole -v -a -l)

you will get a weekly mail, see below:

To: root
Subject: Cron /usr/local/bin/pihole updatePihole

::: Checking for updates...
:::
::: Pi-hole version is v2.9.5 (Latest version is v2.9.5)
::: Web Admin version is v1.4.4.2 (Latest version is v1.4.4.2)
:::
::: Everything is up to date!

Feek · 18 Jul 2017 at 17:06

That's a nice idea but I don't want it to do the update for me, I'd much rather check and see what the update is for before I do it. Of course, I'll always do it but I prefer the manual touch.