PiHole | Homelab Basics

Homelab Basics - PiHole

Hello there!

Ever hear the term PiHole on any subreddits that you frequent, but wondered what it was? Want to block ads on all your devices? Well PiHole is the solution for you! Read on for how to install PiHole, what you need to install it, and why you would want it.

What you need
A computer with the following specs

-1 Core CPU 1Ghz+
-512mb RAM
-52MB Storage+

As you can see, PiHole isnt a very demanding program. It is named after the Raspberry Pi, a low powered computer to host small programs. For this reason, we will be using it as a very tiny VM in my DL360 G6.

What it does

PiHole blocks DNS requests from URLs that you provide. This can be used as a content blocker if you have kids to block mature content, or used to block ads. It is mainly used to block ads from a list provided by you. I use it, as do many other homelabbers. It is very versatile, and can be deployed in a number of network configurations.

How to set it up

So as you guys know, I love doing things in one command using the && function in Linux, so here is a single command that installs and sets up PiHole. Just follow all yes/no alerts that show up, and then follow PiHole's amazing GUI.

 sudo apt-get install git && git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole.git Pi-hole && cd "Pi-hole/automated install/" && sudo bash basic-install.sh && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt upgrade && cd

 After that is finished, you need to setup whats called a blocklist. These are the DNS requests that PiHole blocks. The linked webpage below should bring you to a txt file. Just copy paste it in to the "blocklists" page in settings.

 https://v.firebog.net/hosts/lists.php

 After this is done, I suggest setting up your router's DNS settings to point to the PiHole. I use an ASUS Router, so the path is 192.168.1.1 -> WAN -> Internet Connection -> DNS - -> Primary is PiHole, Secondary is 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare). Again, this is my path, so YMMV.

Once you have setup your router to forward all DNS to the PiHole, type sudo reboot to reboot the PiHole. Once the PiHole has rebooted, congratulations! You have now successfully setup a DNS Blocking server.

Thanks as always for reading. I made this guide because I see people recommending PiHole, and others not going through with it because "its too hard". As you can see though, it is quite easy to setup and configure. I love PiHole and have actually donated some money to them (which you can do at their Official Website).

Comments

  1. Leon PolokovSeptember 7, 2018 at 11:29 PM

    What is the very tiny VM you use and what is the underlying OS?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownOctober 17, 2018 at 7:58 PM

      Probably a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian. The Pi in PiHole referrs to the Raspberry Pi.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Running Doom on a TI-84/83 Calculator - A Guide

Running Doom on a TI-84/83 Calculator Hello there! Today I am writing this post as an exploration into the unknown: running a video game on a computer that hasn't been updated in the last 10 years. Of course, we cant run Crysis at the highest settings, but we can fortunately run doom pretty easily. Requirements -TI-84/83 Calculator -15 Minutes -A Micro USB Type B Connector - Ti Connect Why? You might be wondering "Lohannes, why wouldnt you just emulate this on a RPi Zero W" or "Why would you even?" To that I say, why not? I already dropped $120 on the biggest scam since printers existed so why wouldn't I try to get my money's worth? How? This is the fun part. First, you will need to connect your shiny new calculator from 2004 to your computer using the included USB Mini Type-B connector. After that, you will need to install the  TI Connect Software . This is what you will use to install programs and apps onto your calculator. Fo
Read more

Automatic Disk Ripping Machine Full Guide

Hello there! Today we will be focusing on one of my favorite things that I have built so far, my CD/DVD ripping machine! The official github page for this code can be found  here Requirements A CD/DVD Drive (obviously) A CPU with at least 2 cores At least 2gb ram A 60gb or more HDD/SSD Ubuntu 18.04 LTS ISO At least one hour of your time The Build I am rocking a way overkill i7-2600 and 12gb of DDR3 ram in this build. I did this partly because it was the only computer I had laying around, and partly because it speeds up the trans-coding process. I can rip CDs in 5-10 minutes each, and they are in my PleX server within 1 minute of being ripped.You definitely want a desktop for this, and not a server. Desktops have the added availability for more disk drives. Talking about disk drives, you can run down to goodwill and buy up all of their disk drives or their computers. I happened to get my SATA 2 disk drives for $5 a piece. I am also currently in the process of getting a
Read more

DNS | Homelab Basics

Image
Special thanks to /u/releenc for reaching out to me and writing this edition of Homelab Basics. This edition is a bit longer than my other ones, but is very informative because he is a "DNS Professional" and explains the concepts very thoroughly. Homelab Basics - DNS By Robert Lee, /u/releenc on Reddit DNS (the Domain Name System) is one of the most important and fundamental network services used by everyone on the Internet. Unfortunately it is also one of the most widely misunderstood and misconfigured. The meme used among IT people troubleshooting problems that “It’s always DNS” is so pervasive because it’s true. In my 30 years of experience, if you cannot connect to something and there is not a network hardware error, it’s (almost) always DNS. The function of DNS is relatively simple. When a network device, like a PC, a smartphone, or anything else needs to contact another network device, it must do so using the IP address of that device. We as humans prefer to
Read more