# pihole-baremetal

## Introduction

Pi-hole is a network-wide ad-blocking DNS server that runs on a Raspberry Pi or other small computers. It blocks ads and trackers from your entire network, improving your privacy and reducing bandwidth usage.

## Prerequisites

- A compatible operating system (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Rocky, CentOS, Arch, openSUSE, etc.)
- Root or sudo access to the system
- Internet connectivity
- A static IP address (optional but recommended for stability)

## Quick Install

### Step-by-Step Installation

1. **Open a Terminal**: Access your terminal on the system where you want to install Pi-hole.

2. **Run the Installer Script**: Copy and paste the following command into your terminal and press Enter. This command downloads and executes the Pi-hole installation script.

   ```bash
   curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
     "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash
   ```

3. **Follow the Prompts**: The installer will guide you through the setup process. You can accept the default options or customize them according to your preferences.

### Install Options

You can customize the installation by passing additional options to the installer script. Here are some common options:

- **Fully Unattended**: Installs Pi-hole with default settings without any prompts.

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --unattended
  ```

- **Without Web Interface**: Installs Pi-hole without the web interface (DNS only).

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --no-lighttpd
  ```

- **Custom Upstream DNS**: Specifies custom DNS servers.

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --dns1 8.8.8.8 --dns2 8.8.4.4
  ```

- **Specify Interface and IP**: Specifies the network interface and IP address.

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --interface eth0 --ipv4 192.168.1.10/24
  ```

- **Force Install on Unsupported OS**: Forces installation on unsupported operating systems.

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --skip-os-check --unattended
  ```

- **Combine Options**: You can combine multiple options as needed.

  ```bash
  curl -fsSL -H "Authorization: token 77e3ddaf262bb94f6fa878ca449cc1aa1129a00d" \
    "https://git.vish.gg/Vish/pihole-baremetal/raw/branch/main/install.sh" | sudo bash -s -- --unattended --dns1 9.9.9.9 --dns2 149.112.112.112
  ```

## Advanced Configuration

### Custom Blocklists

1. **Open Admin Panel**: Go to `http://<your-pi-hole-ip>/admin` and log in.
2. **Group Management**: Navigate to the "Group Management" section.
3. **Adlists**: Click on "Adlists" and add URLs of blocklists.
4. **Update Gravity**: Run `pihole -g` to update gravity.

Popular blocklist sources:
- [Firebog](https://firebog.net/) (curated lists)
- [StevenBlack/hosts](https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts)

### Custom DNS Records

Edit the `/etc/pihole/custom.list` file to add local DNS records.

Example:
```
192.168.1.100   mydevice.local
```

### Firewall Rules

Pi-hole automatically sets up firewall rules using `firewalld`, `ufw`, or `iptables`. You can customize these rules as needed.

Example:
```bash
sudo ufw allow 53/tcp
sudo ufw allow 53/udp
sudo ufw allow 80/tcp
sudo ufw allow 4711/tcp
```

### Logging

Pi-hole logs queries and FTL activity. You can view these logs using the following commands:

- **Query Log**: `pihole -t`
- **FTL Log**: `tail -f /var/log/pihole/FTL.log`
- **Systemd Journal**: `journalctl -u pihole-FTL -f`

### Backup and Restore

#### Backup

Run the following command to create a backup:

```bash
pihole-manage backup
```

This will create a backup file in `/etc/pihole/backups/`.

#### Restore

To restore from a backup, place the backup file in `/etc/pihole/backups/` and run:

```bash
pihole-manage restore <backup-file-name>
```

## FAQ

### Q: How do I reset the admin password?

**A**: Use the following command to reset the admin password:

```bash
pihole setpassword
```

### Q: Why isn't DNS resolving?

**A**: Check if FTL is listening and test DNS resolution:

```bash
ss -tulpn | grep ':53'
dig @127.0.0.1 google.com
```

Restart DNS services if needed:

```bash
pihole restartdns
```

### Q: Why isn't the web interface loading?

**A**: Check the status of the web server:

```bash
systemctl status lighttpd
```

Restart the web server if needed:

```bash
systemctl restart lighttpd
```

## Contributing

We welcome contributions to improve Pi-hole Bare Metal. To contribute, follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
3. Make your changes and commit them.
4. Push your changes to your fork.
5. Open a pull request to the main branch of the original repository.

Thank you for contributing!