A complete Pi-hole guide, from installation to setup. This document explains Pi-hole features, how to install it, configure DNS and DHCP, and manage your network with advanced blocking and filtering.

README.md

Pi-hole & Network Manager

It acts as a DNS server. When you try to visit a website, your device asks the Pi-hole for the address. If the address is a known in Pi-hole, Pi-hole filter the request as you want.

Pi-hole Features

• Custom DNS Servers:
  You can tell Pi-hole to use any DNS provider you want, instead of just public ones like Google. like use Shecan DNS to access restricted content or services for your entire network.

• Local DNS Records:
  Assign easy-to-remember names to devices IP address on your local network.

• Group Management:
  Apply different blocking or filtering rules to different device groups on your network.

• Advanced Blocklists (with Regex):
  Manually block (blacklist) or allow (whitelist) specific domains. You can use Regular Expressions (Regex) to block entire patterns of domains with a single rule like block domains with "ads" in name.

• Dashboard:
  Pi-hole have a good Dashboard that you can see stats about your network.

• Query Log:
  See a real-time log of every single DNS request made by every device on your network.

Installation & Setup

Dependencies

1. Install an OS:
   Use a lightweight Linux OS like Debian or Raspberry Pi OS.
2. Give it a Static IP:
   Your Pi-hole server needs a permanent address.

Installation Command

1. Run One Command:
   The complete installer handles everything.

   curl -sSL [https://install.pi-hole.net](https://install.pi-hole.net) | bash

2. Follow the Installer:
   The installer is a simple step-by-step guide. It will ask you to:

   • Confirm your Static IP.
   • Choose an "upstream" DNS provider (like Google or Cloudflare).
   • Accept the default blocklists.
   • Install the web admin interface.

   NOTE: At the end, it will give you a password for the web dashboard. Save it! that it is possible to set a new password with this command pihole setpassword.

3. Configure Your Router:
   You need to tell your network to use Pi-hole as its DNS server. It is possible in two ways:

• First Way (Recommended): Log in to your router and change its DHCP DNS Server setting to the Pi-hole's static IP address.
• Second Way: Disable the DHCP server on your router and enable DHCP server inside Pi-hole.

What is a DHCP Server?

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

DHCP Server is like a manager for your network. When a new device connects to the network, the DHCP server automatically assigns it all the necessary information:

1. IP Address: gives a unique IP for every device.
2. Subnet Mask: Defines the size of the local network.
3. Default Gateway: Router's IP To get to the internet.
4. DNS Server IP: Translating domain names to IP addresses.

NOTE: Without DHCP, you would have to manually configure every single device that connects to your network, which is slow and prone to errors.

The DHCP Conflict: Router vs. Pi-hole

You must only have ONE active DHCP server on your network. You must choose to use either your router's DHCP server or Pi-hole's DHCP server.

Problem

If you disable both your router's DHCP server or Pi-hole's DHCP server, your network will stop working for most devices.

• Result: When a device connects, it will ask for an IP address, but no server will answer. The device will not be able to join the network or access the internet.