Can't access web interface after new install

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1

Greetings!

Expected Behaviour:

I recently installed pi-hole on my home server (Fedora 41/Intel Core i7). After a few tries, I made it to the "Installation Complete!" message that includes the web interface address and default login password (I configured a static IP set to 192.168.1.10). I was expecting to be able to log into the web interface to begin my configuration.

Actual Behaviour:

However I get "problem loading page" or "unable to connect" on any device I use. I've tried both http://192.168.1.10/admin and http://pi.hole/admin. After some digging, I suspect it might have something to do with lighttpd. Running systemctl status lighttpd.service, I see "Active: failed" even after I start/enable the service.

Nov 23 15:32:28 jupiter systemd[1]: lighttpd.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Nov 23 15:32:28 jupiter systemd[1]: lighttpd.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Nov 23 15:32:28 jupiter systemd[1]: lighttpd.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Nov 23 15:32:28 jupiter systemd[1]: Failed to start lighttpd.service - Lightning Fast Webserver With Light System Requirements.

Debug Token:

Debug token: https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/lz9UugXr/

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

2

Your debug log shows many issues:

  1. Your firewall is not configured to allow http, dns or FTL services:

    *** [ DIAGNOSING ]: FirewallD
[i] Firewalld service active
[✗]   Allow Service: http (https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#firewalld)
[✗]   Allow Service: dns (https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#firewalld)
[✓]   Allow Service: dhcp
[✓]   Allow Service: dhcpv6
[✗] FTL Custom Zone Not Detected (https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#firewalld)

    Please read the documentation page explaining Pi-hole Prerequisites.

  2. Apparently PHP is not installed in your system. PHP is needed to run the web interface and without it, the web server (lighttpd) is not able to start:

    *** [ DIAGNOSING ]: php version
[✗] php version could not be detected.

     2024-11-23 15:14:34: (server.c.1939) server started (lighttpd/1.4.76)
 2024-11-23 15:14:34: (gw_backend.c.1632) invalid "bin-path" => "/usr/bin/php-cgi" (check that file exists, is regular file, and is executable by lighttpd)
 2024-11-23 15:14:34: (gw_backend.c.533) connect() /run/lighttpd/pihole-php-fastcgi.socket-0: Connection refused
 2024-11-23 15:14:34: (gw_backend.c.653) gw-backend failed to start: /usr/bin/php-cgi: No such file or directory
 2024-11-23 15:14:34: (gw_backend.c.1712) [ERROR]: spawning gw failed.
 2024-11-23 15:14:34: (server.c.1943) Configuration of plugins failed. Going down.

  3. The DNS port (53) is already in use by systemd-resolve. Without this port, FTL is not able to start:

    [✗] udp:127.0.0.54:53 is in use by systemd-resolve (https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#ports)
   (...)
[✗] tcp:127.0.0.54:53 is in use by systemd-resolve (https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#ports)

    *** [ DIAGNOSING ]: contents of /var/log/pihole
-rw-r--r--. 1 pihole pihole 85K Nov 23 15:17 /var/log/pihole/FTL.log

   -----tail of FTL.log------
   [2024-11-23 15:17:25.170 10404M] FATAL ERROR in dnsmasq core: failed to create listening socket for port 53: Address already in use
   [2024-11-23 15:17:25.173 10404M] ########## FTL terminated after 20ms  (code 1)! ##########
1 Like
3

Thank you so much for the reply and the guidance. I'm embarrassed that I didn't even think to read through the pre-reqs. Fedora (and servers in general) is something I'm still learning.

For anyone stumbling across this thread,

  1. Follow the Pi-hole Prerequisites for allowing services with firewalld.
  2. Install php (dnf install php)
  3. Stop/disable systemd-resolves (systemctl stop/disable systemd-resloved.service).

Thank you again, @rdwebdesign !

4

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