# DNS service not running and unable start

**URL:** <https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** v3-3\
**Created:** [February 24, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492 "2018-02-24T02:14:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 9\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Oliver_Holton)\
**Post date:** [February 24, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/1 "2018-02-24T02:14:06Z")

</div>

Hi Team,

I recently upgraded to Pi-hole Version v3.3 Web Interface Version v3.3 FTL Version v3.0  
and ever since then, i have had problems with DNS and FTL starting.  
I managed to resolve me FTL problems by running  
#sudo service pihole-FTL restart

Now I just can't get DNS to start.

Output for below  
root@Server:/# sudo service dnsmasq status  
Please help.  
● dnsmasq.service - dnsmasq - A lightweight DHCP and caching DNS server  
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dnsmasq.service; enabled)  
Drop-In: /run/systemd/generator/dnsmasq.service.d  
└─50-dnsmasq-$named.conf, 50-insserv.conf-$named.conf  
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Sat 2018-02-24 13:04:51 AEDT; 5min ago  
Process: 12013 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/dnsmasq --test (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Feb 24 13:04:51 Server dnsmasq[12013]: dnsmasq: extraneous parameter at line 37 of /etc/dnsmasq.d/01-pihole.conf  
Feb 24 13:04:51 Server systemd[1]: dnsmasq.service: control process exited, code=exited status=1  
Feb 24 13:04:51 Server systemd[1]: Failed to start dnsmasq - A lightweight DHCP and caching DNS server.  
Feb 24 13:04:51 Server systemd[1]: Unit dnsmasq.service entered failed state.

Actual Behaviour:  
#pihole -d  
This process collects information from your Pi-hole, and optionally uploads it to a unique and random directory on tricorder.pi-hole.net.

The intent of this script is to allow users to self-diagnose their installations. This is accomplished by running tests against our software and providing the user with links to FAQ articles when a problem is detected. Since we are a small team and Pi-hole has been growing steadily, it is our hope that this will help us spend more time on development.

NOTE: All log files auto-delete after 48 hours and ONLY the Pi-hole developers can access your data via the given token. We have taken these extra steps to secure your data and will work to further reduce any personal information gathered.

\*\*\* [INITIALIZING]  
[i] 2018-02-24:13:00:37 debug log has been initialized.

\*\*\* [INITIALIZING] Sourcing setup variables  
[i] Sourcing /etc/pihole/setupVars.conf...

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Core version  
[i] Core: v3.3 ([How do I update Pi-hole?](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-update-pi-hole/249))  
[i] Branch: master  
[i] Commit: v3.3-0-g1e87850

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Web version  
[i] Web: v3.3 ([How do I update Pi-hole?](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-update-pi-hole/249))  
[i] Branch: master  
[i] Commit: v3.3-0-ge48aa29

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: FTL version  
[✓] FTL: v3.0

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: dnsmasq version  
[i] 2.72

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: lighttpd version  
[i] 1.4.35

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: php version  
[i] 5.6.33

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Operating system  
[✓] Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: SELinux  
[i] SELinux not detected

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Processor  
[i] x86\_64

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Networking  
[✓] IPv4 address(es) bound to the eth0 interface:  
10.1.1.13/24 matches the IP found in /etc/pihole/setupVars.conf

[✗] No IPv6 address(es) found on the eth0 interface.

[i] Default IPv4 gateway: 10.1.1.1

- Pinging 10.1.1.1...  
[✓] Gateway responded.

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Ports in use  
[111] is in use by rpcbind  
[1355] is in use by Plex  
[139] is in use by smbd  
 is in use by  
[21] is in use by proftpd  
[22] is in use by sshd  
[32400] is in use by Plex  
[32469] is in use by Plex  
[40411] is in use by rpc.statd  
[445] is in use by smbd  
[45829] is in use by rpc.statd  
[8080] is in use by SABnzbd.p  
[80] is in use by lighttpd  
[8888] is in use by nginx  
[2015] is in use by expressvp  
[2812] is in use by monit  
[32401] is in use by Plex  
[32600] is in use by Plex  
[33085] is in use by Plex  
[4711] is in use by pihole-FTL

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Name resolution (IPv4) using a random blocked domain and a known ad-serving domain  
shuf: /etc/pihole/gravity.list: No such file or directory  
dig: '' is not a legal name (unexpected end of input)  
[✗] Failed to resolve via localhost (127.0.0.1)  
dig: '' is not a legal name (unexpected end of input)  
[✗] Failed to resolve via Pi-hole (10.1.1.13)  
[✓] doubleclick.com is 216.58.196.142 via a remote, public DNS server (8.8.8.8)

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Pi-hole processes  
[✗] dnsmasq daemon is failed  
[✓] lighttpd daemon is active  
[✓] pihole-FTL daemon is active

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Setup variables  
PIHOLE\_INTERFACE=eth0  
IPV4\_ADDRESS=10.1.1.13/24  
IPV6\_ADDRESS=  
PIHOLE\_DNS\_1=208.67.222.222  
PIHOLE\_DNS\_2=208.67.220.220  
QUERY\_LOGGING=true  
INSTALL\_WEB=true  
LIGHTTPD\_ENABLED=1

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Dashboard and block page  
[✗] X-Header does not match or could not be retrieved.  
HTTP/1.1 200 OK  
Content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8  
Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2018 02:00:51 GMT  
Server: lighttpd/1.4.35

[✓] X-Pi-hole: The Pi-hole Web interface is working!

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Gravity list  
ls: cannot access /etc/pihole/gravity.list: No such file or directory

head: cannot open ‘/etc/pihole/gravity.list’ for reading: No such file or directory  
-----head of gravity.list------

tail: cannot open ‘/etc/pihole/gravity.list’ for reading: No such file or directory  
-----tail of gravity.list------

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /etc/pihole

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 234 Feb 24 12:07 /etc/pihole/logrotate  
/var/log/pihole.log {  
su root root  
daily  
copytruncate  
rotate 5  
compress  
delaycompress  
notifempty  
nomail  
}  
/var/log/pihole-FTL.log {  
su root root  
weekly  
copytruncate  
rotate 3  
compress  
delaycompress  
notifempty  
nomail  
}

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /etc/dnsmasq.d

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1522 Feb 24 12:52 /etc/dnsmasq.d/01-pihole.conf  
addn-hosts=/etc/pihole/gravity.list  
addn-hosts=/etc/pihole/black.list  
addn-hosts=/etc/pihole/local.list  
localise-queries  
no-resolv  
cache-size=10000  
log-queries=extra  
log-facility=/var/log/pihole.log  
local-ttl=2  
log-async  
server=208.67.222.222  
server=208.67.220.220  
interface=eth0

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /etc/lighttpd

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3027 Feb 24 12:07 /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf  
server.modules = (  
"mod\_access",  
"mod\_accesslog",  
"mod\_auth",  
"mod\_expire",  
"mod\_compress",  
"mod\_redirect",  
"mod\_setenv",  
"mod\_rewrite"  
)  
server.document-root = "/var/www/html"  
server.error-handler-404 = "pihole/index.php"  
server.upload-dirs = ( "/var/cache/lighttpd/uploads" )  
server.errorlog = "/var/log/lighttpd/error.log"  
server.pid-file = "/var/run/lighttpd.pid"  
server.username = "www-data"  
server.groupname = "www-data"  
server.port = 80  
accesslog.filename = "/var/log/lighttpd/access.log"  
accesslog.format = "%{%s}t|%V|%r|%s|%b"  
index-file.names = ( "index.php", "index.html", "index.lighttpd.html" )  
url.access-deny = ( "~", ".inc", ".md", ".yml", ".ini" )  
static-file.exclude-extensions = ( ".php", ".pl", ".fcgi" )  
compress.cache-dir = "/var/cache/lighttpd/compress/"  
compress.filetype = ( "application/javascript", "text/css", "text/html", "text/plain" )  
include\_shell "/usr/share/lighttpd/use-ipv6.pl " + server.port  
include\_shell "/usr/share/lighttpd/create-mime.assign.pl"  
include\_shell "find /etc/lighttpd/conf-enabled -name '\*.conf' -a ! -name 'letsencrypt.conf' -printf 'include "%p"  
' 2\>/dev/null"  
$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/admin/" {

```
   setenv.add-response-header = (
       "X-Pi-hole" => "The Pi-hole Web interface is working!",
       "X-Frame-Options" => "DENY"
   )
   $HTTP["url"] =~ ".ttf$" {

       setenv.add-response-header = ( "Access-Control-Allow-Origin" => "*" )
   }

```

}  
$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/admin/.(.\*)" {  
url.access-deny = ("")  
}  
include\_shell "cat external.conf 2\>/dev/null"

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /etc/cron.d

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1496 Feb 24 12:07 /etc/cron.d/pihole  
26 3 \* \* 7 root PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updateGravity  
00 00 \* \* \* root PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole flush once quiet  
@reboot root /usr/sbin/logrotate /etc/pihole/logrotate  
\*/10 \* \* \* \* root PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker local  
32 12 \* \* \* root PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker remote  
@reboot root PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker remote reboot

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /var/log/lighttpd

-rw-r--r-- 1 www-data www-data 3010 Feb 24 12:52 /var/log/lighttpd/error.log  
2018-02-19 00:07:12: (server.c.1242) logfiles cycled UID = 0 PID = 1929  
2018-02-19 00:59:00: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-19 08:02:11: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-19 23:00:02: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-20 00:02:11: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-20 00:59:01: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-20 08:02:10: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-20 22:00:58: (mod\_fastcgi.c.2702) FastCGI-stderr: PHP Warning: unlink(../custom\_disable\_timer): No such file or directory in /var/www/html/admin/api.php on line 47  
2018-02-20 22:09:28: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-20 22:22:05: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-20 22:23:27: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-21 00:02:10: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-21 00:59:01: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-21 08:02:11: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-21 17:33:37: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-21 21:18:51: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-21 21:38:36: (mod\_fastcgi.c.2702) FastCGI-stderr: PHP Warning: unlink(../custom\_disable\_timer): No such file or directory in /var/www/html/admin/api.php on line 47  
2018-02-21 21:40:42: (mod\_fastcgi.c.2702) FastCGI-stderr: PHP Warning: unlink(../custom\_disable\_timer): No such file or directory in /var/www/html/admin/api.php on line 47  
2018-02-21 21:46:16: (mod\_fastcgi.c.2702) FastCGI-stderr: PHP Warning: unlink(../custom\_disable\_timer): No such file or directory in /var/www/html/admin/api.php on line 47  
2018-02-21 22:26:53: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-23 17:57:23: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-23 22:24:23: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-24 00:02:10: (log.c.164) server started  
2018-02-24 00:59:01: (server.c.1558) server stopped by UID = 0 PID = 1  
2018-02-24 08:02:10: (log.c.164) server started

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: contents of /var/log

-rw-r--r-- 1 pihole pihole 5245 Feb 24 12:52 /var/log/pihole-FTL.log  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806]  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] FTL branch: v3.0  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] FTL version: v3.0  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] FTL commit: a1b2fa03f8f3e3713b57a26a4e9a062fec0573d7  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] FTL date: 2018-02-14 12:45:47 -0800  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] FTL user: pihole  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] Notice: Found no readable FTL config file  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] Using default settings  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] Starting config file parsing (/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf)  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] SOCKET\_LISTENING: only local  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] QUERY\_DISPLAY: Show queries  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] AAAA\_QUERY\_ANALYSIS: Show AAAA queries  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] MAXDBDAYS: max age for stored queries is 365 days  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] RESOLVE\_IPV6: Resolve IPv6 addresses  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] RESOLVE\_IPV4: Resolve IPv4 addresses  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] DBINTERVAL: saving to DB file every minute  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] DBFILE: Using /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.806] MAXLOGAGE: Importing up to 24.0 hours of log data  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.807] Finished config file parsing  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.811] Found no other running pihole-FTL process  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.813] PID of FTL process: 5793  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.813] Error: failed to read /etc/pihole/list.preEventHorizon  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.813] Gravity list entries: -1  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.813] No blacklist present  
[2018-02-24 12:51:58.813] No wildcard blocking list present

\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Pi-hole log  
-rw-r--r-- 1 dnsmasq root 0 Feb 24 12:51 /var/log/pihole.log  
-----head of pihole.log------

* * *

* * *

[✓] \*\* FINISHED DEBUGGING! \*\*

Debug Token: Your debug token is: vii7rywji4

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![seiberdroid](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@seiberdroid](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/seiberdroid)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/2 "2018-02-25T00:48:38Z")

</div>

I have this same issue with a fresh install.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fjeder](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/34f0e0/32.png) [@Fjeder](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Fjeder)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 8:20am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/3 "2018-02-25T08:20:18Z")

</div>

Having this exact same issue after an update last night, can't get to start dnsmasq for some reason.

[✓] Your debug token is: pnue5ldo7b

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DanSchaper](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/danschaper/32/91_2.png) [@DanSchaper](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/DanSchaper)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/4 "2018-02-25T15:43:57Z")

</div>

**Update 2018-02-18 06:12**  
If you're running Raspbian Jessie and you updated Pi-hole to v3.3, you likely ran into issues. This is because the version of dnsmasq that ships with it does not support the log-queries=extra option, which we use in v3.3.

You have two options to resolve this: revert Pi-hole to a previous version or upgrade dnsmasq manually.

Continued at [Pi-hole v3.3 Released: It's "Extra" Special](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/pi-hole-v3-3-released-its-extra-special/7159)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Oliver_Holton)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 11:03am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/5 "2018-02-26T11:03:49Z")

</div>

Hi Dan,  
Thanks for the information. unfortunately, I'm running Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie).  
I did try downgrading but it didn't work. Still getting  
\*\*\* [DIAGNOSING]: Pi-hole processes  
[✗] dnsmasq daemon is failed

My new debug token is: kob7jlm7tb  
Any and all help is appreciated.  
Thanks  
Oliver

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DanSchaper](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/user_avatar/discourse.pi-hole.net/danschaper/32/91_2.png) [@DanSchaper](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/DanSchaper)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 9:27pm UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/6 "2018-02-26T21:27:07Z")

</div>

Remove the line `log-queries=extra` from `/etc/dnsmasq.d/01-pihole.conf`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Fjeder](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/34f0e0/32.png) [@Fjeder](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Fjeder)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 8:54am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/7 "2018-02-27T08:54:44Z")

</div>

Hi Dan,  
Thanks, downgrading to 3.2.1 resolved my issue, next step is to upgrade dnsmasq manually and trying the upgrade again.

Thanks for you help!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse-cdn.pi-hole.net/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/o/cdc98d/32.png) [@Oliver\_Holton](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/Oliver_Holton)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/8 "2018-02-27T11:48:11Z")

</div>

Hi Dan,

That did the job. Thanks for the advice.

Thanks again  
Oliver

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/uploads/default/original/3X/7/c/7c8792f649eeb921c5d2b4c41564ffa873d9a2b8.png) [@system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/dns-service-not-running-and-unable-start/7492/9 "2018-03-20T11:48:23Z")

</div>

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