Does pi-hole keep the lists updated?

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Running on a pi-zero... does pi-hole keep itself updated? I’m asking about the list of restricted sites that are being maintained by others.... I’m assuming there is a second component to this question involving the version of pi-hole where that must be updated manually. I like what it’s doing I just need to understand how to manage this tool.

Thanks,

Rob

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Pi-Hole maintains a gravity list (list of domains to block), which is constructed from all the block lists to which you subscribe (public lists), along with your whitelist. A cron script updates the gravity list weekly on Sunday. If you mouse and hover over the "Domains on Blocklist" box at the top right of the Admin GUI dashboard, you can how long it has been since the gravity list was updated.

You can update the gravity list manually with pihole -g from the command line, or from the Web GUI > Tools menu. This is normally not necessary unless you change your blocklists or have a problem.

Pi-Hole does not automatically update itself (the software). The Web GUI will tell you when a Pi-Hole update is available, but you must manually update Pi-Hole with the command pihole -up from the command line.

If you run a debug log, the cron scripts will be listed, as shown below:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1496 Aug  5 19:08 /etc/cron.d/pihole
   52 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="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker local
   54 12  * * *   root    PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker remote
   @reboot root    PATH="$PATH:/usr/local/bin/" pihole updatechecker remote reboot

Other scheduled tasks including rotating the pihole.log every night, etc.

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I have a number lists by default... are there other trusted lists that people subscribe to...? I assume that my personal white or black lists must be maintained by me and that they are retained during software or gravity updates.

Thanks,

Rob

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Good collection here: https://firebog.net. Click the link for the text only version. You can select all the lists from one of the text files, paste it into your block list screen on your Web GUI, then save and update.

This is correct. They are local to your Pi and are stored in your /etc/pihole directory.

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I don't see any of these entries on my Debian 9 install. nothing on crontab -l for root or my pihole user.

As well, there is no /etc/cron.d folder

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What does the cron section of your debug log show?

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How can I pull that?

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You generate a debug log, then inspect that log for the cron section.

From the command terminal on the Pi host, run pihole -d . This will generate a debug log. At the end, you will be asked if you want to upload it to the server. Answer "N". You will be left with the entire output of your debug log on your terminal. You can copy/paste this to a text editor for saving or further review.

An alternate way to generate the log is from the admin console (Tools > Generate debug log). With this method, you decide ahead of time whether to upload it or not (checkbox at top of screen). Deselect that box, click the blue box "generate debug log", and the log appears on your screen in a few seconds.

I prefer the first method, because that debug log output has colors applied to indicate normality or problems. Other than that, the content is the same.

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Thanks @jfb it's there :slight_smile:

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