Is there a method to determine which blocklists are working best?

General Customizing Pi-hole
1

Is there a way to see which blocklsts are working best instead of having to check each blocked domain separately?

I know to use the command line or tools to check for which blocklist is blocking which domain in the query Log. Is there a way to run a check or report that determines the relative value all of the blocklists that are currently installed?

2

No. Domains from all blocklists are added to gravity, and then duplicates are removed. When a domain is blocked, the blocklists that contain that domain are not identified.

You could write a script that check /var/log/pihole.log for blocked domains and run pihole -q to tell you which blocklists contain each blocked domain.

3

Thanks - I get it, I think. After you add a blocklist, there's only gravity as a source, so each block loses its original identity.

4

Yes, to an extent. Gravity does not track which blocklists contain each domain, but that information is available elsewhere, thus the pihole -q reference.

Checking every blocklist every time a domain is blocked would greatly impair the performance of Pi-hole.

5

I wrote a script that does exactly what you want - it is not published yet because it requires the new database pihole uses in v5.0 (at the moment in beta status). I'm going to publish it here in the community when v5.0 is officially released.

If you're willing to try it I would be happy to share it and get your feedback. To use it you have to upgrade your pihole installation to v5.0 - or just be patient and wait for v5.0 release :slight_smile:

6

Thanks for the offer and suggestion, but I think I'd better decline. I'm still at the point of needing significant help with standard stuff, so I'd better stick with things that others can help me with.

7

Your welcome. In the not so distant future pihole v5.0 hopefully will be available trough usual upgrade path. I'll try to remember this thread but also post a new topic in the general section. May it be helpful for you :slight_smile:

8

Hey @yubiuser curious if you are willling to share the script. I am curious how various block lists i have are doing. I would like to bring down the number of entries i have and this could help determine which ones i can get rid of.

9

Tried to remember but of course forgot. Thanks for reminding me :slight_smile: