New Pi-Hole questions

[Jeffery_Frederick]

I am looking at adding a Pi-Hole to my home RPi network.

I was going to install DNSMasq on a Pi for internal home use. In looking at the Pi-Hole docs, it looks like Pi-Hole works in conjunction with DNSMasq and actually works better if both are installed on the same Pi. Is that correct?

I currently use my Router (an EdgeRouter X) for DNS and DHCP. Since it looks like I'll be using DNSMasq for Pi-Hole, should I go ahead and turn off both DNS and DCHP on the router and use the DNSMasq Instance on my Pi-Hole RPi?

I have been searching for some extensive documentation, but I don't see much. Is it REALLY that easy to install? How about configuration? Where can I find more details on that?

One more question. I have my one domain name registered and set up. I use a DynDns setup and currently have my Nextcloud instance working fine from both inside and outside. Any issues or things I need to think about the installing Pi-Hole in this enviornment?

Thanks for all your assistance!

[jacob.salmela]

@Jeffery_Frederick

Is it REALLY that easy to install?

Yes. Great time and dedication have been spent on our installation script to alleviate any burden on the user. Just run the installation command, answer some questions, and begin blocking ads in about 10 minutes.

@Jeffery_Frederick

it looks like Pi-Hole works in conjunction with DNSMasq and actually works better if both are installed on the same Pi. Is that correct?

Pi-hole uses dnsmasq by default and is automatically installed during installation.

@Jeffery_Frederick

I have been searching for some extensive documentation, but I don't see much

We have a large (and growing) repository of FAQs that we see users asking. I would start there. If you feel something is lacking, please let us know directly and we will create some documentation for you.

@Jeffery_Frederick

How about configuration?

There's not a whole lot to configure as--again--we have developed the installer to get most users up and running without the need to configure anything (except for setting your network devices to use Pi-hole as their DNS server), but you will find several post-install settings on the dashboard's Settings page.

@Jeffery_Frederick

should I go ahead and turn off both DNS and DCHP on the router and use the DNSMasq Instance on my Pi-Hole RPi?

It's up to you. Some users like their router to act as the DHCP server, others don't. One advantage to using Pi-hole for your DHCP is that you can assign hostnames to clients (but it's still possible to do this without using Pi-hole's DHCP server).

[Jeffery_Frederick]

Thank you Jacob!

I will review the information you suggested.

I very much appreciate your extensive work on Pi-Hole. It sounds like a great solution, and I look forward to getting it working for my family.

[jacob.salmela]

We're always around so let us know if you need help. And thank you for using Pi-hole.

[Jeffery_Frederick]

WOW! It really was just that easy...

I got Pi-Hole installed and working in about 10 minutes, just like you said. That is AWESOME!

I see that you have some configuration screens for DNSMasq in the Admin console. Will manually modifying the DNSMasq config file cause any problems there? I was planning on setting up DNSMasq anyway, so I'd be modifying the config file to add more information as needed for my home network.

Thanks again! Pi-Hole is great.

[deHakkelaar]

@Jeffery_Frederick

Will manually modifying the DNSMasq config file cause any problems there?

Out of the box dnsmasq default config is stored here:

/etc/dnsmasq.conf

Aditional dnsmasq settings added by Pi-hole are stored here:

/etc/dnsmasq.d/01-pihole.conf
/etc/dnsmasq.d/02-pihole-dhcp.conf
/etc/dnsmasq.d/04-pihole-static-dhcp.conf

So if want to add your own settings, just create a file in same folder with high enough number in the filename eg:

/etc/dnsmasq.d/99-my-settings.conf

Do mind that added settings might conflict with already existing settings.

Ps. below one will reload settings for dnsmasq:

sudo service dnsmasq reload
sudo service dnsmasq restart

[Jeffery_Frederick]

Thanks, that is great information.

I am mainly setting up the rest of DNSMasq to replace DHCP and DNS on my router. I have a few static DHCP leases that I've configured and want to move that data over. Was thinking of taking the standard OOTB DNSMasq.conf file and moving it to the /etc/dnsmasq.d/XX-mysettings.conf file as you recommend. Then removing any line items that are in the Pi-Hole files.

So far, I only have the 01-pihole.conf file.

[deHakkelaar]

@Jeffery_Frederick

I have a few static DHCP leases that I've configured and want to move that data over

The "/etc/dnsmasq.d/04-pihole-static-dhcp.conf" file has below format if want to copy over reservations:

dhcp-host=<MAC_ADDRESS>,<IP_ADDRESS>,<HOSTNAME>

Ps. this file only gets created when you activate the Pi-hole DHCP service (it seems).

[Jeffery_Frederick]

Got it. Thanks. That's great info. I will move my DHCP and DNS data over and publish this on my internal network.

[deHakkelaar]

For DNS records, scroll down a little bit on my reply here:

Running two Piholes?

I wonder if you have same issue as i experienced with Asus. If using the router for DHCP, can you post results from below on a Linux client please: cat /etc/resolv.conf Or if on a Windows client: ipconfig /all *For latter, I am only interested in the DNS server(s) displayed. I dont have details, you'll need to figure out yourself as probably no one tried before. Its Linux so almost everything you can think of is possible if using right software and bit of scripting. One solution I can t…

[deHakkelaar]

@Jeffery_Frederick

Was thinking of taking the standard OOTB DNSMasq.conf file and moving it to the /etc/dnsmasq.d/XX-mysettings.conf file as you recommend.

Ps. moving ?
Its got this directive in it so if you move the file ... you understand

conf-dir=/etc/dnsmasq.d

[Jeffery_Frederick]

I misspoke... Meant copy the contents of dnsmasq.conf to /etc/dnsmasq.d/99-mysettings.conf and then activating the ones I want that Pi-Hole does not already set. So fare, I have not included anything from dnsmasq.conf, and everything is working. We'll see how it goes over the next few days.

Thanks again for all your assistance. Donation coming your way.