Pihole breaks on system reboot

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Expected Behaviour:

Active: active (running) after system reboot

Actual Behaviour:

Active: active (exited) after system reboot, won't work unless reinstalled

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/0zegjdo3x3

Active exited is the correct state to be in. What behavior shows you that it is not working?

It does appear that you have apache running instead of lighttpd.

Oh, my mistake. The issue is it doesn't work on any device besides the host. Every device on the network defaults to the second dns server I gave my router. nslookup just times out.

Pi-hole should be the only DNS listed for the clients. There is no such thing as a fallback or a secondary DNS server.

Can you paste the output from an nslookup attempt? And if you can get the DNS server that a client is expecting as well.

nslookup google.com 192.168.1.202
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
Server: UnKnown
Address: 192.168.1.202

DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to UnKnown timed-out

The secondary dns server in my router is 1.1.1.1

What type of client is that? Linux or Windows?

The debugger tests for dig on the Pi-hole device itself and that shows that everything is responding correctly.

*** [ DIAGNOSING ]: Name resolution (IPv4) using a random blocked domain and a known ad-serving domain
[✓] upalways.yourupgradeawesomehousesafecontent.icu is 0.0.0.0 via localhost (127.0.0.1)
[✓] upalways.yourupgradeawesomehousesafecontent.icu is 0.0.0.0 via Pi-hole (192.168.1.202)
[✓] doubleclick.com is 172.217.4.174 via a remote, public DNS server (8.8.8.8)

Are you able to ping 192.168.1.202 from that client?

The client is windows, I'm able to ping 192.168.1.202 fine.

Can you post the output from ipconfig /all, including the DNS servers that the Windows client is configured for please?

The vpn is configured to use existing dns, so ignore that bit.

ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

   Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : DESKTOP-1TA44NO
   Primary Dns Suffix  . . . . . . . :
   Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Hybrid
   IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
   WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Ethernet 5:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Private Internet Access Network Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-FF-A5-0C-5C-B2
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::45bb:de67:6e81:a911%18(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 10.14.10.6(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.252
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Monday, November 18, 2019 2:29:58 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 17, 2020 2:29:58 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.14.10.5
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 570490789
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-24-D3-BF-A1-00-1F-BC-12-1A-0D
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : fec0:0:0:ffff::1%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::2%1
                                       fec0:0:0:ffff::3%1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Ethernet 2:

   Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I219-V
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-BC-12-1A-0D
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Ethernet adapter Ethernet 3:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-1F-BC-12-1A-0E
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::75ee:58f1:98b8:a046%20(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.10(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, November 17, 2019 10:29:56 PM
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Tuesday, November 19, 2019 2:29:19 PM
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218111932
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-24-D3-BF-A1-00-1F-BC-12-1A-0D
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

as for the router

Using 1.1.1.1 as a "secondary" DNS server means that clients will be getting ads and blocked content.

The Pi-hole does appear to be functioning correctly as the debug tests show that queries to 192.168.1.202 are being answered. Using ssh to access the Pi-hole node and then running dig google.com @192.168.1.202 should confirm that. Since the clients are not able to talk directly to the Pi-hole address and you have the clients configured to use the router instead, I think the issue is on the router configuration itself.

If that's the case, then shouldn't nslookup or manually setting the dns server on the client side work fine?

Unless there's something on the Pi-hole device or on the router that is blocking. DNS Rebind protection or a firewall application.

I guess I'll just keep messing with it until I can figure something out. I'm wondering what reinstalling does that re-configuring or repairing doesn't.

A quick solution might be to disable the DHCP service on the router (if router settings allow) and enable the one on Pi-hole as a replacement:

The issue was firewall, I appreciate the help. For anyone who has this issue look for a firewall application blocking dns ports. Here's what fixed it for me.

sudo ufw allow 53/udp
sudo ufw allow 53/tcp

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