I am running PiHole on a "le potato" and have been for quite a while. It is running DHCP. I would like to know if it's possible to map a local NextCloud instance I have setup that has a port number listed, ie 192.172.1.442:6898, without installing a reverse proxy such as NGINX. From what I gather, I can create DNS records, CNAMES, and hostnames within the PiHole, which I have done successfully.
But, I would really like to setup a nextcloud.local domain name that I can use that maps to 192.172.1.442:6898 instead of typing in the ip address/port number.
The 192.172.1.442 is my TrueNas setup for what it's worth and NextCloud is running on Port 6898.
Any points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
Your best option is probably to configure a redirection rule in the webserver that's binding the standard port 80.
In theory, the relatively new HTTPS resource record type (RR type 65 as defined by RFC9460 from Nov 2023) could be used to provide port hints.
In practice, dnsmasq (Pi-hole's embedded DNS server) currently does not support managing HTTPS records.
You could consider to request HTTPS support added to upstream dnsmasq, e.g. via Dnsmasq-discuss Info Page.
Another option would be to install a nameserver that supports defining HTTPS records, and use Pi-hole's Conditional Forwarding to that server for the respective domains.
However, note that client side success of that approach would also depend on the software issuing requests for HTTPS records and actually using the information from the replies, i.e. it isn't guaranteed to work like explicitly stating the port (e.g. for IoT devices with older browsers that cannot be updated).
Really appreciate the feedback. I want to make sure I understand.
Regarding this item:
Your best option is probably to configure a redirection rule in the webserver that's binding the standard port 80.
Does this refer to setting up something like NGINX on TrueNAS Scale, which I can do in my beginner homelab? Or, is it another solution to setup the redirect?
Regarding this item, can you give me the technology name of a tool that I could install that does this as an example:
Another option would be to install a nameserver that supports defining HTTPS records, and use Pi-hole's Conditional Forwarding to that server for the respective domains.