Unable to access HTTP pi-hole web interface on local network

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1

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Expected Behaviour:

Going to http://pi.hole/admin should show the pi-hole login page

Operating System (Family and Version)

  • Browsing from

    • Windows11
    • Google Chrome
    • Microsoft Edge
    • Opera
    • Duck Duck Go Browser

  • Installed on RaspPi3

    • Linux 6.12.34+rpt-rpi-v8 #1 SMP PREEMPT Debian 1:6.12.34-1+rpt1~bookworm (2025-06-26) aarch64
    • Installed by:
    • not using HTTPS / reverse Proxy
    • exists only within my private network
    • no external access

Actual Behaviour:

“pi.hole” redirect is done by pi-hole which is my primary DNS when within my local network so I know it is up and working (“ping pi.hole” pings 192.168.1.233 as expected)

when I try to access the web interface I get a warning that the site is not secure and when I choose to “go to the site anyway” I get the following:

This site can’t provide a secure connection
pi.hole sent an invalid response.

Try running Windows Network Diagnostics.
ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR

I’ve tried scouring the Chrome / Edge etc settings but nothing seems to have changed.

This was working fine maybe 2 weeks ago - we had a couple of power cuts in the meantime which took the Raspberry Pi down (along with everything else)

I’m at a loss to know what’s changed so any thoughts much appreciated!

Thank you

Debug Token:

https://tricorder.pi-hole.net/XW5Lip1r/

2

Your debug log shows Pi-hole is configured to try ports 80 and 443, but they are marked as optional (o flag):

   [webserver]
     port = "80o,443os,[::]:80o,[::]:443os"

That means: if ports 80 and 443 are already in use, the web server won't be started... and that's exactly what happened.

Ports 80 and 443 are in use by Caddy.
Pi-hole web server is not using any ports:

*** [ DIAGNOSING ]: Ports in use
[✗] udp:*:443 is in use by caddy
...
    tcp:0.0.0.0:8080 is in use by docker-proxy
    tcp:[::]:8080 is in use by docker-proxy
...
[✗] tcp:*:443 is in use by caddy
[✗] tcp:*:80 is in use by caddy

Solution 1:
If you want to keep Caddy running, you need to change Pi-hole ports to something else. Port 8080 is also in use by docker. I will use ports 8880 and 8443, but you can use any free port.

Run this command to change the ports:

sudo pihole-FTL --config webserver.port '8880o,8443os'

And access the web interface including the port on the URL:

Solution 2:
If you don't need Caddy, disable (or uninstall) it and then restart Pi-hole.
After Caddy is disabled, the ports will be free and Pi-hole will use them without the need to change the configuration. No ports will be needed on the URL.

3

Thank you!

That was perfect. I had had nextcloud running on the same platform but have moved it. Caddy had restarted following a power reset and I hadn’t seen that.

Much appreciated and thank you for the detailed response!

:+1:

4

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