Question : Did you guys decide to create FLTDNS before the DNSMASQ issues from a while ago or afterwards ?
Because I am still a bit confused by how the whole DNSMASQ issues story happend for soo many people, while I almost didn't have any with a system/configuration that should have had them...
New Pi-Hole version was released on a Wednesday I believe.
I ran apt-get update && apt-get distr-update that same day/night <= The correct DNSMASQ version was installed/updated here!
Then ran pihole -up
After 24 hours (as advised to wait by the changelog!) the graphs were still messed up just like the Query Log timestamps but then I simply removed all log files and the database and since then everything has been working just fine again
So what I am trying to say here : Please don't waste developing resources just because there were people who didn't maintain their OS installations correctly...
I like this project A LOT! Even donated money and bought a mug and t-shirt a while ago
This was a decision made a while ago. Every distribution releases packages on their own determined schedule. And different versions of the distribution can have different packages. Raspbian, which is based on Debian but maintained by different people, has an incompatible version of dnsmasq. That's not to say that it's missing security patches, it's just that the Debian ethos is to only release a version that is stable at the time of the initial release, there really are not many upgrades to packages once a release is stable.
The other problem is that some distributions compile dnsmasq with different options. Some compile with DNSSEC, some don't. It's just a major point of complicating support to know what distribution a person is running, what version of dnsmasq, what complied options, what kind of processor, etc... With our own binary, we know exactly what options are available, we know it's based of the latest available dnsmasq source as we build off their source and we then are able to extend that with our own functionality to present the same experience across every installed Pi-hole.
Like I said : If everyone just updated their OS at the time first I think the whole issue would not have happend for all those running RaspBian for example.
How come my RaspBian did not then ?!
That's what bothers me the most about this whole story...
Not everyone can upgrade from Jessie to Stretch. Some are running other packages that are not Stretch compatible. If everyone just ran Pi-hole and only Pi-hole on the device then that would be different. We need to accommodate a wide range of installation scenarios.
Debian freezes versions at the time of release. That's just how Debian is. Raspbian could conceivably break with this and release a new dnsmasq, but that would involve regression testing and various other things that the limited staff can easily do. So they rely on Debian and only backport security patches, they don't release new versions. Stability is paramount to Debian and by proxy Raspbian.
Raspbian Jessie? Is it possible that you have updated the dnsmasq binary yourself in the past (perhaps without realising it?) Or do you have an alternative source in your apt packages sources? Jessie does not have version 2.76 of dnsmasq by default, nor in the default source list, so something must be "other" with your setup.
The plan to combine dnsmasq into FTL was mooted a while back, and work has been going on behind the scenes for a few months now. The issues faced with Jessie and 3.3 highlighted the need for this, and we decided to launch it as a beta to ensure it's tested by a much wider pool of people than our normal test processes. Hopefully this will ensure that when we actually release Pi-Hole/FTL v4.0 we will not run into the same issues as we did with 3.3
Never say never, but... I wouldn't hold your breath waiting
pi@shutyourpihole:~ $ uname -a
Linux shutyourpihole 4.9.35-v7+ #1014 SMP Fri Jun 30 14:47:43 BST 2017 armv7l GNU/Linux
pi@shutyourpihole:~ $ cat /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://mirrordirector.raspbian.org/raspbian/ jessie main contrib non-free rpi
# Uncomment line below then 'apt-get update' to enable 'apt-get source'
#deb-src http://archive.raspbian.org/raspbian/ jessie main contrib non-free rpi
#Ubiquiti Unifi Controller
deb http://www.ubnt.com/downloads/unifi/debian stable ubiquiti
pi@shutyourpihole:~ $
Need anything else ?
Like I said : The very same day, perhaps hour and the right version was updated!
pi@shutyourpihole:~ $ dpkg -l|grep dnsmasq
ii dnsmasq 2.76-5+rpi1 all Small caching DNS proxy and DHCP/TFTP server
ii dnsmasq-base 2.76-5+rpi1 armhf Small caching DNS proxy and DHCP/TFTP server
pi@shutyourpihole:~ $
