Update without installing lighttpd

sissiwup · February 3, 2019, 1:32pm

I run apache on the machine. pihole runs as one service. It works great.
Everytime I update pihole it install lighttppd. It´s not necessary on my machine.
It is possible to update without it?

Mcat12 · February 5, 2019, 4:05am

This will be supported when we release the new API and web interface. We will then not rely on any external web servers, as the API will act as the web server. You can then change its port or proxy it through another web server if you want.

gkeit · May 27, 2019, 11:26am

Could you at least considering to implement a switch which prevents the pi-hole updater from installing lighttpd, please?
I guess this wouldn't cause much effort?!

Because the current behavior discourages me from auto-updating pi-hole.
And this foils some of my security measures.

Mcat12 · May 28, 2019, 2:02am

We only install the web server if you told us to during installation or pihole -r. You likely said yes to the following message:

Do you wish to install the web server (lighttpd)?

What is the value of INSTALL_WEB_SERVER in /etc/pihole/setupVars.conf?

github.com

pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/1d43c0a2fa36ddc993db51b1751e26cbc8123fbf/automated install/basic-install.sh#L1143


      
                  ;;
              Off)
                  printf "  %b Web Interface Off\\n" "${INFO}"
                  # or false
                  INSTALL_WEB_INTERFACE=false
                  ;;
          esac
          
          # Request user to install web server, if --disable-install-webserver has not been used (INSTALL_WEB_SERVER=true is default).
          if [[ "${INSTALL_WEB_SERVER}" == true ]]; then
              WebToggleCommand=(whiptail --separate-output --radiolist "Do you wish to install the web server (lighttpd)?\\n\\nNB: If you disable this, and, do not have an existing webserver installed, the web interface will not function." "${r}" "${c}" 6)
              # with the default being enabled
              WebChooseOptions=("On (Recommended)" "" on
                  Off "" off)
              WebChoices=$("${WebToggleCommand[@]}" "${WebChooseOptions[@]}" 2>&1 >/dev/tty) || (printf "  %bCancel was selected, exiting installer%b\\n" "${COL_LIGHT_RED}" "${COL_NC}" && exit 1)
              # Depending on their choice
              case ${WebChoices} in
                  "On (Recommended)")
                      printf "  %b Web Server On\\n" "${INFO}"
                      # set it to true, as clearly seen below.
                      INSTALL_WEB_SERVER=true

github.com

pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/1d43c0a2fa36ddc993db51b1751e26cbc8123fbf/automated install/basic-install.sh#L2555-L2558


      
          if [[ "${INSTALL_WEB_SERVER}" == true ]]; then
              # Install the Web dependencies
              dep_install_list+=("${PIHOLE_WEB_DEPS[@]}")
          fi

gkeit · May 30, 2019, 9:12am

@Mcat12 Thanks for your quick response

You're right. I had installed pi-hole with lighttpd in the first place.
But later then I decided to change the system configuration and replaced lighttpd by nginx.
I wasn't aware of the option INSTALL_WEB_SERVER in setupVars.conf.

Nevertheless I find the behaviour of the current pi-updater a bit unforeseeable.
Installing a seeming missing dependency (webserver) without asking the user is in my opinion not the best way to handle this issue.

But as you stated before this topic will be obsolete with the new API and web interface.

Thank you very much