Network-wide ad blocking via your own Linux hardware

# Core: Command Line Interface ## Summary The Pi-hole blocks ads via a [DNS sinkhole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_Sinkhole), so all your devices are protected without the need to install client-side software. - **Easy-to-install**: our versatile installer walks you through the process, and [takes less than ten minutes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKWjx1AQYgs) - **Resolute**: ads are blocked in _non-browser locations_ such as ad-laden mobile apps and smart TVs - **Fast**: speeds up the feel of everyday browsing by caching DNS queries, saving bandwidth - **Lightweight**: runs smoothly and requires [minimal resources](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/hardware-software-requirements/273) - **Robust**: a command line interface for those preferring CLI, and/or wanting to automate tasks - **Informative**: a beautiful and secure Web Interface dashboard to control your Pi-hole - **Versatile**: can optionally function as a DHCP server, ensuring your devices will not need configuring individually - **Scalable**: [capable of handling hundreds of millions of queries](https://pi-hole.net/2017/05/24/how-much-traffic-can-pi-hole-handle/) when installed on powerful hardware - **Modern**: blocks ads over both IPv4 and IPv6 - **Free**: open source software which helps ensure _you_ are the sole person in control of your privacy ----- ## One-Step Automated Install 1. Install a [supported operating system](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/hardware-software-requirements/273/1) 2. Run the following command #### `curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash` ## Alternative Install Methods [Piping to `bash` can be dangerous](https://pi-hole.net/2016/07/25/curling-and-piping-to-bash/), so we understand the importance of giving people the option to review our code! Our installer is [found here](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/automated%20install/basic-install.sh), if you wish to read it before running. You can install Pi-hole via one of the two alternative methods: ### Clone our repository and run the automated installer from your device ``` git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole.git Pi-hole cd "Pi-hole/automated install/" bash basic-install.sh ``` ### Manually download and execute the install file ``` wget -O basic-install.sh https://install.pi-hole.net bash basic-install.sh ``` ## Post-install: Make your network take advantage of Pi-hole Once the installer has been run, you will need to [configure your router to have **DHCP clients use the Pi-hole as their DNS server**](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-configure-my-devices-to-use-pi-hole-as-their-dns-server/245) so that any device that connects to your network will have ads blocked without any further intervention. If your router does not support setting the DNS server, you can [use Pi-hole's built in DHCP server](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-use-pi-holes-built-in-dhcp-server-and-why-would-i-want-to/3026); just be sure to disable DHCP on your router first (if it has that feature available). As a last resort, you can always manually set each device to use Pi-hole as their DNS server. ----- ## Pi-hole is free, but powered by your support There are many reoccuring costs involved with maintaining free, open source and privacy respecting software; expenses which [our volunteers](https://github.com/orgs/pi-hole/people) pitch in to cover out-of-pocket. This is just one example of how strongly we feel about our software, as well as the importance of keeping it maintained. Make no mistake: **your support is absolutely vital to help keep us innovating!** ### Donations Sending a donation using our links below is **extremely helpful** in offset a portion of our monthly costs: - ![Paypal](https://assets.pi-hole.net/static/paypal.png) [Donate via PayPal](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3J2L3Z4DHW9UY) - ![Bitcoin](https://assets.pi-hole.net/static/Bitcoin.png) Bitcoin Address: 1GKnevUnVaQM2pQieMyeHkpr8DXfkpfAtL ### Alternative support If you'd rather not donate (_which is okay!_), there are other ways you can help support us: - [Digital Ocean](http://www.digitalocean.com/?refcode=344d234950e1) affiliate link - [Vultr](http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7190426) affiliate link - [UNIXstickers.com](http://unixstickers.refr.cc/jacobs) affiliate link - [Pi-hole Swag Store](https://pi-hole.net/shop/) - Spreading the word about our software, and how you have benefited from it ### Contributing via GitHub We welcome everyone to contribute to issue reports, suggest new features and create pull requests. If you have something to add - anything from a typo through to a whole new feature, we're happy to check it out! Just make sure to fill out our template when submitting your request; the questions that it asks will help the volunteers quickly understand what you're aiming to achieve. You'll find that the [install script](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/automated%20install/basic-install.sh) and the [debug script](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/blob/master/advanced/Scripts/piholeDebug.sh) have an abundance of comments, which will help you better understand how Pi-hole works. They're also a valuable resource to those who want to learn how to write scripts or code a program! We encourage anyone who likes to tinker to read through it, and submit a pull request for us to review. ### Presentations about Pi-hole Word-of-mouth continues to help our project grow immensely, and we'd like to help those who are going to be presenting Pi-hole at a conference, meetup or even a school project. If you'd like some free swag to hand out to your audience, [get in touch with us](https://pi-hole.net/2017/05/17/giving-a-presentation-on-pi-hole-contact-us-first-for-some-goodies-and-support/). ----- ## Getting in touch with us - [Users Forum](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/) - [Feature requests](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/c/feature-requests?order=votes) - [FAQs](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/c/faqs) - [Wiki](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki) - [/r/pihole on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/pihole/) - [@The_Pi_Hole on Twitter](https://twitter.com/The_Pi_Hole) - [Pi-hole on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT5kq9w0wSjogzJb81C9U0w) - [ThePiHole on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ThePiHole/) - [Chat on Gitter](https://gitter.im/pi-hole/pi-hole) ----- ## Features ### The Command Line Interface The `pihole` command has all the functionality necessary to be able to fully administer the Pi-hole. Pi-hole ASCII Logo Some of the features include: * [Whitelisting, Blacklisting and Wildcards](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#whitelisting-blacklisting-and-wildcards) * [Debugging utility](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#debugger) * [Viewing the live log file](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#tail) * [Real-time Statistics via `ssh`](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#chronometer) or [your TFT LCD screen](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00ID39LM4/pihole09-20) * [Updating Ad Lists](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#gravity) * [Querying Ad Lists for matching domains](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#query) * [Enabling and Disabling Pi-hole](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown#enable--disable) * ... and *many* more! You can read our [Core Feature Breakdown](https://github.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/wiki/Core-Function-Breakdown), as well as read up on [example usage](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/the-pihole-command-with-examples/738) for more information. ### The Web Interface Dashboard This [optional dashboard](https://github.com/pi-hole/AdminLTE) allows you to view stats, change settings, and configure your Pi-hole. It's the power of the Command Line Interface, with none of the learning curve! Pi-hole Dashboard There are several ways to [access the dashboard](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/how-do-i-access-pi-holes-dashboard-admin-interface/3168): 1. `http:///admin/` 2. `http:/pi.hole/admin/` (when using Pi-hole as your DNS server) 3. `http://pi.hole/` (when using Pi-hole as your DNS server) ## The Faster-Than-Light Engine The [FTL Engine](https://github.com/pi-hole/FTL) is a lightweight purpose-built daemon used to provide statistics needed for the Web Interface, and its API can be easily intergrated into your own projects. As the name implies, FTL does this all *very quickly*! Some of the statistics you can intergrate include: * Total number of domains being blocked * Total number of DNS queries today * Total number of ads blocked today * Percentage of ads blocked * Unique domains * Queries forwarded (to your chosen upstream DNS server) * Queries cached (served by Pi-hole) * Unique Pi-hole clients The API can be accessed via [`telnet`](https://github.com/pi-hole/FTL), the Web (`admin/api.php`) and Command Line (`pihole -c -j`). [More details are found here](https://discourse.pi-hole.net/t/pi-hole-api/1863). ----- ## Technical Details To summarize into a short sentence, the Pi-hole is an **advertising-aware DNS/Web server**. While quite outdated at this point, [this original blog post about Pi-hole](https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/06/16/block-millions-ads-network-wide-with-a-raspberry-pi-hole-2-0/) goes into **great detail** about how it was setup and how it works. Syntactically, it's no longer accurate, but the same basic principles and logic still apply to Pi-hole's current state. ----- ## Pi-hole Projects - [Docker Pi-hole container (x86 and ARM)](https://hub.docker.com/r/diginc/pi-hole/) - [Pi-Hole in the cloud](http://blog.codybunch.com/2015/07/28/Pi-Hole-in-the-cloud/) - [Pie in the Sky-Hole [A Pi-Hole in the cloud for ad-blocking via DNS]](https://dlaa.me/blog/post/skyhole) - [Pi-hole Enable/Disable Button](http://thetimmy.silvernight.org/pages/endisbutton/) - [Minibian Pi-hole](https://munkjensen.net/wiki/index.php/See_my_Pi-Hole#Minibian_Pi-hole) - [CHiP-hole: Network-wide Ad-blocker](https://www.hackster.io/jacobsalmela/chip-hole-network-wide-ad-blocker-98e037) - [Chrome Extension: Pi-Hole List Editor](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pi-hole-list-editor/hlnoeoejkllgkjbnnnhfolapllcnaglh) ([Source Code](https://github.com/packtloss/pihole-extension)) - [Splunk: Pi-hole Visualiser](https://splunkbase.splunk.com/app/3023/) - [Adblocking with P-hole and Ubuntu 14.04 on VirtualBox](https://hbalagtas.blogspot.com.au/2016/02/adblocking-with-pi-hole-and-ubuntu-1404.html) - [Pi-hole stats in your Mac's menu bar](https://getbitbar.com/plugins/Network/pi-hole.1m.py) - [Pi-hole unRAID Template](https://forums.lime-technology.com/topic/36810-support-spants-nodered-mqtt-dashing-couchdb/) - [Copernicus: Windows Tray Application](https://github.com/goldbattle/copernicus) - [Let your blink1 device blink when Pi-hole filters ads](https://gist.github.com/elpatron68/ec0b4c582e5abf604885ac1e068d233f) - [Pi-hole metrics](https://github.com/nlamirault/pihole_exporter) exporter for [Prometheus](https://prometheus.io/) - [Magic Mirror with DNS Filtering](https://zonksec.com/blog/magic-mirror-dns-filtering/#dnssoftware) - [Pi-hole Droid: Android client](https://github.com/friimaind/pi-hole-droid) ----- ## Coverage - [Lifehacker: Turn A Raspberry Pi Into An Ad Blocker With A Single Command](https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/02/turn-a-raspberry-pi-into-an-ad-blocker-with-a-single-command/) - [MakeUseOf: Adblock Everywhere: The Raspberry Pi-Hole Way](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/adblock-everywhere-raspberry-pi-hole-way/) - [Catchpoint: Ad-Blocking on Apple iOS9: Valuing the End User Experience](http://blog.catchpoint.com/2015/09/14/ad-blocking-apple/) - [Security Now Netcast: Pi-hole](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7-osq_y8i8&t=100m26s) - [TekThing: Raspberry Pi-Hole Makes Ads Disappear!](https://youtu.be/8Co59HU2gY0?t=2m) - [Foolish Tech Show](https://youtu.be/bYyena0I9yc?t=2m4s) - [Block Ads on All Home Devices for $53.18](https://medium.com/@robleathern/block-ads-on-all-home-devices-for-53-18-a5f1ec139693#.gj1xpgr5d) - [Pi-Hole for Ubuntu 14.04](http://www.boyter.org/2015/12/pi-hole-ubuntu-14-04/) - [MacObserver Podcast 585](https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/podcast/macgeekgab-585) - [The Defrag Show: Endoscope USB Camera, The Final [HoloLens] Vote, Adblock Pi and more](https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/The-Defrag-Show/Defrag-Endoscope-USB-Camera-The-Final-HoloLens-Vote-Adblock-Pi-and-more?WT.mc_id=dlvr_twitter_ch9#time=20m39s) - [Adafruit: Pi-hole is a black hole for internet ads](https://blog.adafruit.com/2016/03/04/pi-hole-is-a-black-hole-for-internet-ads-piday-raspberrypi-raspberry_pi/) - [Digital Trends: 5 Fun, Easy Projects You Can Try With a $35 Raspberry Pi](https://youtu.be/QwrKlyC2kdM?t=1m42s) - [Adafruit: Raspberry Pi Quick Look at Pi Hole ad blocking server with Tony D](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4u2j1HYlI) - [Devacron: OrangePi Zero as an Ad-Block server with Pi-Hole](http://www.devacron.com/orangepi-zero-as-an-ad-block-server-with-pi-hole/) - [CryptoAUSTRALIA Blog: How We Tried 5 Privacy Focused Raspberry Pi Projects](https://blog.cryptoaustralia.org.au/2017/10/05/5-privacy-focused-raspberry-pi-projects/)