Pi-hole: network-wide ad blocking with your own DNS server

Pi-hole (about 61,000 stars on GitHub) is a DNS resolver with a block list. You point your router, or individual devices, at it as their DNS server; when a device asks for ads.example-tracker.net, Pi-hole returns an empty answer instead of the real address, and the request never leaves your network. Everything else is forwarded to an upstream resolver of your choice. A web dashboard shows every query, which devices make the most, and lets you whitelist or blacklist domains with one click.

Beyond ad blocking, it is a good way to see DNS: the query log makes the concepts from the DNS article in this topic concrete, and it doubles as a local DNS server where you can give your home servers proper names.

When to use it

• You want blocking for smart TVs, phones and guests, not just in one browser.
• You run a WireGuard VPN and want devices on the road to use the same filtered DNS: set the Pi-hole address as the DNS server in the VPN client config.
• You want to know which devices phone home and how often.

How to install it

It runs on a Raspberry Pi, any small Linux box or VM, or in Docker. The official installer is a one-line script; read it first if you prefer, or use the Docker image:

# supported Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and CentOS Stream releases
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

# or Docker (see the pi-hole/docker-pi-hole repository for the full compose example)
docker run -d --name pihole -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 80:80/tcp \
  -e TZ=Europe/Bratislava -e FTLCONF_webserver_api_password='change-me' \
  -v pihole_etc:/etc/pihole --restart unless-stopped pihole/pihole:latest

After installation, change your router’s DHCP settings so it hands out the Pi-hole address as DNS, or set it on individual devices to test first. Port 53 must be free on the host; on Ubuntu, systemd-resolved listens on 127.0.0.53 and may need to be told not to act as a stub listener, which the Pi-hole installer explains.

Credit

Pi-hole is developed by the Pi-hole team and community contributors and licensed under the EUPL 1.2. The project is funded by donations.