What are the Steps to Run Pi-Hole as a Docker Container?

Pi-Hole is a network advertisement blocker that serves as a DNS sinkhole and a DHCP server. It can block advertisements, trackers, malware, and phishing domains throughout the user’s entire network. Pi-Hole can be installed on a variety of operating systems; however, Docker is one of the most convenient ways to run it. Running Pi-Hole in a Docker container provides a way for developers to easily deploy and manage Pi-Hole instances.

This article will demonstrate the steps to run the Pi-Hole as a Docker container.

What are the Steps to Run Pi-Hole as a Docker Container?

To run Pi-Hole as a Docker container, try out the given-provided steps:

• Pull the Pi-Hole image using the “docker pull pihole/pihole:latest” command.
• Verify the downloaded image.
• Run the Pi-Hole image as a container via the “docker run -d –name pihole-cont -p 53:53/tcp -p 53:53/udp -p 67:67/udp -p 80:80 -p 443:443 -v “${DOCKER_CONFIGS}/pihole/:/etc/pihole/” -v “${DOCKER_CONFIGS}/dnsmasq.d/:/etc/dnsmasq.d/” -e ServerIP=<your-IP> –restart=unless-stopped –cap-add=NET_ADMIN –dns=127.0.0.1 –dns=1.1.1.1 pihole/pihole:latest” command.
• View running Pi-Hole container.
• View the web interface of Pi-Hole.

Step 1: Pull Pi-Hole Image

First, pull the Pi-Hole image from Docker Hub with the help of the below-listed command:

The above output shows that the Pi-Hole image has been downloaded successfully.

Step 2: Verify Pulled Image

Next, utilize the provided command to ensure that the image has been downloaded:

The above output shows a Pi-Hole image that has been downloaded.

Step 3: Run Pi-Hole as Docker Container

Now, run the Pi-Hole image as a Docker container via the following command:

Here:

• “-d” runs the docker container in detached mode.
• “–name” specifies the container name i.e., “pihole-cont”.
• “-p” option is used to assign ports. For instance, we have assigned “53/53/tcp” and “53:53/udp” ports for DNS traffic, “67:67/udp” port for DHCP traffic, “80:80” port for HTTP traffic and “443:443” port for HTTPS traffic.
• “-v” option is used to specify the volumes to be mounted within the container. For instance, we have specified the “${DOCKER_CONFIGS}/pihole/:/etc/pihole/” volume where Pi-hole stores its configuration files and the “${DOCKER_CONFIGS}/dnsmasq.d/:/etc/dnsmasq.d/” volume where Pi-hole stores its DNS server configuration files.
• “ServerIP” is used to specify the IP address of the Docker host machine.
• “–restart=unless-stopped” sets the container to automatically restart unless stopped.
• “–cap-add=NET_ADMIN” capability is used to manipulate network settings.
• “–dns=127.0.0.1” and “–dns=1.1.1.1” are the DNS server configurations.
• “pihole/pihole:latest” is the Docker image to use.

Note: Make sure to replace “<your-IP>” with your server IP:

Step 4: View Running Pi-Hole Container

Finally, view the Pi-Hole container by listing all running containers:

In the above output, the Pi-Hole is successfully running as a Docker container.

Step 5: View Pi-Hole Web Interface

Lastly, navigate to the browser and use your server IP to view the web interface of Pi-Hole:

The output shows that the Pi-Hole has been running successfully as a Docker container.

Conclusion

To run Pi-Hole as a Docker container, first, pull the Pi-Hole image using the “docker pull pihole/pihole:latest” command and verify it. Then, run the Pi-Hole image as a container. Lastly, view the running Pi-Hole container and its web interface. This article has demonstrated the step-by-step procedure to run the Pi-Hole as a Docker container.