Last updated on 1 January 2025
Important or Recent Updates
| Historic Updates | Date |
|---|---|
| Updated guide for Container Manager and using Macvlan | 14/05/2023 |
| Added a new section to ensure DSM continues having network access. | 02/06/2023 |
| Guide updated so you can choose between Macvlan or Bridge mode | 12/08/2023 |
| Added additional security option to the compose to restrict the container from gaining new privileges | 25/10/2023 |
| Fixed issues I introduced with the recent changes in my mission to make things more secure. It was so secure I broke it! Added the appropriate permissions/capabilities at start up for the container. | 29/10/2023 |
| Removed the requirement for the synobridge as this container can just use its own bridge, and added the Host network mode, so all three are a choice. | 28/01/2024 |
| Removed the WEB_UID and WEB_GID from the config to avoid issues with ID’s conflicting inside the container. I will update again once I have some time to work around this. | 03/04/2024 |
| Some minor amends to sync up the information across this guide and the AdGuard one | 01/08/2024 |
| Removed two uneeded capabilites from the bridge version of the docker compose as they are not required. | 16/11/2024 |
What is Pi-hole?
If you are looking to get advertising and tracking blocked across all the devices on your network a Pi-hole will have you covered. It’s a locally hosted Domain Name Server and uses block lists to stop adverts.
This guide will get you set up with Pi-hole and cover some basic initial settings, I recommend checking out the documentation for all the various features available.
Host vs Macvlan vs Bridge Network Modes
Host:
Host mode uses your NAS underlying network to run the containers network services, so it will be reliant on the NAS not using any of the required ports for the container. However, this makes it easy to set up, but you need to make sure no other service is using the required ports. All your clients will appear correctly as independent devices and stats.
Macvlan:
This gives you the benefit of Pi-hole having its own IP address on your network, all clients appear with their real IP addresses allowing you to assign specific rules and give you some nicer stats. However, one downside is that your NAS will not be able to use Pi-hole for DNS, due to the additional security features of Macvlan and its communication with its host. This is generally not an issue unless you wanted to use your Ad blocking with Tailscale.
Bridge Mode:
The main benefit of Bridge Mode will be the ease of setup however you will find that all clients on your network will appear under the same IP as the Bridge 172.20.0.1. This won’t impact ad blocking, but it will mean you can apply device specific rules etc.
Let’s Begin
In order for you to successfully use this guide you will need to check that your Router allows you to change your network DNS servers, this is usually found in the DHCP settings.
Please follow the initial guide below to get a restricted Docker user set up, then come back here.
Folder Setup
Let’s start by getting some folders set up for the container to use. Open up File Station create the following.
/docker/projects/pihole-compose
/docker/pihole
/docker/pihole/dnsmasq.d
/docker/pihole/pihole
Container Manager
Next we are going to set up a ‘Project’ in Container Manager. Open up Container Manager and click on Project then on the right-hand side click ‘Create’.
In the next screen we will set up our General Settings.
In the next screen we will set up our General Settings, enter the following:
| Section | Setting |
|---|---|
| Project Name: | pihole |
| Path: | /docker/projects/pihole-compose |
| Source: | Create docker-compose.yml |
Next we are going to drop in our docker compose configuration. You now need to decide if you are going to go with Macvlan or Bridge Mode and copy the appropriate compose from below and paste it into line ‘1’ just like the screenshot.
What on earth is a Docker Compose? Docker Compose allows us to define how Docker should set up one or more containers within a single configuration file. This file is yaml formatted and Container Manager uses the Projects feature to manage them.
Please note you will not be able to use Macvlan with a Bonded network connection e.g. ‘Bond0’. You will need to remove the bond in order to use this method.
Host
services:
pihole:
image: pihole/pihole:latest
container_name: pihole-host
cap_add:
- CAP_NET_RAW
- CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
- CAP_CHOWN
environment:
- PIHOLE_UID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
- PIHOLE_GID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
- TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
- WEBPASSWORD=YOURPASSWORD
- DNSMASQ_LISTENING=local
- WEB_PORT=8000
- DNSMASQ_USER=pihole
- FTLCONF_LOCAL_IPV4=YOURIPV4ADDRESS
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/pihole/dnsmasq.d:/etc/dnsmasq.d
- /volume1/docker/pihole/pihole:/etc/pihole
network_mode: host
restart: unless-stoppedMacvlan
services:
pihole:
image: pihole/pihole:latest
container_name: pihole-macvlan
cap_add:
- CAP_NET_RAW
- CAP_NET_BIND_SERVICE
- CAP_CHOWN
environment:
- PIHOLE_UID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
- PIHOLE_GID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
- TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
- WEBPASSWORD=YOURPASSWORD
- DNSMASQ_LISTENING=local
- WEB_PORT=8000
- DNSMASQ_USER=pihole
- FTLCONF_LOCAL_IPV4=YOURIPV4ADDRESS
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/pihole/dnsmasq.d:/etc/dnsmasq.d
- /volume1/docker/pihole/pihole:/etc/pihole
networks:
macvlan:
ipv4_address: 192.168.0.129
restart: always
networks:
macvlan:
name: macvlan
driver: macvlan
driver_opts:
parent: eth0
ipam:
config:
- subnet: "192.168.0.0/24"
ip_range: "192.168.0.254/24"
gateway: "192.168.0.1"Bridge Mode
services:
pihole:
image: pihole/pihole:latest
container_name: pihole-bridge
cap_add:
- CAP_CHOWN
environment:
- PIHOLE_UID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
- PIHOLE_GID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
- TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
- WEBPASSWORD=YOURPASSWORD
- DNSMASQ_LISTENING=local
- WEB_PORT=8000
- DNSMASQ_USER=pihole
- FTLCONF_LOCAL_IPV4=YOURIPV4ADDRESS
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/pihole/dnsmasq.d:/etc/dnsmasq.d
- /volume1/docker/pihole/pihole:/etc/pihole
ports:
- 53:53/udp
- 8000:8000/tcp
restart: unless-stoppedWe are now changing some settings this applies to all versions of the YAML above.
| Section | Explanation |
|---|---|
| PIHOLE_UID= | This UID is the one you obtained when setting up your dockerlimited user in the earlier guide at the start of the page. This tells Pi-hole to run under this user rather than root and gives it access to the folders we created. |
| PIHOLE_GID= | As per the above this line will be the GID you obtained earlier. |
| TZ= | You will need to change this line to your own timezone code – you can find the correct list of ones to use on wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones |
| WEBPASSWORD= | Change this to the password you would like to use for the Web UI |
| FTLCONF_LOCAL_IPV4= | If you are using the Bridge Mode this line will be the IP address of your NAS If you are using MACVLAN Mode this line will be the same as line 25 when you do that part below. |
If you are setting up the Bridge or Host versions you can now press next and jump ahead in the guide to Web portal settings for MACVLAN continue on below.
Settings Amendments for the Macvlan
OK we now need to make some further edits to the compose and sort out DNS for DSM
External DNS for DSM
Containers on a Macvlan cannot be accessed by the host they reside on (without network changes under the hood), this mean DSM cannot use Pi-hole for its own DNS requests. It’s better to put DSM on an external DNS provider to avoid it having any issues connecting to the Internet if your Pi-hole is down.
Go into the DSM Control Panel > Network and then in the ‘Manually configure DNS server’ set two good quality DNS providers such as Quad9 9.9.9.9 and Cloudflare1.1.1.1
Now you can make some edits to the compose information before moving on
| Section | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ipv4_address: 192.168.0.122 | Change to the IP address you want to use for the container. Make sure this is available and not in use by another device on your network. Don’t forget to go back up and change line 15. |
| parent: eth0 | This defines the network interface the container should use, I have used eth0 which will be the first Ethernet port on your NAS. If you want to use a different port change it accordingly. Note! If you have Virtual Machine Manager installed change this to ovs_eth0 |
| subnet: “192.168.0.0/24” | We need to change this in line with your networks’ subnet – in the example I have used 192.168.0.0/24. The super quick way to work out what to use is just take the IP of your NAS and change the final digit before the /24 to 0 |
| ip_range: “192.168.0.254/24” | This has to be changed to the highest available IP address within the range of your subnet. Again if your network is in the 192 range the final number used from the subnet above can be changed to 254 and added to this section. |
| gateway: “192.168.0.1” | This will be the IP address of your Router/Gateway/DHCP Server |
Once you have made the edits you can click ‘Next’
Web portal settings
You do not need to enable anything on the ‘Web portal settings’ screen click ‘Next’ again.
On the final screen click ‘Done’ which will begin the download of the container images and once downloaded they will be launched!
The image will now be downloaded and extracted. You should see ‘Code 0’ when it has finished.
You will now see your Pi-hole running and should have a green status on the left-hand side.
The web interface will now be available via the below.
Macvlan = the IP you specified in the compose followed by the port :8000/admin/login.php
OR
Bridge or Host = Your NAS IP followed by the port :8000/admin/login.php
You can access the UI with the password you specified in the compose.
Update your Router DNS
Now you need to add the appropriate IP address to your router depending on which method you used to set up Pi-hole
Bridge or Host = NAS IP
MACVLAN=The address you chose for the container on the line ‘ipv4_address:’
It can take some time for all of your devices to move over the new DNS settings so be patient, and you will gradually start to see your stats begin to start.
Also note as we are not using Pi-hole as the DHCP server you will not be able to see the names of the devices in the statistics just their IP addresses.
That’s it!
FAQ:
What ports does Pi-hole use?
| Port | Protocol | Used For |
|---|---|---|
| 53 | TCP/UDP | DNS |
| 67 | IPv4 UDP | DHCP – Only used when the ipv4 DHCP server is enabled. |
| 547 | IPv6 UDP | DHCP – Only used when the ipv6 DHCP server is enabled. |
| 8000 | TCP | For the WebUI |
Looking for some help, join our Discord community
If you are struggling with any steps in the guides or looking to branch out into other containers join our Discord community!
Buy me a beverage!
If you have found my site useful please consider pinging me a tip as it helps cover the cost of running things or just lets me stay hydrated. Plus 10% goes to the devs of the apps I do guides for every year.
Tried to set this up using the macvlan network.
Container is up and running and I can see it in my router network map on the IP that I set it to use, but when I try and browse to :8000/admin/login.php I get an ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED response.
Hey Joe, can you check the Pi-hole logs to see if anything has gone wrong in the start up.
Doesn’t seem to be.
Opened up a terminal to the pihole container in container manager and did;
root@620728c96d7e:/# pihole version
Pi-hole version is v5.18.2 (Latest: v5.18.2)
web version is v5.21 (Latest: v5.21)
FTL version is v5.25.2 (Latest: v5.25.2)
root@620728c96d7e:/# pihole status
[✓] FTL is listening on port 53
[✓] UDP (IPv4)
[✓] TCP (IPv4)
[✓] UDP (IPv6)
[✓] TCP (IPv6)
[✓] Pi-hole blocking is enabled
And I can’t see anything obvious in the container logs;
https://paste.drfrankenstein.co.uk/?5e18c696b5724734#A6FQuenvHERy1CCEUNJBYC1iSwPqQiy9i19UdUmhtAYG
Ah scratch that it seems to be working now.
Changed the local IP for the pihole container and it seems happy with that. Maybe I was using an IP that was already in use or something!
OK nice one glad its working now!
Thanks for this guide. Very useful!
Hi, I have used all of your excellent guides. On BT internet Pihole has to be used for DHCP. Use of another router is not an option for landline customers which I am. This seems to cause some issues. Two errors:
1. Warning in dmasq core:
working around kernel bug: faulty source address scope for VRF slave eth0
2. Warning in dmasq core:
no address range available for DHCP request via eth0
Hey so run the container in Host Mode from the guide which will give it all the ports it requires for DHCP services, let me know if the errors persist.
You definitely can use a custom router with BT VDSL (landline).
PPPoE
VLAN ID: 101
MTU: 1492
username: bthomehub@btbroadband.com
pw: bt
Odd issue… I executed the host script, but it seems to ignore WEB_PORT=8000 and always wants to start pihole on port 80.
I wonder if it’s a bug, as it should move to 8000 based on the YAML and nothing has changed documentation wise for setting the web port.
I tried following this guide but kept getting errors that DNSMASQ_USER needed to be root and that it could not start
It should be running with the DNSMASQ user running as root I believe as I removed the UID/GID for that user so just pihole itself runs as our docker user
I’m setting this up as a backup to my primary Pi-hole setup running on a Raspberry Pi. Will I be able to import my adlists, blacklists, whitelists, etc to this Docker Pi-hole via Teleporter?
Yes definitely!
Thanks!
Everything was working perfectly for a couple days, and now I’m getting an error almost every time I go to the “Domains” tab on the web GUI: “DataTables warning: table id=domainsTable – Invalid JSON response.”
I’ve rebuilt the docker container a couple times, I’ve cleared my browser cache… no luck. I don’t have any issues with my Raspi instance, so it’s something with my Docker/Synology setup. Any ideas?
This could be a permission issue, I have seen this once before and trying to find the thread where we fixed it. I can’t remember if it was a permission issue or not. Will reply again once I find it!
Thanks so much. I think I resolved it. It seemed to be a conflict caused by having the same UID and GID values for PIHOLE and WEB. More here: https://github.com/pi-hole/docker-pi-hole/blob/f044e58b5cf9a2cdadf947d8577065285959feef/README.md#experimental-variables
I deleted the WEB_UID and WEB_GID variables from my compose file and rebuilt the container. So far so good. But I’m not sure if it’s ideal to eliminate the WEB_UID and WEB_GID entries.
Well that seems new! However, it has been noted for 2 years! Bizarre as I feel like I have read through the config options hundreds of times! Well I will get that changed, you should be good on removing them.