Configure Updates and Network-Level Blocking

Update the Pi-hole’s OS, software, and lists with:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
pihole -up -y
sudo /usr/local/sbin/pihole-updatelists

Create a Script to Update the Pi-Hole and Lists Automatically

Put the update commands into a script so that you can run it from cron and assign it an alias. This gives you a central location from which to maintain the commands that run:

1. Create the script:

   touch ~/.pi-hole-update.sh

2. Edit the file to include:

   ~/.pi-hole-update.sh

   #!/bin/zsh
   
   sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
   pihole -up -y
   sudo /usr/local/sbin/pihole-updatelists

   If you’re using Bash instead of Zsh, replace #!/bin/zsh with #!/bin/sh.

3. Add a new cron job that runs the script every Sunday morning at 03:00. Edit /etc/crontab to add this line:

   /etc/crontab

   0  3    * * * 0 pi      ~/.pi-hole-update.sh

4. To run the updater script whenever you want, create an update! alias. Add this line to ~/.zshrc (or if you’re using Bash, to ~/.bashrc):

   ~/.zshrc

   alias update!='. ~/.pi-hole-update.sh'

Configure the Omada Controller to Enable Network-Wide Blocking with Pi-Hole

Configure the Omada controller and set the DNS server to use the Pi’s IP address.

1. Log in to the controller and select the site’s name.
2. Select the Settings cog then Wired Networks and select the edit icon for the network name that should use the Pi-hole.
3. Next to DHCP Server, select ☑ Enable to expand the DHCP options.
4. Next to DNS Server, select Manual and enter the Pi-hole’s IP address into the first box. In the second box, enter 1.1.1.1 to use Cloudflare’s DNS as a backup.