____ ___ _   _  ___  _     _____
|  _ \_ _| | | |/ _ \| |   | ____|
| |_) | || |_| | | | | |   |  _|
|  __/| ||  _  | |_| | |___| |___
|_|  |___|_| |_|\___/|_____|_____|

Overview

This repository provides scripts and configuration files to automate PiHole updates, email notifications, and more, keeping your network secure and ad-free with minimal manual intervention.

Key Features

• Automated Updates:
  • Refreshes package lists
  • Installs upgrades
  • Removes unused dependencies
  • Updates Pi-hole itself
  • Updates gravity lists
  • Restarts Raspberry Pi
• Informative Email Notifications:
  • Pre-update email with uptime information (potentially additional metrics to be added)
  • Post-update email with uptime information (potentially additional metrics to be added)
• Comprehensive Documentation:
  • Clear setup instructions with links to external resources
  • Helpful tips for SSH access, file transfer, and log monitoring

Prerequisites

• Active Pi-hole installation
  • Consider using the instructional written by CrossTalk Solutions for the initial setup. The YouTube video worked well for me.
• Basic knowledge of Linux terminal commands

Getting Started

1. Clone this repository to your Raspberry Pi or server.
   • Github: git clone https://github.com/ZachEngstrom/pihole.git
   • Gitlab: git clone https://gitlab.com/engza/pihole.git
2. Install Speedtest CLI
   • run pip install speedtest-cli
3. Follow the instructions below

Send an Email using Python

1. Run this command in the root of your Raspberry Pi or server:
   cp pihole/{pihole_configs.example.json,pihole_email_before_restart.py,pihole_email_after_restart.py} ./ && mv pihole_configs.example.json pihole_configs.json
2. Create a new email account and an email app password by following these instructions: Send an Email using Python. You can stop when you get to "The Email-Sending Script".
3. Edit the configs file - sudo nano pihole_configs.json
   1. Use your arrow keys to navigate to the 3 values, remove the REPLACE_WITH_THE_... text and then fill in the appropriate values.
   2. You created the from_addr and from_pass values when you followed the Send an Email using Python document.
   3. For the to_addr value, I get the email message as a text to my phone. Here are some examples of how to do with with major cellular providers. Remember to replace "REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TEN_DIGIT_PHONE_NUMBER" with your cell phone number:
      • AT&T: REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TEN_DIGIT_PHONE_NUMBER@txt.att.net
      • Verizon: REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TEN_DIGIT_PHONE_NUMBER@vtext.com
      • T-Mobile: REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_TEN_DIGIT_PHONE_NUMBER@tmomail.net
      • notepage.net/smtp.htm
      • avtech.com/articles/138/list-of-email-to-sms-addresses
   4. Once you have all 3 values filled in, you can press [^X], [y] and [return] to save your changes and exit the file.
4. Test that the email files work by running
   python pihole_email_before_restart.py
   and
   python pihole_email_after_restart.py
   in your terminal and then either checking your inbox or watching your phone for a text (depending on the value you entered for the to_addr).

Update Script Using Bash

1. Run cp pihole/pihole_update.sh pihole_update.sh
2. Run sudo chmod +x ./pihole_update.sh to make the file executable.

You can now run this script any time by running ./pihole_update.sh in your terminal.

Automatically Update and Send Emails Using Cron

1. Run crontab -e in your terminal
2. Add the following code to the end of the file:
   

   55 1 * * 6 python pihole_email_before_restart.py
   0 2 * * 6 ./pihole_update.sh >> pihole.log 2>&1
   30 2 * * 6 python pihole_email_after_restart.py

   • The 1st line runs pihole_email_before_restart.py every Saturday at 1:55 AM.
   • The 2nd line runs pihole_update.sh every Saturday at 2:00 AM and captures the output in the pihole.log file (it will automatically get created if it's not already there).
   • The 3rd line runs pihole_email_after_restart.py every Saturday at 2:30 AM.
3. Now press [^X], [y] and [return] to save your changes and exit the file.
4. Validate that the file saved by running crontab -l in your terminal. You should see the lines that you added.

Helpful

• SSH into your Rasberry Pi
  • ssh PI_USER_NAME@PI_IP_ADDRESS
• Copy files from your local machine to your Raspberry Pi via SSH
  • scp pihole_update.sh pihole_email_before_restart.py pihole_email_after_restart.py pihole_configs.example.json PI_USER_NAME@PI_IP_ADDRESS:~
• Copy files from your Raspberry Pi to your local machine via SSH
  • scp PI_USER_NAME@PI_IP_ADDRESS:pihole.log ./
• Watch the pihole.log in real time as the update script is running (typically used when manually intiating the update script)
  • tail -f pihole.log
• Use crontab.guru if you'd like to adjust when your cron jobs run.

Ad Lists

As recommended in the CrossTalk Solutions tutorial, I referenced The Firebog for a majority of the lists that I implemented.

Here is a complete list of the ad lists that I've implemented:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/hosts
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PolishFiltersTeam/KADhosts/master/KADhosts.txt
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FadeMind/hosts.extras/master/add.Spam/hosts
• https://adaway.org/hosts.txt
• https://v.firebog.net/hosts/AdguardDNS.txt
• https://v.firebog.net/hosts/Easyprivacy.txt
• https://v.firebog.net/hosts/Prigent-Ads.txt
• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/master/Alternate%20versions%20Anti-Malware%20List/AntiMalwareHosts.txt
• https://osint.digitalside.it/Threat-Intel/lists/latestdomains.txt
• https://zerodot1.gitlab.io/CoinBlockerLists/hosts_browser

I did have to whitelist slackb.com to use slack on my network.

To Do / Consideration

• Set the email app password as an environment variable instead of in the config file.
• Handle the uptime and speedtest in the python scripts instead of being passed as parameters from out side the file
• Email python files don't have a fall back for null/empty values. This should be addressed.

Contributions and Feedback

All contributions and suggestions are welcome! Please create an issue or pull request on GitHub or Gitlab.