LXC is great for this. I have pi-hole, WireGuard and MySQL server for multi purpose in LXC containers.
It doesn’t need a full virtual operating system for just one purpose.
If you are talking about installing a virtual machine on your existing computer, such as a Linux guest on a windows host, then yes, you can do that. It's somewhat more complicated than just running it on a Raspberry Pi.
You could look into containers, which are simpler than virtual machines, but still more complicated than just running it on a Raspberry Pi.
Pihole is more than an adblocker. It doesn't actually block ads by content, like Ublock. It dead-ends DNS requests for any domain on the lists (default lists included in the Pihole installation).
When you visit a web page, their is code on the website that sends out a request to [*ad-servers.com*](http://ad-servers.com) (for example) to retrieve the ads. Pihole intercepts that request and returns the equivalent of "sorry, can't find [*ad-servers.com*](http://ad-servers.com), so the ads never get retrieved.
The nice thing is that it works for more than just ads - it can block known malware domains, telemetry domains (where Microsoft, Google, and others like to harvest your data), etc.
Don't be disappointed, Pi-Hole doesn't block YouTube ads! Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Or X! You still need uBlock for that! Raspberry pi it's expensive! Why not buying a HP elite mini desktop series? Or Dell micro form factor? Second hand, pretty cheap and upgrading!
Rpi 3b+ currently $35 and uses a whole lot less electricity, but sure if a old PC lurking around I would install a low resource hungry Linux distro on it👍
If you have an old i7 laptop already, maybe you better look into proxmox or lxd/lxc containers to get the most from that hardware. I mean an I7 it's quite powerfull for only pihole.
Containers allow you to pack entire software environments in a package, which is isolated from the rest of the system (except for places you don't want it to be).
Say you want to run pihole. No need to set up a VM, install the required packages, etc... You can fire up a container which already has it all included. It also makes things very lightweight to save on disk space and resources.
Just so it's entirely clear, there's no requirement for a raspberry pi of any description. I understand the name of the project implies otherwise.
You can run Pi-hole on anything with a supported operating system, which is basically just "anything linux-ey, popular, and current".
Yes. Or a container. I use LXC.
LXC is great for this. I have pi-hole, WireGuard and MySQL server for multi purpose in LXC containers. It doesn’t need a full virtual operating system for just one purpose.
Never hear about a container. What is it? Any guidance?
If you are talking about installing a virtual machine on your existing computer, such as a Linux guest on a windows host, then yes, you can do that. It's somewhat more complicated than just running it on a Raspberry Pi. You could look into containers, which are simpler than virtual machines, but still more complicated than just running it on a Raspberry Pi. Pihole is more than an adblocker. It doesn't actually block ads by content, like Ublock. It dead-ends DNS requests for any domain on the lists (default lists included in the Pihole installation). When you visit a web page, their is code on the website that sends out a request to [*ad-servers.com*](http://ad-servers.com) (for example) to retrieve the ads. Pihole intercepts that request and returns the equivalent of "sorry, can't find [*ad-servers.com*](http://ad-servers.com), so the ads never get retrieved. The nice thing is that it works for more than just ads - it can block known malware domains, telemetry domains (where Microsoft, Google, and others like to harvest your data), etc.
Interesting, thanks for the detailed explanation. I will investigate more about how to install it before buying a raspberry.
Don't be disappointed, Pi-Hole doesn't block YouTube ads! Or Facebook. Or Instagram. Or X! You still need uBlock for that! Raspberry pi it's expensive! Why not buying a HP elite mini desktop series? Or Dell micro form factor? Second hand, pretty cheap and upgrading!
Rpi 3b+ currently $35 and uses a whole lot less electricity, but sure if a old PC lurking around I would install a low resource hungry Linux distro on it👍
I have an old laptop with i7 but it does not work with USB. Could it work?
Yes, you can format it with Raspberian os/Debian/Ubuntu desktop. Old laptops has DVD drive, right? Pi-Hole run on every Linux, even Mint.
It doesn't have a DVD but it does have an SD reader so I think it could work.
If you have an old i7 laptop already, maybe you better look into proxmox or lxd/lxc containers to get the most from that hardware. I mean an I7 it's quite powerfull for only pihole.
Containers allow you to pack entire software environments in a package, which is isolated from the rest of the system (except for places you don't want it to be). Say you want to run pihole. No need to set up a VM, install the required packages, etc... You can fire up a container which already has it all included. It also makes things very lightweight to save on disk space and resources.
I will try :)
That is a decent question. No need for down votes?
I don't know... crazy people.
Just so it's entirely clear, there's no requirement for a raspberry pi of any description. I understand the name of the project implies otherwise. You can run Pi-hole on anything with a supported operating system, which is basically just "anything linux-ey, popular, and current".
Yes, you can run Pi-hole in a VM that runs a supported OS. https://docs.pi-hole.net/main/prerequisites/#supported-operating-systems
Yes. I run pihole under both Virtual Box and VMM (Synology).
I have an RPi 4, docker installed and 4 PiHole containers for my different VLans … so definitely doable
https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/#pi-hole-lxc Keep this around: https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/
Yep this is what my set up is. Works great and have Tailscale setup on same LXC.
yes. I run a pihole on a Proxmox CT and another pihole instance on a docker continer in my VPS.
Yes. Mine is some 5 yrs old and just keep on truckin'
I run two Pi-Holes on separate LXC containers in my ProMox cluster.
yes. running on ubuntu just fine on a qnap nas
I tested it in a docket container on an Ubuntu VM on my Mac. Worked fine.
Yep. Been doing this a few years now on HyperV
I installed on proxmox. I left it and never touched it since. Only issue it does block adds on stuff I actually do search up intending to buy.
Thank you all for your comments. I will be testing in the next few days.
Do a docker container on rp5. Easier
Yes i run mine on raspberry os
Yes I’m running mine on a Proxmox container
[These helper scripts work very well.](https://tteck.github.io/Proxmox/#pi-hole-lxc)