It is recommended to have a dedicated Ubuntu instance for pi-hole.

This could be an actual physical machine, or a VM.

On the Ubuntu instance where you want to run pi-hole, run updates:

sudo apt update

Next install the ssh server:

sudo apt install -y openssh-server

Now add a username other than the default. Just go through the dialogue and answer the prompts for the new user:

sudo adduser piuser

Now grant the new user privilege:

sudo usermod -aG sudo piuser

Ensure that you know the IP Address of this Ubuntu instance:

ip addr

Open a terminal back on your desktop computer and “ssh” to the Ubuntu machine with the IP Address:

ssh piuser@192.168.1.25

Get root privileges in the command window:

sudo -i

Install “curl”:

sudo apt install curl

Now you can install pi-hole:

curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash

Select the defaults until the DNS screen and then choose Cloudflare as your DNS.

• Accept all the rest of the defaults and be careful not to change them. This will assure that you get the admin web interface and that statistics are logged.
• The installation will continue for a few minutes after you answer the prompts.
• After your installation completes, you will receive a message telling you to set up the DHCP settings on your router to make the address of your Pi-Hole the primary DNS for your network.
  • That will insert the Pi-Hole as the “man-in-the-middle” to scrutinize all DNS names before they are either passed to the Internet or “Pi-Holed”.

When you return to the prompt in the “ssh” terminal session, enter the following command to set your Pi-hole password:

pihole -a -p

You can now close the “ssh” terminal session.

exit

Go to your web browser and enter the address of your Pi-Hole followed by /admin:

http://192.168.1.25/admin

Select the login option and you should be able to log in with the password you just set.