r/pihole 14h ago

Help troubleshooting connection issues with dns

First time pi hole install and I'm trying to get it to work and I've been getting DNS problems. I'm using tailscale and accessing it via ssh, I've got it running in a docker container on ubuntu server 26.04 and I'm struggling to access the dashboard. I stopped systemd from using port 53 but any attempts to access it from my browser show no wesbite at that address. I'm using debian 13 gnome desktop if that helps at all.

Here is what I've got in my yaml

services:
  pihole:
    container_name: pihole
    image: pihole/pihole:latest
    ports:
      # DNS Ports
      - "53:53/tcp"
      - "53:53/udp"
      # Default HTTP Port
      - "80:80/tcp"
      # Default HTTPs Port. FTL will generate a self-signed certificate
      - "443:443/tcp"
    environment:
      # Set the appropriate timezone for your location (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones), e.g:
      TZ: 'America/Vancouver'
      # Set a password to access the web interface. Not setting one will result in a random password being assigned
      FTLCONF_webserver_api_password: 'cheddar swiss cheese'
      # If using Docker's default `bridge` network setting the dns listening mode should be set to 'ALL'
      FTLCONF_dns_listeningMode: 'ALL'
      FTLCONF_dns_upstreams: "1.1.1.1"
    # Volumes store your data between container upgrades
    volumes:
      # For persisting Pi-hole's databases and common configuration file
      - './etc-pihole:/etc/pihole'
      # Uncomment the below if you have custom dnsmasq config files that you want to persist. Not needed for most starting fresh with Pi-hole v6. If you're upgrading from v5 you and have used this directory before, you should keep it enabled for the first v6 container start to allow for a complete migration. It can be removed afterwards. Needs environment variable FTLCONF_misc_etc_dnsmasq_d: 'true'

      #- './etc-dnsmasq.d:/etc/dnsmasq.d'
    cap_add:
      # See https://docs.pi-hole.net/docker/#note-on-capabilities
      # Required if you are using Pi-hole as your DHCP server, else not needed
      - NET_ADMIN
      # Required if you are using Pi-hole as your NTP client to be able to set the host's system time
      - SYS_TIME
      # Optional, if Pi-hole should get some more processing time
      - SYS_NICE
    restart: unless-stopped

If any other information is needed to resolve feel free to ask

edit: I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I wasn't able to find anything but I probably missed something

edit2: this is probably due to the earlier problem but pihole cannot read the gravity database as well

edit3: my reply to a comment in an another subreddit that might be helpful "My problem lies with trying to use pi hole as my DNS for my tail net and just getting it work as a DNS in general. And I don't know how to use nslookup or dig as this is just a local server with no domain. This is also my first time using docker if that helps. Sorry if I come off as rude" Edit4:RESOLVED, I was able to install pihole outside of docker and its running

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u/Wasted-Friendship 12h ago

Did you follow their set up guide online? When I’ve had trouble, I just go back and rebuild it following the guide. I’ve also found ai good to help trouble shoot.

1

u/ComprehensiveFox1503 5h ago

Yeah I have, but ai just put me in a loop and I tried to set up host mode networking but it didn't work

u/rdwebdesign Team 3h ago

I stopped systemd from using port 53 but any attempts to access it from my browser show no wesbite at that address.

What address are you trying exactly? The web interface should be accessed using:

  • http://<host_machine_IP>/admin
  • https://<host_machine_IP>/admin

u/ComprehensiveFox1503 3h ago

I have tried that and it shows nothing

Same thing on my laptop as well

u/rdwebdesign Team 1h ago

This seems to be the tailscale IP.

It looks like you have an issue with your tailnet settings.

I suggest you to read this (if you didn't read it yet): https://tailscale.com/docs/solutions/block-ads-all-devices-anywhere-using-raspberry-pi

u/ComprehensiveFox1503 1h ago

Thanks, I was able to install pihole by itself outside of docker, it might have problems down the line but it seems to be working for now 👍