Command line interface tools

Advanced Features

Pi-hole Command-Line Tools Guide

The Pi-hole system provides several command-line interface (CLI) tools for managing its functionality. Here are the essential commands:

Primary Command: pihole

This is the main command for Pi-hole management, with these important subcommands:

pihole status - Shows Pi-hole's current operational status
pihole enable - Activates Pi-hole's blocking functionality
pihole disable [time] - Deactivates blocking (temporarily or permanently)
pihole restartdns - Restarts the DNS resolver after configuration changes
pihole -t - Displays DNS queries in real-time
pihole updateGravity - Downloads and updates the latest blocklist
pihole -g - Alternative command for updating the blocklist
pihole -up - Updates Pi-hole software to the newest version
pihole -a [options] - Manages administrative settings, including password changes

Additional Useful Commands:

tail -f /var/log/pihole.log - Shows live Pi-hole log entries for troubleshooting
DNS utility commands:
- dig
- nslookup
- host These standard DNS tools help query and verify DNS records when using Pi-hole

All these commands enable comprehensive management of your Pi-hole installation directly from the command line.

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