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<!doctype html><html lang=en><head><meta charset=utf-8><meta content="width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0" name=viewport><meta content="light dark" name=color-scheme><title>DNS-level adblock on the go with blocky</title><link href=/img/favicon-32x32.png rel=icon sizes=32x32 type=image/png><link href=/img/favicon-16x16.png rel=icon sizes=16x16 type=image/png><link href=/img/apple-touch-icon.png rel=apple-touch-icon sizes=180x180><link href=https://fonts.googleapis.com rel=preconnect><link crossorigin href=https://fonts.gstatic.com rel=preconnect><link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Signika&display=swap" 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7.58172 20 12 20C15.0583 20 17.7158 18.2839 19.062 15.7621C18.3945 15.9187 17.7035 16 17 16C12.0294 16 8 11.9706 8 7C8 6.29648 8.08133 5.60547 8.2379 4.938C5.71611 6.28423 4 8.9417 4 12Z" fill=currentColor></path></svg></button><button aria-label="table of content" id=toc-toggle><svg viewbox="0 0 24 24" height=24 width=24 xmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svg><path d="M3 4H21V6H3V4ZM3 11H15V13H3V11ZM3 18H21V20H3V18Z" fill=currentColor></path></svg></button></div></div></header><div id=wrapper><div id=blank></div><aside class=blur><nav><ul><li><a class=h2 href=#introduction>Introduction</a><li><a class=h2 href=#dns>DNS?</a><li><a class=h2 href=#setting-up-blocky>Setting up blocky</a> <ul><li><a class=h3 href=#nixos-configuration>NixOS configuration</a><li><a class=h3 href=#making-it-work-everywhere>Making it work everywhere</a></ul><li><a class=h2 href=#finishing-thoughts>Finishing thoughts</a></ul></nav><button aria-label="back to top" id=back-to-top><svg viewbox="0 0 24 24" height=24 width=24 xmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svg><path d="M11.9997 10.8284L7.04996 15.7782L5.63574 14.364L11.9997 8L18.3637 14.364L16.9495 15.7782L11.9997 10.8284Z" fill=currentColor></path></svg></button></aside><main><div><div data-check-icon='<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="24" height="24"><path d="M10.0007 15.1709L19.1931 5.97852L20.6073 7.39273L10.0007 17.9993L3.63672 11.6354L5.05093 10.2212L10.0007 15.1709Z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg>' data-copy-icon='<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="24" height="24"><path d="M6.9998 6V3C6.9998 2.44772 7.44752 2 7.9998 2H19.9998C20.5521 2 20.9998 2.44772 20.9998 3V17C20.9998 17.5523 20.5521 18 19.9998 18H16.9998V20.9991C16.9998 21.5519 16.5499 22 15.993 22H4.00666C3.45059 22 3 21.5554 3 20.9991L3.0026 7.00087C3.0027 6.44811 3.45264 6 4.00942 6H6.9998ZM5.00242 8L5.00019 20H14.9998V8H5.00242ZM8.9998 6H16.9998V16H18.9998V4H8.9998V6Z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg>' id=copy-cfg style=display:none></div><article data-backlink-icon='<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" height="20"><path d="M9.41421 8L18.0208 16.6066L16.6066 18.0208L8 9.41421V17H6V6H17V8H9.41421Z" fill="currentColor"></path></svg>' class=prose><h1>DNS-level adblock on the go with blocky</h1><div id=post-info><div id=date><span id=publish>2024-05-31</span></div><div id=tags><a href=https://devraza.giize.com/tags/blocky><span>#</span>blocky</a><a href=https://devraza.giize.com/tags/adblock><span>#</span>adblock</a><a href=https://devraza.giize.com/tags/headscale><span>#</span>headscale</a><a href=https://devraza.giize.com/tags/tailscale><span>#</span>tailscale</a></div></div><h1 id=introduction>Introduction<a aria-label="Anchor link for: introduction" class=zola-anchor href=#introduction>#</a></h1><p>An adblocker is something you commonly find installed in browsers, usually through an extension. However, what if you wanted an adblocking system that was a bit deeper? Something that doesn't require a browser extension, and gives you a consistent adblocking system? This is where DNS-level adblockers like <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://adguard.com/en/adguard-home/overview.html>AdGuard Home</a> or <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://pi-hole.net>Pi-hole</a> come in.<h1 id=dns>DNS?<a aria-label="Anchor link for: dns" class=zola-anchor href=#dns>#</a></h1><p>DNS stands for <strong>D</strong>omain <strong>N</strong>ame <strong>S</strong>ystem. It's what points URLs like <code>https://duck.com</code> to an IP address (like <code>52.142.124.215</code>), making it much easier to find things on the internet.<p>DNS-level adblockers work by filtering out queries for URLs pointing to IP addresses serving ads. In this blog post, I'll use <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://0xerr0r.github.io/blocky>blocky</a> as an example of one such adblocker for demonstration purposes.<h1 id=setting-up-blocky>Setting up blocky<a aria-label="Anchor link for: setting-up-blocky" class=zola-anchor href=#setting-up-blocky>#</a></h1><h2 id=nixos-configuration>NixOS configuration<a aria-label="Anchor link for: nixos-configuration" class=zola-anchor href=#nixos-configuration>#</a></h2><p>There's a configuration option for <code>blocky</code> provided by NixOS, so you can enable and configure it in your NixOS config:<pre class=language-nix data-lang=nix data-linenos style=background:#151515;color:#e8e8d3><code class=language-nix data-lang=nix><table><tbody><tr><td>1<td><span style=color:#ffb964>services</span><span>.</span><span style=color:#ffb964>blocky </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>2<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>enable </span><span>= true;
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</span><tr><td>3<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>settings </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>4<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>prometheus</span><span>.</span><span style=color:#ffb964>enable </span><span>= true;
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</span><tr><td>5<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>blocking </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>6<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>blackLists</span><span>.</span><span style=color:#ffb964>ads </span><span>= [
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</span><tr><td>7<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/hosts"
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</span><tr><td>8<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"https://sysctl.org/cameleon/hosts"
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</span><tr><td>9<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"https://s3.amazonaws.com/lists.disconnect.me/simple_ad.txt"
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</span><tr><td>10<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"https://s3.amazonaws.com/lists.disconnect.me/simple_tracking.txt"
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</span><tr><td>11<td><span> ];
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</span><tr><td>12<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>clientGroupsBlock </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>13<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>default </span><span>= [ </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"ads" </span><span>];
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</span><tr><td>14<td><span> };
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</span><tr><td>15<td><span> };
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</span><tr><td>16<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>upstreams </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>17<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>groups</span><span>.</span><span style=color:#ffb964>default </span><span>= [
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</span><tr><td>18<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"9.9.9.9"
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</span><tr><td>19<td><span> </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"1.1.1.1"
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</span><tr><td>20<td><span> ];
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</span><tr><td>21<td><span> };
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</span><tr><td>22<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>ports </span><span>= {
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</span><tr><td>23<td><span> </span><span style=color:#ffb964>dns </span><span>= </span><span style=color:#99ad6a>"0.0.0.0:53"</span><span>;
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</span><tr><td>24<td><span> };
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</span><tr><td>25<td><span> };
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</span><tr><td>26<td><span>};
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</span></table></code></pre><blockquote class="callout alert"><div class=icon><svg viewbox="0 0 24 24" height=20 width=20 xmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svg><path d="M4.00098 20V14C4.00098 9.58172 7.5827 6 12.001 6C16.4193 6 20.001 9.58172 20.001 14V20H21.001V22H3.00098V20H4.00098ZM6.00098 20H18.001V14C18.001 10.6863 15.3147 8 12.001 8C8.68727 8 6.00098 10.6863 6.00098 14V20ZM11.001 2H13.001V5H11.001V2ZM19.7792 4.80761L21.1934 6.22183L19.0721 8.34315L17.6578 6.92893L19.7792 4.80761ZM2.80859 6.22183L4.22281 4.80761L6.34413 6.92893L4.92991 8.34315L2.80859 6.22183ZM7.00098 14C7.00098 11.2386 9.23956 9 12.001 9V11C10.3441 11 9.00098 12.3431 9.00098 14H7.00098Z" fill=currentColor></path></svg></div><div class=content><p><strong>Why isn't it running?</strong><p>You might need to reboot after running a <code>nixos-rebuild switch</code>, or move/kill any process running on port <code>53</code> for this to work.</div></blockquote><blockquote class="callout note"><div class=icon><svg viewbox="0 0 24 24" height=20 width=20 xmlns=http://www.w3.org/2000/svg><path d="M12 22C6.47715 22 2 17.5228 2 12C2 6.47715 6.47715 2 12 2C17.5228 2 22 6.47715 22 12C22 17.5228 17.5228 22 12 22ZM12 20C16.4183 20 20 16.4183 20 12C20 7.58172 16.4183 4 12 4C7.58172 4 4 7.58172 4 12C4 16.4183 7.58172 20 12 20ZM11 7H13V9H11V7ZM11 11H13V17H11V11Z" fill=currentColor></path></svg></div><div class=content><p><strong>Custom DNS mapping</strong><p>You can use blocky to map a domain of your choice to an IP of your choice - refer to the <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://0xerr0r.github.io/blocky/latest/configuration/>documentation</a> for more information.</div></blockquote><p>Here, I've used two upstream nameservers for blocky to forward valid DNS requests to (since blocky doesn't do any DNS resolution itself - except for custom mapping, detailed later). One is <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://one.one.one.one>Cloudflare's DNS</a> (<code>1.1.1.1</code>) and the other is <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://quad9.net>Quad9</a> (<code>9.9.9.9</code>).<p>As indicated by lines 6 through 11, you need to add lists containing URLs you want to be filtered from your DNS requests.<h2 id=making-it-work-everywhere>Making it work everywhere<a aria-label="Anchor link for: making-it-work-everywhere" class=zola-anchor href=#making-it-work-everywhere>#</a></h2><p>The thing is, you'll need to set the IP address of the machine running blocky as a nameserver for all of your workstations - it just won't recieve any requests otherwise, so it won't be <em>doing</em> any adblocking if you don't do this.<p>Of course, if you've got a router worth keeping around, you should be able to set a network-wide DNS resolver, and you can point this to your blocky-running machine in your router's settings.<p>However, what if you wanted to have this work everywhere you go, perhaps on a portable laptop? Well, if you're using <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://tailscale.com>Tailscale</a> or <a rel="nofollow noreferrer" href=https://headscale.net>Headscale</a> you can just can edit the nameservers you use in your VPN's settings and set it to the <em>IP address</em> of the device running blocky. This way, any device on your VPN can utilise blocky and have a functioning DNS-level adblocker no matter where you are.<p>If you're looking to setup headscale, I've made <a href=../selfhost-tailscale>a blog post about it</a>.<h1 id=finishing-thoughts>Finishing thoughts<a aria-label="Anchor link for: finishing-thoughts" class=zola-anchor href=#finishing-thoughts>#</a></h1><p>With the existence of browser extensions doing the same thing adblockers like blocky and Pi-hole can, not everyone is going to need something this sophisticated. I think something like this is better suited to those looking for better coverage in their adblocking, or something that gives more control over DNS requests - for example, to easily setup custom DNS mappings or to restrict access to certain websites.</article><div class=giscus></div></div><footer><div class=copyright><p>© 2023-2024 Muhammad Nauman Raza</div><div class=credits>powered by <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href=https://www.getzola.org target=_blank>zola</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href=https://github.com/isunjn/serene target=_blank>serene</a></div></footer></main></div><script src=/js/lightense.min.js></script><script src=/js/main.js></script> |