Raspberry Pi with Pi-Hole Setup Instructions

I recently upgraded my Pi-Hole OS from Buster (v10) to Bookworm (v12). Even though I did this a few years back, it is hard to remember the steps needed to accomplish the goal. Especially for those that are more versed in Windows OS than Linux type OS. This time I decided to document the procedure.

1. SD Card Setup

Updates the system and configures basic settings on the SD card.

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo raspi-config  # Timezone, SSH, expand filesystem
sudo reboot

2. Fix SSH

Removes old SSH key from Windows to reconnect after reinstall.

ssh-keygen -R 192.168.1.4  # On Windows, adjust IP

3. Overclock (Fix Flickering)

Boosts CPU/GPU speeds to fix screen flicker, later optimized.

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt
# Initial: over_voltage=6, arm_freq=2100, gpu_freq=750
# Optimized: over_voltage=4, arm_freq=1800, gpu_freq=750
sudo reboot

4. USB SSD Boot

Enables SSD booting and clones SD card to SSD for faster performance.

sudo rpi-eeprom-update -a && sudo reboot
lsblk  # Verified your source and target drive addresses: SD=/dev/mmcblk0, SSD=/dev/sda
sudo dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=/dev/sda bs=4M status=progress && sudo sync
sudo shutdown -h now
sudo raspi-config  # Expand filesystem on SSD
sudo reboot

5. Swap File Tweaks

Adjusts virtual memory: removed, then set to 1GB, later 512MB.

sudo swapoff -a          # Turn off all active swap spaces
sudo systemctl stop dphys-swapfile  # Stop the swap management service
sudo apt remove dphys-swapfile      # Uninstall the swap service
sudo rm /var/swap        # Remove the swap file (optional)
free -h                  # Verify swap is 0B (no reboot needed)
# Later: CONF_SWAPSIZE=1024
sudo apt install -y dphys-swapfile
sudo nano /etc/dphys-swapfile  # CONF_SWAPSIZE=1024
sudo systemctl start dphys-swapfile
# Later: CONF_SWAPSIZE=512
sudo systemctl stop dphys-swapfile 
sudo nano /etc/dphys-swapfile  # CONF_SWAPSIZE=512
sudo systemctl start dphys-swapfile

6. Enable RDP

Installs xrdp for remote desktop access from Windows.

sudo apt install -y xrdp
sudo systemctl enable xrdp && sudo systemctl start xrdp
sudo reboot

7. Install Pi-Hole

Sets up Pi-Hole as a network-wide ad blocker and DNS server.

sudo apt update
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash  # Follow installer prompts
sudo pihole -a -p  # Set admin password

That is it, let me know if you have any questions. HLC.

Raspberry Pi OS with Pi-Hole Installation