The <atarget="_blank"href="https://pi-hole.net/">Pi-hole</a> dev team announced the public beta of Pi-hole v5 on Jan 19, 2020. If you'd like more information (including instructions on how to upgrade to the new beta version AT YOUR OWN RISK), check out <atarget="_blank"href="https://pi-hole.net/2020/01/19/announcing-a-beta-test-of-pi-hole-5-0/">the Pi-hole beta announcement</a>.
The biggest change in Pi-hole v5 is that blocklist, blacklist, whitelist, and regex info is no longer stored in individual text files -- they are now all stored in a single database file called `gravity.db`. As a result, the latest version of `pihole-cloudsync` needs to know which version of Pi-hole you're running to properly sync. `pihole-cloudsync` cannot synchronize multiple Pi-holes of different major versions. You can sync a v4 Pi-hole with unlimited v4 Pi-holes, or a v5 Pi-hole with unlimited v5 Pi-holes. But you **cannot sync a v4 Pi-hole to a v5 Pi-hole**.
**Before proceeding, verify that your Primary and *all* Secondary Pi-holes are running Pi-hole v5.**
# Configuring pihole-cloudsync to work with Pi-hole v5
Because Pi-hole v5 is still in beta, the default options for `pihole-cloudsync` are still configured for Pi-hole v4. Once v5 becomes the official release and sees wider adoption, I'll update `pihole-cloudsync` to work with Pi-hole v5 by default. For now, you'll have to make a few changes to the script to work with Pi-hole v5's new database.
## If you already have a previous version of `pihole-cloudsync` installed
To upgrade to the latest version of `pihole-cloudsync`, do the following on *all* Primary and Secondary Pi-holes. Note that this will completely over-write any previous modifications you've made to `pihole-cloudsync`.
1. Do `cd /usr/local/bin/pihole-cloudsync`
2. Do `git fetch --all`
3. Do `git reset --hard origin/master`
Your local version of `pihole-cloudsync` is now updated to the lastest release version.
## If you are installing `pihole-cloudsync` for the first time
Follow the instructions in the <atarget="_blank"href="https://github.com/stevejenkins/pihole-cloudsync/blob/master/README.md">standard README</a> to clone a fresh install of `pihole-cloudsync` -- but do not run it until you've made the following changes:
1. Do `cd /usr/local/bin/pihole-cloudsync`
2. Edit `pihole-cloudsync` with a text editor
3. In the CONSTANTS section, change `pihole_version=4` to `pihole_version=5`
## Shared Hosts Mode with Pi-hole v5
The **Shared Hosts Mode** option is still available in `pihole-cloudsync` for users who wish to remain on Pi-hole v4.
One of the new features of Pi-hole v5 is a **Custom DNS** tool that replicates `pihole-cloudsync`'s Shared Hosts Mode. Custom DNS entries can now be stored in Pi-hole's `gravity.db` file, which is then sychronized between your Primary and Secondary Pi-holes... along with the Custom DNS hosts.
I recommend Pi-hole v5 users set the `enable_hosts` variable in the `pihole-cloudsync` script to **off** and manually migrate their shared hosts into Pi-hole v5 using the Custom DNS page in the admin UI.
The only issue I know of currently is that because Pi-hole now stores all its information in a single database file, that single file can easily be larger than the 50MB that Github recommends. I currently have it working just fine with a DB file that's currently over 70MB. Github allows it but throws a filesize warning when doing a "push." I may eventually get around to using GitHub's large file management system, but for now this works.
As always, you are totally responsible for anything this script does to your system. Whether it launches a nice game of Tic Tac Toe or global thermonuclear war, you're on your own. :)
