Practical architecture for combining Pi-hole and Nginx Proxy Manager

Overview: Roles of Each Component

Pi-hole

• Runs local DNS (port 53)
• Serves as the DNS resolver for your network
• Provides local DNS records so devices resolve service names (e.g., home.lab, jellyfin.lab)
• Does not need to serve HTTP(80) or HTTPS(443)

Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM)

• Handles all HTTP/HTTPS traffic for services
• Manages SSL certificates (Let’s Encrypt if you choose)
• Routes incoming application requests to internal services on different ports/IPs

Key Principle

Pi-hole handles DNS resolution only. NPM handles web traffic routing and HTTPS termination.

This clear separation avoids conflicts and makes management scalable.

✔️ Best Architecture (Most Reliable)

1) Move Pi-hole’s Web UI off Port 80/443

By default Pi-hole binds its web UI to port 80/443. This collides with NPM.

Change Pi-hole Admin UI to a different port (e.g., 8081, 8888):

• On Pi-hole host: change Lighttpd config so /admin listens on 8081
• DNS on Pi-hole still runs on port 53 and is unaffected by this change

This allows NPM to own 80/443 exclusively. (bolet.io)

2) Local DNS Records in Pi-hole for All Reverse-Proxied Hosts

Create A records that point friendly domains to NPM’s IP.

Example:

pihole.lab.zn80.net     → 192.168.10.105
jellyfin.lab.zn80.net   → 192.168.10.105
bookstack.lab.zn80.net  → 192.168.10.105

Reasoning:

• Devices query Pi-hole DNS and get your internal names
• NPM then routes based on Host header

Pi-hole is the DNS source of truth for your LAN. (ReproDev)

3) Configure NPM Proxy Hosts for Each Service

Inside NPM Proxy Hosts:

Important details

• For Pi-hole you may need to forward /admin correct paths
• Enable SSL for all hosts (ideally) via Let’s Encrypt (even internal DNS) If Let’s Encrypt can’t validate via DNS challenge for internal domains, you can use a local CA or self-signed cert and manage trust in your clients. (Reddit)

This makes everything clean to access via Hostnames exclusively:

https://jellyfin.lab.zn80.net
https://pihole.lab.zn80.net/admin

4) Maintain Internal DNS Instead of Wildcard DNS (Optional but safer)

You could be tempted to use a wildcard (*.lab.zn80.net → 192.168.10.105), but that is less safe and confusing for certificate validation and service discovery.

Better pattern:

• Pi-hole local DNS → explicit A records per hostname
• Pi-hole → NPM IP
• NPM → internal service

Explicit records help:

• TTL management
• SSL certificate issuance
• Troubleshooting

🧠 Why This Is the Best Way

✅ DNS + Reverse Proxy are cleanly separated

Pi-hole isn’t serving HTTP, so there’s no port conflict. NPM can handle 80/443 without interference.

✅ You achieve real HTTPS for internal domains

Every service can have a valid certificate via NPM.

✅ Easy, scalable, and future-proof

Adding a new service is trivial:

1. Add A record in Pi-hole
2. Add Proxy Host in NPM
3. Done

✅ Works with VPN / local DNS clients

If your devices use Pi-hole’s DNS (wired/wireless/VPN), they resolve domain names that NPM can proxy. (Pi-hole Userspace)

🛠 Detailed Implementation

A) Change Pi-hole web interface port

Edit /etc/lighttpd/lighttpd.conf:

server.port = 8081

Restart:

sudo systemctl restart lighttpd

B) Add DNS entries in Pi-hole

In Pi-hole:

Local DNS → DNS Records

Examples:

pihole.lab.zn80.net → 192.168.10.105
jellyfin.lab.zn80.net → 192.168.10.105

C) In NPM, add Proxy Hosts

For each service:

• Domain names: your local domain

• Forward hostname: actual service IP/port (Pi-hole admin UI at 8081)

• SSL:

  • Request new cert (if public domain or DNS challenge available)
  • Or use local CA / self-signed trusted cert

Set common options:

• Block exploits: enabled
• Expires headers: optional
• Websockets: if needed

🚫 What Not to Do

❌ Don’t proxy Pi-hole DNS-port

Do not try to proxy port 53 through NPM. DNS must be direct.

❌ Don’t expose Pi-hole admin UI publicly

Pi-hole should only be accessible from your LAN or VPN.

❌ Don’t use wildcards unless you know certificate chain

Wildcard DNS can break HTTPS if certificates aren’t matching.

📌 Final Result You Should See

After setup:

nslookup pihole.lab.zn80.net      # → 192.168.10.105
nslookup jellyfin.lab.zn80.net    # → 192.168.10.105

Browser:
https://pihole.lab.zn80.net/admin  # SSL
https://jellyfin.lab.zn80.net      # SSL

Pi-hole DNS works, NPM handles web access, and everything is secure, consistent, and manageable.