To install Pi-hole on your standalone Ubuntu 24.04 and Ubuntu 26.04 bare-metal servers, you must first disable Ubuntu's built-in DNS stub listener (systemd-resolved). If you do not disable it, Pi-hole will fail to install because port 53 (DNS) will already be occupied.

Run the following sequential steps on both machines to complete the installation.

1. Disable the Conflicting System DNS DaemonRun these commands on both Ubuntu servers to free up port 53:

# Stop and disable the systemd-resolved service
sudo systemctl stop systemd-resolved
sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved

# Remove the symbolic link to the resolved configuration file
sudo rm /etc/resolv.conf

# Create a fresh, static DNS configuration file pointing to upstream DNS
echo "nameserver 1.1.1.1" | sudo tee /etc/resolv.conf

2. Run the Official Pi-hole Automated InstallerExecute the network installer script directly from the Pi-hole Official Site via the command line:

bash

curl -sSL https://pi-hole.net | bash