Skip to content

Commit

Permalink
v2.0.1 info added
Browse files Browse the repository at this point in the history
Signed-off-by: angela <33108490+angela-d@users.noreply.github.com>
  • Loading branch information
angela-d committed Jul 29, 2019
1 parent ffe240f commit 7c1ab95
Showing 1 changed file with 30 additions and 4 deletions.
34 changes: 30 additions & 4 deletions README.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
# Auto Update Ad-blocking Hosts file on Linux and Mac

Automate the hosts file process with cronjobs.
Automate hosts file updates on Linux-based and MacOS systems.

## v2.0.1 Changes
- Bugfixes (deb installer)
- Whitelist capabilities added

### Purpose of Hosts Files
Hosts files will reroute unwanted traffic from ad farms, behavioral tracking firms and malware sites to a blackhole; routing to 0.0.0.0 (localhost; your PC) when a request is made to a URL on the blacklist.
Expand All @@ -26,12 +30,17 @@ If you have an up-to-date hosts file, the risk is severely lessened.
Installing:
![Install](./img/install.png)

### Firefox Snooping list by LocalFigurez
### Firefox Snooping list, originally by LocalFigurez
For those of us who want our browser to behave like a browser and not a GPS anklet, this list will prove useful by blocking a [plethora of tracking URLs](firefox-includes). A few of which, some Firefox users have noticed seem to phone home even when the setting is toggled off in about:config.

### Custom filters
You can easily append any domain you want to blacklist directly from your home directory. Your custom preferences will be stored with each subsequent update - set it and forget it!

### Whitelisting
If the upstream list curators block a domain you want to see, add it to `~/autohosts/whitelist` and run `sudo autohosts`

Be sure to add nothing other than the domain(s) you want to whitelist to this file! I added 3 examples to the default whitelist file; you can regex it (TLD domain with no prefix or suffix, to whitelist subdomains, too: `example`) or supply a full TLD: `www.example.com`

## To Install
Debian-based Linux distros:
```bash
Expand All @@ -42,6 +51,7 @@ MacOS or non-Debian-based Linux distros:
```bash
git clone https://github.com/angela-d/autohosts.git && cd autohosts && sudo ./autohosts
```
That's it !

***
## To upgrade an existing install
Expand All @@ -64,18 +74,33 @@ mv /tmp/custom_filters ~/autohosts/custom_filters

***

## Adding custom filters
## Adding Custom Blacklists or Whitelists
- These files can be edited in your favorite text editor; command-line modifications are not necessary!

Custom filters are loaded to your home directory:

**Linux:**

Blacklist:

`~/autohosts/custom_filters` or `/home/your_username/autohosts/custom_filters`

Whitelist:

`~/autohosts/whitelist` or `/home/your_username/autohosts/whitelist`

***

**MacOS**

Blacklist:

`~/autohosts/custom_filters` or `/Users/your_username/autohosts/custom_filters`
- This file can be edited in your favorite text editor; command-line modifications are not necessary!

Whitelist:

`~/autohosts/whitelist` or `/Users/your_username/autohosts/whitelist`


### Adjust the cron time
If your computer is not powered on when the cron is scheduled, you'll miss the update. Ensure the cronjob is set for a time when you're most likely to have it on. You can adjust it by running:
Expand All @@ -100,3 +125,4 @@ Uninstalling:
- If you're running DD-WRT, you can add a cron to pull a [hosts file for your entire network](https://github.com/angela-d/brain-dump/blob/master/networking/dd-wrt.md) or load [Pi-Hole](https://pi-hole.net/) to a Raspberry Pi.
- OpenWRT also has [network-based adblocking](https://github.com/angela-d/brain-dump/blob/master/networking/openwrt-site-blocking.md) capabilities.
- Rooted Android devices can utilize hosts files, too; simply load the hosts file via `adb push` to `/etc/hosts`
- If you have to use Windows, [Unified Hosts Autoupdate](https://github.com/ScriptTiger/Unified-Hosts-AutoUpdate) offers similar capabilities to Autohosts, in a Windows environment

0 comments on commit 7c1ab95

Please sign in to comment.