Your First Cybersecurity Homelab

The conference lab already had the required tools installed for attendees. If you're recreating the workshop on your own Ubuntu machine, install the prerequisites below first. This covers the tools used in the exercises, including Docker, Docker Compose, Nmap, tcpdump, dig, and curl.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io docker-compose-v2 nmap tcpdump dnsutils curl
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"

Do this before continuing. Docker version commands can work even when your current shell still cannot access the Docker daemon.

newgrp docker
docker ps

Do not continue until docker ps works without sudo. If you prefer, log out and back in instead of running newgrp docker.

docker --version
docker compose version
nmap --version
tcpdump --version
dig -v
curl --version

The commands below create the Pi-hole Compose file used for the lab. They automatically detect your main network interface and timezone. The lab password is homelabvillage. Change it before using this outside a temporary lab.

mkdir -p ~/labs/pihole
cd ~/labs/pihole

PIHOLE_IFACE=$(ip route show default | awk '/default/ {print $5; exit}')
PIHOLE_TZ=$(timedatectl show -p Timezone --value)

cat > compose.yml <<EOF
services:
  pihole:
    container_name: pihole
    image: pihole/pihole:latest
    network_mode: host

    environment:
      TZ: "$PIHOLE_TZ"
      FTLCONF_webserver_api_password: "homelabvillage" # LAB PASSWORD - CHANGE THIS
      FTLCONF_dns_upstreams: "1.1.1.1;9.9.9.9"
      FTLCONF_dns_interface: "$PIHOLE_IFACE"
      FTLCONF_dns_listeningMode: "BIND"

    volumes:
      - "./etc-pihole:/etc/pihole"

    restart: unless-stopped
EOF

docker compose config
docker compose up -d
docker compose ps

For a permanent Pi-hole install, give the Ubuntu machine a static IP or DHCP reservation so its address does not change. Ubuntu may already use systemd-resolved on local port 53. This lab uses Pi-hole's BIND mode so Pi-hole can bind to the detected network interface without disabling Ubuntu's local resolver.