Maza ad blocking

🥇 Top 1 in Hacker News

Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22717650

A command to squash all ads in all browsers

sudo maza start

Like Pi-hole but local and using your operating system.

Simple, native and efficient local ad blocker. Bash script compatible with MacOS, Linux, BSD and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

• Just bash 🤖.
• It affects any browser or software installed 😱.
• You don't have to install any browser extensions or applications 🚫, you just use the tools of your operating system.
• You update the list of DNS to be blocked with a single command 😎.
• Pure Opensource ❤️.

Index

• Commands
• Install or update
• Auto update of domains to be blocked
• Uninstall
• Not blocking certain domains
• Add custom domains to block
• Alternative DNS list
• DNSMASQ (or support sub-domains: wildcards)
  • Create your own Pi-Hole

Help me continue to improve

📟 Commands

📡 Update database

maza update

🔨 Start

sudo maza start

🛠 Stop

sudo maza stop

⚖️ Status

maza status

⚙️ Install or Update

😥 Requirements

• bash 4.0 or higher
• curl
• Only macOS users, gsed: brew install gnu-sed

Then you do this.

curl -o maza https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tanrax/maza-ad-blocking/master/maza && sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/maza && chmod +x maza && sudo mv maza /usr/local/bin

Optional but recommended, make a backup of your hosts file.

sudo cp /etc/hosts /etc/hosts.backup

🤖 Auto update of domains to be blocked

Open your cron.

crontab -e

Add the following line at the end.

@daily maza update

Some users have reported problems creating demons on MacOS. Fixed with TERM=dumb.

TERM=dumb
@daily maza update

🔪 Uninstall

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/maza && sudo rm -r ~/.config/maza

🚫 Not blocking certain domains

Edit ~/.config/maza/ignore and add the domains you want to ignore.

Example:

ads-twitter.com
ads.twitter.com

By default, the following domains are ignored to avoid problems with the operating system.

localhost
localhost.localdomain
local
broadcasthost
ip6-localhost
ip6-loopback
ip6-localnet
ip6-mcastprefix
ip6-allnodes
ip6-allrouters
ip6-allhosts
0.0.0.0

Finally update Maza to apply the changes.

maza update

🎯 Add custom domains to block

If you want to include your own domains to be blocked, you can add them to ~/.config/maza/custom-domains. They must each be on one line, ignoring end slash or protocol (http or https).

For example:

beauty-tea.com
www.expaqua.cloud
ad.about.com

Then update the database to regenerate the list to include your domains.

maza update

🔒 Alternative DNS list

By default the Yoyo DNS list (Peter Lowe) is used. If you want to use another list, like Steven Black's for example, you must modify the variable in line 7.

Replace this line:

URL_DNS_LIST="https://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/serverlist.php?showintro=0&mimetype=plaintext"

with this:

URL_DNS_LIST="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/hosts"

DNSMASQ

Unfortunately the hosts file does not support sub-domains (wildcards), which is necessary to correctly filter all DNS. You will need to install locally a server for that purpose, Maza supports the Dnsmasq format.

MacOS

Linux

MacOS

0 Update Maza

maza update

1 Install

brew install dnsmasq

2 Configure

Edit the file.

/usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf

Add the following line at the end.

conf-file=(your user path)/.config/maza/dnsmasq.conf

Example

conf-file=/Users/myuser/.config/maza/dnsmasq.conf

Start DNSMASQ.

sudo brew services stop dnsmasq
sudo brew services start dnsmasq

3 Tell your OS to use your DNS server

Delete the list of macOS DNS servers and add the 3 addresses. The first one will be your local server, and the other 2 belong to OpenDNS, which you can use any other.

127.0.0.1
208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

Refresh your DNS cache

sudo dscacheutil -flushcache; sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder

4 Restart/Start Maza

sudo maza stop
sudo maza start

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

0 Update Maza

maza update

1 Install

sudo apt update
sudo apt install dnsmasq

2 Configure

Edit file in path.

/etc/dnsmasq.conf

Add the following line at the end.

conf-file=(your user path)/.config/maza/dnsmasq.conf

Example

conf-file=/home/myuser/.config/maza/dnsmasq.conf

Start DNSMASQ.

sudo systemctl stop dnsmasq
sudo systemctl start dnsmasq
sudo systemctl enable dnsmasq

3 Tell your OS to use your DNS server

3.1 Gnome Shell

In Gnome Shell, open Settings->Nework. Click in your connection.

Add your local server (dnsmasq), and the other 2 belong to OpenDNS, which you can use any other.

127.0.0.1,208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220

3.2 KDE Plasma

In KDE Plasma, open Settings->Nework->Connectios. Click in your connection and tab ip4.

• Method: Automatic (Only addresses).

Add your local server (dnsmasq), and the other 2 belong to OpenDNS, which you can use any other.

• DNS Servers: 127.0.0.1,208.67.222.222,208.67.220.220.

4 Restart/Start Maza

sudo maza stop
sudo maza start

Bonus: dnsmasq is in charge of solving all DNS

Add in configure file: /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf

no-resolv
server=208.67.222.222
server=208.67.220.220

Bonus: dnsmasq have localhost domains

If you want all your .localhost domains, for example, point to localhost add in configure file: /usr/local/etc/dnsmasq.conf or /etc/dnsmasq.conf.

address=/.localhost/127.0.0.1

🍓 CREATE YOUR OWN PI-HOLE SERVER WITH MAZA

You can easily create your own DNS server on a Raspberry Pi, VPS or wherever you want, to connect your devices in just 10 commands thanks to Maza. Follow the tutorial.

⚠️ CAUTION

Remember to make a backup copy of /etc/hosts in case of unforeseen circumstances, neither the project nor its author will be responsible for any possible repercussions derived from not carrying out this action.

🧑‍🎨 Credits

Andros Fenollosa