Introduction

In this post, I will show how I deployed AdGuard Home in my home lab environment to achieve network-wide ad-blocking and DNS-level filtering. My homelab runs on Proxmox, with AdGuard Home inside a Docker container on a Linux virtual machine.

This setup allows all devices on my network to benefit from ad-blocking, tracking protection, and enhanced DNS management without installing software individually on each device.

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Why AdGuard Home?

AdGuard Home is an open-source, self-hosted network-wide ad-blocker and DNS resolver. Its key benefits include:

Network-wide ad blocking using AdGuard Home deployed as a VM on ESXi. Blocks ads, trackers, and malicious domains at the DNS level — before they reach any device on the network.

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🖥️ Environment

• Hypervisor: VMware ESXi
• VM OS: Ubuntu Server 24.04 LTS
• VM Specs: 3 vCPU, 4 GB RAM, 60GB disk
• AdGuard Home Version: Latest stable

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🚀 Step 1: Create the VM on ESXi

Created a new VM in the ESXi web UI with the following settings: