Adblocking Softether VPN with DNSMasq Supplementary Hosts file

Here, you can find the config files and script I use on my own system to run an ads-free network when I'm connected to VPN I do use Softether VPN, DNSMasq and some cron jobs to ensure it's running stable.

This repo consolidates several reputable hosts files and consolidates them into a single hosts file that you can use.

Currently this hosts file contains 69269 unique entries. Daily updated, deduplicated hosts.supp file can be downloaded and directly used with DNSMasq, hosts file or any other software of your choosing.

Source of hosts are listed here

Currently the hosts files from the following locations are amalgamated:

• MVPs.org Hosts file at http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm, updated monthly, or thereabouts.
• Dan Pollock at http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/ updated regularly.
• Malware Domain List at http://www.malwaredomainlist.com/, updated regularly.
• Peter Lowe at http://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/, updated regularly.
• AdAway at http://adaway.org/, updated regularly
• Hosts-file.net ad blocking servers http://hosts-file.net/, updated regularly
• My own rules for blocking Turkish Advertising Agencies

What is a hosts file?

A hosts file, named hosts (with no file extension), is a plain-text file used by all operating systems to map hostnames to IP addresses.

In most operating systems, the hosts file is preferential to DNS. Therefore if a host name is resolved by the hosts file, the request never leaves your computer.

Having a smart hosts file goes a long way towards blocking malware, adware, and other irritants.

For example, to nullify requests to some doubleclick.net servers, adding these lines to your hosts file will do it:

# block doubleClick's servers
127.0.0.1 ad.ae.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.ar.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.at.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.au.doubleclick.net
127.0.0.1 ad.be.doubleclick.net
# etc...

Location of your hosts file

To modify your current hosts file, look for it in the following places and modify it with a text editor.

Mac OS X, iOS, Android, Linux: /etc/hosts folder.

Windows: %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts folder.

Reloading hosts file

Your operating system will cache DNS lookups. You can either reboot or run the following commands to manually flush your DNS cache once the new hosts file is in place.

If you are running DNSMasq on your system run: /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart

Otherwise, considering you have nscd installed, open a Terminal and run: /etc/init.d/nscd restart