Warda: from ward (to protect, guardian).
Warda protects every device at home (computers, phones, consoles, TV…) against advertising, tracking and dangerous sites, without installing anything on them. It runs on a small box (a Raspberry Pi) or on a machine that is always on, and your router sends it the name requests ("DNS") of the whole network.
Each chapter starts with an In short box for those used to it; the rest explains step by step.
- 1. What Warda does, and what it never doesFiltering DNS server for the local network: blocklists, categories per profile, learning that suggests (it blocks on its own only if you turn that option on)…
- 2. Install WardaRaspberry Pi 4 or later: file warda.rpi-imager-manifest opened in Raspberry Pi Imager 2.x (it offers the image of Warda with the customisation; SSH by key…
- 3. Connect the network to WardaGive the box a fixed address (DHCP reservation in the router), then set it as the DNS server in the DHCP of the router.
- 4. First stepsHousehold → People: create the people (child, teenager, adult) and drag their devices to them. Household → Groups:
- 5. Every day"Something is broken" on a device: filtering paused 15 min for it, and one-click unblocking of what was blocked just before. Suggestions:
- 6. Backups, updates and settingsSystem: backup password, encrypted backup every night at 01:30 (7 kept) and copy to a USB drive (FAT or exFAT) at 01:45; restore from System or at…
- 7. TroubleshootingNo site at all: check that the box is on and reachable, systemctl status warda, journalctl -u warda. One broken site: "Something is broken". Lost password:
- 8. Children's phones and tabletsWarda protects what goes through your network, and, with the protection outside the home (chapter 11), the devices you enrol wherever they are.
- 9. Encrypted DNS on your devicesDoT (853/TCP), DoH (443) and DoQ (853/UDP) with a certificate of Let's Encrypt for xxxxxxxxxx.warda-dns.net, renewed by Warda; a .mobileconfig profile for…
- 10. When devices go around WardaWarda checks the network every 5 minutes: Network → Network analysis, Network check, and a warning on the dashboard.
- 11. Protection outside the homeSubscription (open to everyone until subscriptions open). Household → Outside the home: turn it on, choose a device, Give an address (shown once).
- 12. Misuse: what Warda prevents, and its limitsWarda answers only your own network: never forward ports 53, 853 or 443 of your router to it, never publish it through a reverse proxy or a tunnel (refused…
- 13. Your box, country by countryIn the box, put the address of Warda as the only DNS server given to the devices, and as its IPv6 DNS server. A box that always gives its own DNS:
- 14. Your router, brand by brandSet Warda in the router the devices connect to, not in the box behind it. Some routers answer the devices themselves (Netgear, Orbi, Google Nest Wifi, eero…