diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/blacklist.sh b/advanced/Scripts/blacklist.sh
index 70b8131a..7f3684d0 100644
--- a/advanced/Scripts/blacklist.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/blacklist.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,29 @@ if [[ $# = 0 ]]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Check if pihole user, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+runninguser=$(whoami)
+if [[ "$runninguser" = "pihole"  ]];then
+	echo "::: You are pihole user."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo -u pihole $@"
+		sudo -u pihole "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
 #globals
 blacklist=/etc/pihole/blacklist.txt
 adList=/etc/pihole/gravity.list
@@ -153,15 +176,11 @@ function Reload() {
 	echo ":::"
 	echo -n "::: Refresh lists in dnsmasq..."
 
-	dnsmasqPid=$(pidof dnsmasq)
-
-	if [[ $dnsmasqPid ]]; then
-		# service already running - reload config
-		sudo kill -HUP $dnsmasqPid
-	else
-		# service not running, start it up
-		sudo service dnsmasq start
-	fi
+	# Reloading services requires root.
+	# The installer should have created a file in sudoers.d to allow pihole user
+	# to run piholeReloadServices.sh as root with sudo without a password
+	sudo --non-interactive /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh
+	
 	echo " done!"
 }
 
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh b/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
index ebed8684..4a4da53f 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,28 @@
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
 
+# Check if pihole user, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+runninguser=$(whoami)
+if [[ "$runninguser" = "pihole"  ]];then
+	echo "::: You are pihole user."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo -u pihole $@"
+		sudo -u pihole "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
 
 #Functions##############################################################################################################
 piLog="/var/log/pihole.log"
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/piholeLogFlush.sh b/advanced/Scripts/piholeLogFlush.sh
index bbcf1ade..fa1d4b90 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/piholeLogFlush.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/piholeLogFlush.sh
@@ -10,4 +10,27 @@
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
 
+# Check if pihole user, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+runninguser=$(whoami)
+if [[ "$runninguser" = "pihole"  ]];then
+	echo "::: You are pihole user."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo -u pihole $@"
+		sudo -u pihole "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
 truncate -s 0 /var/log/pihole.log
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/piholeReloadServices.sh b/advanced/Scripts/piholeReloadServices.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cfb14a76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/piholeReloadServices.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Pi-hole: A black hole for Internet advertisements
+# (c) 2015, 2016 by Jacob Salmela
+# Network-wide ad blocking via your Raspberry Pi
+# http://pi-hole.net
+# Restarts pihole services
+#
+# Pi-hole is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# Check if root, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]];then
+	echo "::: You are root."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo $@"
+		sudo "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo or run this script as root."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
+
+spinner(){
+        local pid=$1
+        local delay=0.001
+        local spinstr='/-\|'
+
+        spin='-\|/'
+        i=0
+        while kill -0 $pid 2>/dev/null
+        do
+                i=$(( (i+1) %4 ))
+                printf "\b${spin:$i:1}"
+                sleep .1
+        done
+        printf "\b"
+}
+
+dnsmasqPid=$(pidof dnsmasq)
+
+if [[ $dnsmasqPid ]]; then
+	# service already running - reload config
+	$SUDO kill -HUP $dnsmasqPid & spinner $!
+else
+	# service not running, start it up
+	$SUDO service dnsmasq start & spinner $!
+fi
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/piholeSetPermissions.sh b/advanced/Scripts/piholeSetPermissions.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..66ea8693
--- /dev/null
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/piholeSetPermissions.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Pi-hole: A black hole for Internet advertisements
+# (c) 2015, 2016 by Jacob Salmela
+# Network-wide ad blocking via your Raspberry Pi
+# http://pi-hole.net
+# Sets permissions to pihole files and directories
+#
+# Pi-hole is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# Check if root, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]];then
+	echo "::: You are root."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo $@"
+		sudo "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo or run this script as root."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
+chown --recursive root:pihole /etc/pihole
+chmod --recursive ug=rwX,o=rX /etc/pihole
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/setupLCD.sh b/advanced/Scripts/setupLCD.sh
index df2be704..3d674869 100644
--- a/advanced/Scripts/setupLCD.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/setupLCD.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,28 @@
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
 
+# Check if root, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]];then
+	echo "::: You are root."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo $@"
+		sudo "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo or run this script as root."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
 ############ FUNCTIONS ###########
 # Run this script as root or under sudo
 echo ":::"
@@ -45,11 +67,11 @@ getInitSys() {
 autoLoginPiToConsole() {
   if [ -e /etc/init.d/lightdm ]; then
     if [ $SYSTEMD -eq 1 ]; then
-      $SUDO systemctl set-default multi-user.target
-      $SUDO ln -fs /etc/systemd/system/autologin@.service /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/getty@tty1.service
+      systemctl set-default multi-user.target
+      ln -fs /etc/systemd/system/autologin@.service /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/getty@tty1.service
     else
-      $SUDO update-rc.d lightdm disable 2
-      $SUDO sed /etc/inittab -i -e "s/1:2345:respawn:\/sbin\/getty --noclear 38400 tty1/1:2345:respawn:\/bin\/login -f pi tty1 <\/dev\/tty1 >\/dev\/tty1 2>&1/"
+      update-rc.d lightdm disable 2
+      sed /etc/inittab -i -e "s/1:2345:respawn:\/sbin\/getty --noclear 38400 tty1/1:2345:respawn:\/bin\/login -f pi tty1 <\/dev\/tty1 >\/dev\/tty1 2>&1/"
       fi
   fi
 }
@@ -62,27 +84,27 @@ autoLoginPiToConsole
 # Set chronomter to run automatically when pi logs in
 echo /usr/local/bin/chronometer.sh >> /home/pi/.bashrc
 # OR
-#$SUDO echo /usr/local/bin/chronometer.sh >> /etc/profile
+#echo /usr/local/bin/chronometer.sh >> /etc/profile
 
 # Set up the LCD screen based on Adafruits instuctions:
 # https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-pitft-28-inch-resistive-touchscreen-display-raspberry-pi/easy-install
-curl -SLs https://apt.adafruit.com/add-pin | $SUDO bash
-$SUDO apt-get -y install raspberrypi-bootloader
-$SUDO apt-get -y install adafruit-pitft-helper
-$SUDO adafruit-pitft-helper -t 28r
+curl -SLs https://apt.adafruit.com/add-pin | bash
+apt-get -y install raspberrypi-bootloader
+apt-get -y install adafruit-pitft-helper
+adafruit-pitft-helper -t 28r
 
 # Download the cmdline.txt file that prevents the screen from going blank after a period of time
-$SUDO mv /boot/cmdline.txt /boot/cmdline.orig
-$SUDO curl -o /boot/cmdline.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/master/advanced/cmdline.txt
+mv /boot/cmdline.txt /boot/cmdline.orig
+curl -o /boot/cmdline.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/master/advanced/cmdline.txt
 
 # Back up the original file and download the new one
-$SUDO mv /etc/default/console-setup /etc/default/console-setup.orig
-$SUDO curl -o /etc/default/console-setup https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/master/advanced/console-setup
+mv /etc/default/console-setup /etc/default/console-setup.orig
+curl -o /etc/default/console-setup https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pi-hole/pi-hole/master/advanced/console-setup
 
 # Instantly apply the font change to the LCD screen
-$SUDO setupcon
+setupcon
 
-$SUDO reboot
+reboot
 
 # Start showing the stats on the screen by running the command on another tty:
 # http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/170063/start-a-process-on-a-different-tty
diff --git a/advanced/Scripts/whitelist.sh b/advanced/Scripts/whitelist.sh
index 853c3b79..5958d5e6 100755
--- a/advanced/Scripts/whitelist.sh
+++ b/advanced/Scripts/whitelist.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,29 @@ if [[ $# = 0 ]]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
+# Check if pihole user, and if not then rerun with sudo.
+echo ":::"
+runninguser=$(whoami)
+if [[ "$runninguser" = "pihole"  ]];then
+	echo "::: You are pihole user."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
+else
+	echo "::: sudo will be used."
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo -u pihole $@"
+		sudo -u pihole "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo."
+	exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
 #globals
 whitelist=/etc/pihole/whitelist.txt
 adList=/etc/pihole/gravity.list
@@ -162,15 +185,11 @@ function Reload() {
 	# Reload hosts file
 	echo ":::"
 	echo -n "::: Refresh lists in dnsmasq..."
-	dnsmasqPid=$(pidof dnsmasq)
 
-	if [[ $dnsmasqPid ]]; then
-		# service already running - reload config
-		sudo kill -HUP $dnsmasqPid
-	else
-		# service not running, start it up
-		sudo service dnsmasq start
-	fi
+	# Reloading services requires root.
+	# The installer should have created a file in sudoers.d to allow pihole user
+	# to run piholeReloadServices.sh as root with sudo without a password
+	sudo --non-interactive /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh
 	echo " done!"
 }
 
diff --git a/automated install/basic-install.sh b/automated install/basic-install.sh
index 7481108d..e740349a 100755
--- a/automated install/basic-install.sh	
+++ b/automated install/basic-install.sh	
@@ -93,6 +93,13 @@ spinner() {
 	printf "\b"
 }
 
+mkpiholeDir() {
+	# Create the pihole config directory with pihole as the group owner with rw permissions.
+	mkdir -p /etc/pihole/
+	chown --recursive root:pihole /etc/pihole
+	chmod --recursive ug=rwX,o=rX /etc/pihole
+}
+
 backupLegacyPihole() {
 	# This function detects and backups the pi-hole v1 files.  It will not do anything to the current version files.
 	if [[ -f /etc/dnsmasq.d/adList.conf ]];then
@@ -481,9 +488,11 @@ installScripts() {
 	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/chronometer.sh /usr/local/bin/chronometer.sh
 	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/whitelist.sh /usr/local/bin/whitelist.sh
 	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/blacklist.sh /usr/local/bin/blacklist.sh
+	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/piholeReloadServices.sh /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh
+	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/piholeSetPermissions.sh /usr/local/bin/piholeSetPermissions.sh
 	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/piholeLogFlush.sh /usr/local/bin/piholeLogFlush.sh
 	cp /etc/.pihole/advanced/Scripts/updateDashboard.sh /usr/local/bin/updateDashboard.sh
-	chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/{gravity,chronometer,whitelist,blacklist,piholeLogFlush,updateDashboard}.sh
+	chmod 755 /usr/local/bin/{gravity,chronometer,whitelist,blacklist,piholeReloadServices,piholeSetPermissions,piholeLogFlush,updateDashboard}.sh
 	echo " done."
 }
 
@@ -664,6 +673,16 @@ setUser(){
 	fi
 }
 
+installSudoersFile() {
+	# Install the file in /etc/sudoers.d that defines what commands
+	# and scripts the pihole user can elevate to root with sudo.
+	sudoersFile='/etc/sudoers.d/pihole'
+	sudoersContent="pihole	ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh /usr/local/bin/piholeSetPermissions.sh"
+	echo "$sudoersContent" > "$sudoersFile"
+	# chmod as per /etc/sudoers.d/README
+	chmod 0440 "$sudoersFile"
+}
+
 installPihole() {
 	# Install base files and web interface
 	checkForDependencies # done
@@ -677,6 +696,7 @@ installPihole() {
 
 	getGitFiles
 	installScripts
+	installSudoersFile
 	installConfigs
 	CreateLogFile
 	installPiholeWeb
@@ -698,7 +718,7 @@ The install log is in /etc/pihole." $r $c
 
 ######## SCRIPT ############
 # Start the installer
-mkdir -p /etc/pihole/
+mkpiholeDir
 welcomeDialogs
 
 # Verify there is enough disk space for the install
diff --git a/automated install/uninstall.sh b/automated install/uninstall.sh
index 949266e0..ad6356dc 100644
--- a/automated install/uninstall.sh	
+++ b/automated install/uninstall.sh	
@@ -71,10 +71,13 @@ fi
 
 echo "Removing config files and scripts..."
 rm /etc/dnsmasq.conf
+rm /etc/sudoers.d/pihole
 rm -rf /etc/lighttpd/
 rm /var/log/pihole.log
 rm /usr/local/bin/gravity.sh
 rm /usr/local/bin/chronometer.sh
 rm /usr/local/bin/whitelist.sh
+rm /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh
+rm /usr/local/bin/piholeSetPermissions.sh
 rm /usr/local/bin/piholeLogFlush.sh
 rm -rf /etc/pihole/
diff --git a/gravity.sh b/gravity.sh
index 321aec27..08e94f8b 100755
--- a/gravity.sh
+++ b/gravity.sh
@@ -10,20 +10,27 @@
 # the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
 # (at your option) any later version.
 
-# Run this script as root or under sudo
+# Check if pihole user, and if not then rerun with sudo.
 echo ":::"
-if [[ $EUID -eq 0 ]];then
-	echo "::: You are root."
+runninguser=$(whoami)
+if [[ "$runninguser" = "pihole"  ]];then
+	echo "::: You are pihole user."
+	# Older versions of Pi-hole set $SUDO="sudo" and prefixed commands with it,
+	# rather than rerunning as sudo. Just in case it turns up by accident, 
+	# explicitly set the $SUDO variable to an empty string.
+	SUDO=""
 else
 	echo "::: sudo will be used."
-  # Check if it is actually installed
-  # If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
-  if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
-		export SUDO="sudo"
-  else
-		echo "::: Please install sudo or run this script as root."
-    exit 1
-  fi
+	# Check if it is actually installed
+	# If it isn't, exit because the install cannot complete
+	if [[ $(dpkg-query -s sudo) ]];then
+		echo "::: Running sudo -u pihole $@"
+		sudo -u pihole "$@"
+		exit $?
+	else
+		echo "::: Please install sudo."
+	exit 1
+	fi
 fi
 
 piholeIPfile=/tmp/piholeIP
@@ -81,7 +88,7 @@ spinner(){
 
         spin='-\|/'
         i=0
-        while $SUDO kill -0 $pid 2>/dev/null
+        while kill -0 $pid 2>/dev/null
         do
                 i=$(( (i+1) %4 ))
                 printf "\b${spin:$i:1}"
@@ -125,17 +132,18 @@ function gravity_collapse() {
 
 	# Create the pihole resource directory if it doesn't exist.  Future files will be stored here
 	if [[ -d $piholeDir ]];then
-        # Temporary hack to allow non-root access to pihole directory
-        # Will update later, needed for existing installs, new installs should
-        # create this directory as non-root
-        $SUDO chmod 777 $piholeDir
-        find "$piholeDir" -type f -exec $SUDO chmod 666 {} \; & spinner $!
         echo "."
 	else
         echo -n "::: Creating pihole directory..."
         mkdir $piholeDir & spinner $!
         echo " done!"
 	fi
+	# Still not the best, but slightly more elegent hack than chmod 777.
+	# Run script to give the pihole group permissions to the pihole directory.
+	# This requires root.
+	# The installer should have created a file in sudoers.d to allow pihole user
+	# to run piholeSetPermissions.sh as root with sudo without a password
+	sudo --non-interactive /usr/local/bin/piholeSetPermissions.sh
 }
 
 # patternCheck - check to see if curl downloaded any new files.
@@ -331,27 +339,22 @@ function gravity_reload() {
 	#Clear no longer needed files...
 	echo ":::"
 	echo -n "::: Cleaning up un-needed files..."
-	$SUDO rm /etc/pihole/pihole.*
+	rm /etc/pihole/pihole.*
 	echo " done!"
 	
 	# Reload hosts file
 	echo ":::"
 	echo -n "::: Refresh lists in dnsmasq..."
-	dnsmasqPid=$(pidof dnsmasq)
-
-    find "$piholeDir" -type f -exec $SUDO chmod 666 {} \; & spinner $!
-
-	if [[ $dnsmasqPid ]]; then
-		# service already running - reload config
-		$SUDO kill -HUP $dnsmasqPid & spinner $!
-	else
-		# service not running, start it up
-		$SUDO service dnsmasq start & spinner $!
-	fi
+	
+	# Reloading services requires root.
+	# The installer should have created a file in sudoers.d to allow pihole user
+	# to run piholeReloadServices.sh as root with sudo without a password
+	sudo --non-interactive /usr/local/bin/piholeReloadServices.sh
+	
 	echo " done!"
 }
 
-$SUDO cp /etc/.pihole/adlists.default /etc/pihole/adlists.default
+cp /etc/.pihole/adlists.default /etc/pihole/adlists.default
 gravity_collapse
 gravity_spinup
 gravity_Schwarzchild