Proper DNS Settings for Email

There are several major things to set up on your DNS server for each site you add to SmarterMail. How you set these up is dependent upon both who hosts your DNS and what DNS software is used. Check your DNS server documentation for instructions on how to set up the following records (replace example.com with the proper domain name).

Also, please bear in mind that your DNS may need to be set up differently. This is only a guideline that is recommended for most installations.

• WebMail URL - Add an A or CNAME record for mail.example.com that points to the IP address of the webmail interface. This will allow users of that domain to access the webmail by typing in http://mail.example.com or http://mail.example.com:9998 in their web browser (depending on whether you use the included web server or IIS).
• Mail Pointer (MX) - Add an MX record for the domain that points to mail.example.com. This will allow other email servers to locate your mail server.
• Reverse DNS Record - Add a reverse DNS record for IP addresses assigned on the server to provide extra assurance to other mail servers. Also, it is recommended that the primary IP address of the server also have a reverse DNS record.
• Sender Policy Framework - Some large email providers like Hotmail and AOL are starting to require specially formatted TXT records to be added to your DNS. This special format is known as SPF (Sender Policy Framework). Information about how these records should be formatted can be found at http://spf.pobox.com. Please keep in mind that the owners of the domains may have significant input on what goes into these records.