5.2.1 How to set up mail on external mailers

Mail

MX records (Mail Exchanger records) are a special type of DNS records that serve as a “road sign” for email. They indicate which servers should handle incoming messages for a specific domain.

Changing MX records can be triggered by various factors, including the need for a more functional mail service or simply the desire to use a different provider instead of the one provided by the hosting company by default.

Important to note:

  • All changes will only work if our NS servers are set at the domain registrar.
  • Changes in domain records will take effect approximately 6-12 hours after updating the domain DNS.
  • For additional DNS settings, use the instructions.
  • Mailboxes created in our control panel will stop working after changing MX records to third-party services.
  • After configuring MX records, it is also recommended to configure SPF and DKIM records to improve email security and delivery. These records should be obtained from Your mail service.

Changing MX Records in the Control Panel

Regardless of the chosen mail service, the setup procedure usually includes the following steps:

  1. Creating an account on the chosen mail service.
  2. Adding Your domain in the mail service panel.
  3. Configuring MX records for the domain.
  4. Confirming domain ownership, usually by adding a TXT record.
  5. Creating mailboxes in the control panel of the chosen mail service.

If You want to use third-party mail services for Your domain mail, such as Gmail, Outlook, Zoho or others, You need to go to Your hosting control panel. In the Domain Names section, select the desired domain with the mouse and click the Edit button. In the MX records field, choose the settings You need.

Changing records

Features when configuring MX records

Important to understand: when manually configuring MX records or generalizing DNS records, it’s important to understand the difference between absolute and relative records.

  • Absolute records:

    • End with a dot (.);
    • Indicate the full domain name;
    • Example: mail.example.com.;
    • This record points exactly to the domain mail.example.com. and will not change.

  • Relative records:

    • Do not have a dot at the end;
    • Are complemented by the current domain;
    • Example: mail;
    • If Your domain is example.com, this record will automatically become mail.example.com..

When configuring MX records, absolute records are usually used. For example:

|       Name        | Type | Priority |        Address         |
|-------------------|------|----------|------------------------|
| Your_Domain.com. | MX   | 10       | mail.Your_Domain.com.  |

Make sure You specify the records correctly according to the requirements of Your DNS provider and mail service.

How to configure MX records in the hosting panel

For manual configuration of mail records, You need to go to Your hosting control panel. Go to the Main Features ⭢ Domain Names section, select the domain You need and click the Records button.

DNS Setup

Then, You can change the records one by one by selecting the desired record with the mouse and clicking the Edit button.

Changing records

MX records for various mail services

Gmail (Google Workspace)

More details: to direct mail you need to create the following records.

MX records:

Name Type Priority Value
@ MX 1 ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ MX 5 ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ MX 5 ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ MX 10 ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
@ MX 10 ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.

SPF record:

Name Type Value
@ TXT v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

DKIM:

For DKIM, You will need to generate keys in the Google Workspace admin panel and add the corresponding TXT record.

Important: a record with the name @ is equivalent to a record for the domain itself. For example, if Your domain is example.com., the @ record will refer directly to example.com. This is a convenient way to specify a record for the root domain without the need to explicitly write out the full domain name.

Zoho Mail

More details: to direct mail to Zoho, set the following records.

MX records:

Name Type Priority Value
@ MX 10 mx.zoho.com.
@ MX 20 mx2.zoho.com.
@ MX 50 mx3.zoho.com.

SPF record:

Name Type Value
@ TXT v=spf1 include:zoho.com ~all

DKIM:

For DKIM, You will need to generate keys in the Zoho Mail admin panel and add the corresponding TXT record.

Microsoft 365

More details: to direct mail to Microsoft, set the following records.

MX records:

Name Type Priority Value
@ MX 0 yourdomain-com.mail.protection.outlook.com.

Replace yourdomain-com with Your actual record provided by Microsoft 365.

SPF record:

Name Type Value
@ TXT v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

DKIM:

For DKIM, You will need to generate keys in the Microsoft 365 admin panel and add the corresponding TXT record.

Yandex.Mail or Yandex.360 for business

More details: to direct mail to Yandex.Mail, You need to create the following records.

MX records:

Name Type Priority Value
@ MX 10 mx.yandex.net.

SPF record:

Name Type Value
@ TXT v=spf1 include:_spf.yandex.net ~all

DKIM:

For DKIM, You will need to generate keys in the Yandex.Mail admin panel and add the corresponding TXT record.

Default MX records of hosting

More details: to return to default settings and make mail work again from our hosting, set the following records.

MX record:

Name Type Address Priority
@ MX mail.your-domain-name.com. 10

A record:

Name Type Address
mail A hosting_ip

SPF record:

Name Type Value
@ TXT v=spf1 ip4:hosting_ip ~all

Replace your-domain-name.com. with Your mail domain, and hosting_ip with Your hosting IP address.