How to configure DNS for email hosting

This article will explain how to configure your DNS records to point to the SeekaHost Hosted Email servers.

Note: Make no DNS changes until the domains and mailboxes are configured on the SeekaHost Email Service system.

Types of DNS Records

There are many types of records that the DNS system maintains. The important record types for the SeekaHost Email Service are MX and CNAME records.

Email Exchange (MX) records

The Email Exchange (MX) record is the line in the DNS zone file that routes email for a specific domain to the correct email server. It tells the rest of the world where a mailbox is located.

Zone file – A file on a root server that contains domain name registration information. Zone files contain information that is needed to resolve domain names to IP addresses and also contain all the information related to one domain. Zone files are also called master files.

MX – Short for mail exchange record, an entry in a domain name database that identifies the mail server that is responsible for handling emails for that domain.

When more than one MX record is entered for any single domain name that is using more than one mail server, the MX record can be prioritized with a preference number that indicates the order in which the mail servers should be used. This enables the use of primary and backup mail servers.

Canonical Name (CNAME) records

A Canonical Name (CNAME) record is a record in a DNS database that indicates the true or canonical host name of a computer. A computer hosting a Web site must have an IP address in order to be connected to the World Wide Web. The DNS resolves the computer’ domain name to its IP address, but sometimes more than one domain name resolves to the same IP address, and this is where the CNAME is useful. A machine can have an unlimited number of CNAME aliases, but a separate CNAME record must be in the database for each alias.

Note: Do not use A records or IP addresses in place of CNAME hostnames. If an A record is used to identify the SeekaHost email server, email service will be disrupted if SeekaHost changes the IP address.

Example Mail DNS configurations

Go to your domain settings

Select your domain DNS Management settings

Update the given MX and CNAME records as mentioned in the table.

Note: In the mentioned record, replace <yourdomain.com> with your domain name.

Note: Once the record is updated successfully, please wait at least 15 minutes to propagate your changes. Sometimes it may take up to 72 hrs. to propagate.