Email Authentication - SPF and DomainKeys

Written By: Brad Markle
Experience Level: Intermediate
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Beginning in late March of 2010, our shared servers are being upgraded to the latest version of cPanel, which now allows users to create their own SPF records and Domain Keys. SPF and Domain Keys are tools used by many mail servers in an effort to combat spam, so if you're having an issue with your email being bounced back or arriving in the junk/spam folders of your recipients, it is suggested to enable these settings. Please keep in mind that as these are DNS settings, they may take up to 24 hours or more before they begin to take effect.

About Domain Keys and SPF Records

Domain Keys
DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system that allows for incoming mail to be checked against the server it was sent from to verify that the mail has not been modified. This ensures that messages are actually coming from the listed sender and allows abusive messages to be tracked with more ease.

SPF
SPF will specify which machines are authorized to send email from your domain(s). This means that only mail sent through this server will appear as valid mail from your domain(s) when the SPF records are checked.

Additional Info
Yahoo - Domainkeys - http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/classic/context/context-07.html
Google - SPF - http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=33786
AOL - SPF - http://postmaster.aol.com/spf/details.html
AOL - Domainkeys - http://postmaster.aol.com/Postmaster.DKIM.html

How to Implement Domain Keys and SPF Records

SPF Records and Domain Keys can be set within the "Email Authentication" section of your cPanel. The specific instructions are in the cPanel, and you can also visit cPanel's own website for more details:
http://docs.cpanel.net/twiki/bin/view/AllDocumentation/CpanelDocs/EmailAuthentication

If you need further assistance, or, if you do not have the "Email Authentication" icon in your cPanel, please email support@inmotionhosting.com for further assistance.
 
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