Setting up dkim / spf for email

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I'm having issues with many of my emails ending up in junk folders, which led me to 'email delivery' under my cpanel.  Cpanel indicates a problem, but the auto-magic 'repair' button is greyed out.

I see the following message for both dkim and spf:

A “DKIM” record does not exist for this domain.

This system does not control DNS for the “---.net” domain. Contact the person responsible for the “ns2.inmotionhosting.com” and “ns.inmotionhosting.com” nameservers and request that they update the “DKIM” record with the following:


And the same message for SPF.

Who's the 'person responsible' and how do I get this set up?  I don't see anything within my cpanel controls that'll let me manage this.

thanks!

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IMH Support Agent 2
  • Answered

Hi Chrispo,

Thanks for the question about setting up DKIM and SPF records for email.  You can set these records up using the cPanel.  We have a tutorial called Strengthen Overall Email Authentication. The tutorial will walk you through the steps on how to enable it in cPanel.  If you require further assistance with it, then please contact our live technical support team

If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.


Kindest regards,

Arnel C.

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Chrispo

Hi Arnel,

Thanks for your quick help.  And thanks to InMotion for a great set of articles.

I did find this tutorial, however, there's no "Authentication" button or tab (other than "Two-factor Authentication" which I think may be something different).  

User error or do I need to contact tech support?

thanks,

Chrispo

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IMH Support Agent 2
Quote from Chrispo

Hi Arnel,

Thanks for your quick help.  And thanks to InMotion for a great set of articles.

I did find this tutorial, however, there's no "Authentication" button or tab (other than "Two-factor Authentication" which I think may be something different).  

User error or do I need to contact tech support?

thanks,

Chrispo

Hello Chrispo,

Sorry for the confusion.  I looked at the article and it does need to be updated per the updates to cPanel.  cPanel changed the labels and moved some of the options around. Instead of Authentication, click on Email Deliverability.  They actually made this a little more in-depth, too.  


Here are the steps:

  1. Open Email Deliverability
  2. If you have multiple domains, then click on the Manage button for the domain where you want to active DKIM/SPF active
  3. Copy both the Name and Value (you may want to have a separate window open for Notepad or other text editor).
  4. Go to Domains and click on Zone Editor.
  5. We're adding a TXT record, so click on Add Record
  6. Click on Edit for the domain where you're going to add the records. 
  7. Click on the blue Add Record button and you will see a line open up starting with "Valid zone name".
  8. Paste in the Name from your Email Deliverability screen. Make sure that each entry ends with a period.
  9. Click on the drop-down arrow for Type.  Select TXT.
  10. Click in the record field and add the value from earlier.
  11. Click on Add Record to save your changes

You will need to do the same for the SPF record. 

I have added this article to my update list to re-write the article so that it reflects the changes in the cPanel.  Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

Regards,

Arnel C.




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Chrispo

Thanks, Arnel, these instructions were clear.


I should also add that returning to the "Email Delivery" tab shows that my domain has changed from "Problems Exist (DKIM and SPF)" to "Valid".  


Emails sent from my InMotion-hosted domain to another now thankfully bypass the spam folder, too.  :-)

Much appreciated --