Help setting up SmarterMail

Question asked by Craig Cyphers - 1/22/2015 at 10:47 AM

Unanswered

Good afternoon.

I recently registered a domain through GoDaddy. I want to set up SmailMail to use my domain to send and receive emails, ultimately using eM Client as my mail program.

As I'm very new at this (actually quite the novice) is there someone that can help guide me through what I need to do in SmarterMail to get this set up?

Thanks.

10 Replies

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Employee Replied

1/22/2015 at 12:38 PM

Employee Post

Hi Craig,

We have an extensive knowledge base articles that will help you though the process. Below are some links for the initial install and configuration.

Install SmarterMail:http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2719/install-smartermail.aspx

SmarterMail in IIS: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2766/set-up-smartermail-as-an-iis-site-iis-7_0-7_5.aspx or http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2814/set-up-smartermail-as-an-iis-site-in-iis-8.aspx

Add domain: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2884/add-a-domain-in-smartermail.aspx

Create user: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2678/create-a-user-in-smartermail.aspx

Domain DNS: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2654/configure-dns-for-a-domain.aspx

Craig Cyphers Replied

1/24/2015 at 6:46 AM

Thanks.

I'm part way there. Mail is not being bounced back when I send mail to myself (testing from gmail) or from within SmarterMail. I think I have something set wrong in the DNS manager in my godaddy account.

I have the static IP address of the computer which is running SmarterMail in the A(Host) section. Is that all that needs to be there?

What would I need to put in these sections:

CNAME (Alias)

MX (Mail Exchanger)

TXT (Text)

SRV (Service)

AAAA (IPv6 Host)

NS (Nameserver)

I'm very new at doing this and am coming along, but could use some help to ensure I get the right information entered in GoDaddy. I think that's where the problem is lying right now.

Also, anything I need to do with SMTP anywhere on godaddy or in SmarterMail.

Thanks for the hand holding.

Thomas Hanson Replied

6/28/2016 at 3:10 PM

Did you ever find the solution? I have the exact same scenerio

Linda Pagillo Replied

6/29/2016 at 9:14 AM

Hi guys. You should only need 2 DNS records for mailflow.

1.) An "A" record with a hostname of "mail" which points to the IP of the your server. This will be used for Webmail access.

2.) An "MX" record with a hostname @ which points to mail.yourdomain.com with a priority of 10.

There are other records that you can add such as SPF, secondary MX, etc.., but only those 2 above are required to send and receive mail.

Linda Pagillo Mail's Best Friend Email: linda.pagillo@mailsbestfriend.com Web: www.mailsbestfriend.com Authorized SmarterTools Reseller Authorized Message Sniffer Reseller

Bruce Barnes Replied

6/29/2016 at 10:05 AM

SPF records are now REQUIRED by G-Mail, YAHOO! and COMCAST. Without a valid SPF and DKIM records, and without FEEDBACK LOOPS, they will not accept delivery of e-mail any longer.

These records must be built for EACH hosted domain. Additionally, you will have to make certain that your PUBLIC IP address is properly mapped to your PRIMARY SMARTERMAIL HOST NAME and added to your POP, IMAP, and LDAP hostnames in the appropriate protocols - or you messages my be rejected by some of the larger ISPs. This has been published by those ISPs since February 2012..

You should always have at least TWO, and never more than three, DNS records, one local, on the same server, or IP address range as your SmarterMail server, and at least one secondary DNS record. They use of more than three DNS records is no supported by the IETF. See: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1035.txtm which clearly states, :

"The DNS requires that all zones be redundantly supported by more than one name server. Designated secondary servers can acquire zones and check for updates from the primary server using the zone transfer
protocol of the DNS."

The use of DMARC, which is interdependent on the above three records, is also highly recommended..

The SmarterMail references posted by Brian Ward provide some very good information:

Install SmarterMail:http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2719/install-smartermail.aspx

Add domain: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2884/add-a-domain-in-smartermail.aspx

Create user: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2678/create-a-user-in-smartermail.aspx

Domain DNS: http://portal.smartertools.com/kb/a2654/configure-dns-for-a-domain.aspx

Should you require additional assistance, please feel free to contact me off-list.

Bruce Barnes ChicagoNetTech Inc brucecnt@comcast.net Phonr: (773) 491-9019 Phone: (224) 444-0169 E-Mail and DNS Security Specialist Network Security Specialist Customer Service Portal: https://portal.chicagonettech.com Website: https://www.ChicagoNetTech.com Security Blog: http://networkbastion.blogspot.com/ Web and E-Mail Hosting, E-Mail Security and Consulting

Linda Pagillo Replied

6/29/2016 at 10:59 AM

Bruce it's strange that you say Gmail, Yahoo and Comcast require SPF. I just tested sending to all of those domains without an SPF, DKIM or feedback loops and the mail was delivered successfully. Can you tell me where you heard that they are required because if they were required, as you said, my email would not have been accepted/delivered. Thanks.

Linda Pagillo Mail's Best Friend Email: linda.pagillo@mailsbestfriend.com Web: www.mailsbestfriend.com Authorized SmarterTools Reseller Authorized Message Sniffer Reseller

Bruce Barnes Replied

6/29/2016 at 12:03 PM

If you have a FEEDBACK LOOP setup with Google, and they receive regular, albeit erroneous complaints about your domain, or a specific domain you host. they will STRONGLY remind you that SPF is now "required."

We take that attitude of REQUIRING SPD, DKIM, DOMAIN KEYS, and preferring DMARC as well - and vet spam very highly on all three of them

If we are gong to control spam, then we all need to get in the same boat and effect all available tools - nothing external, it's all built into SmarterMail, but does require both an excellent knowledge of both, and the use of a PRIVATE DNS server, with at least one secondary DNS server on a different network.

Linda Pagillo Replied

6/29/2016 at 1:27 PM

Thanks for clarifying, Bruce. Much appreciated. I was confused when you said that they required it, but when I sent my tests they went through. I agree with you about taking the attitude of requiring those things as well. All of those tool combined are excellent at keep the spam to a minimum.

Linda Pagillo Mail's Best Friend Email: linda.pagillo@mailsbestfriend.com Web: www.mailsbestfriend.com Authorized SmarterTools Reseller Authorized Message Sniffer Reseller

Alfred Heyman Replied

6/12/2018 at 9:47 AM

I had problems trying to make DKIM work. I had originally taken SmarterMail's message "Before enabling DKIM Email Signing, the following TXT record must be added to your DNS server." quite literally, and had tried to add the the TXT record name like "88888ABC123._domainKey.my-domain.com" to my GoDaddy.com DNS. GoDaddy took the record, but it would never work with SmarterMail. It turns out that you don't need to include your server's domain name with the record name. When I modified the name to look like "88888ABC123._domainKey" , SmarterMail was able to see and verify it, and it says that it is using DKIM now.

Kyle Kerst Replied

6/15/2018 at 10:16 AM

Hey there Craig. I've worked on similar setups many times and would be happy to help you out with this. Feel free to shoot me a note here, or at kyle@cameron-solutions.com. Hope you have a great day!

Kyle Kerst Cameron Solutions LLC www.cameron-solutions.com

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