Topic: E-Mail Set Up

[Bricka]

I am setting up my new company e-mail and I have registered my domain name of xxx.co.uk and set my server to be using the same domain name i.e. xxx.co.uk.  I already have a static IP in place and can connect to my box over a VPN connection from a WAN connection.

I have already forwarded port 25 from my router to the IP address of my server.

So my question is for the e-mail to work from an external point of view do I simply need to set the MX record as my static IP address from my ISP ??

[shell]

Hiya,

as i understand it the MX record is not in IP form.  you would point the mx record to xxx.co.uk

also you may want to consider setting up an a record that points the fqdn (ie servername.xxx.co.uk) to your fixed ip and then point your mx record to the fqdn.  this will assist with ssl as the default certificate created on your sme will be fqdn.

cheers, shell

[Bricka]

Thanks Shell,

So basically I set the MX record to be mail.xxx.co.uk and then set my FQDN as mail.xxx.co.uk and point that to my static IP ?

Thanks 

[shell]

Yep, thats it.

****However I recall reading that there are some system reserved names (including mail) and these shouldn't be used.  I have done a quick search of the forum and wiki and couldn't locate specifics.  Perhaps someone with more knowledge can elaborate -  I actually use mail myself as the system name but am 99% sure this is not advised / not good practice.****

[CharlieBrady]

I am setting up my new company e-mail and I have registered my domain name of xxx.co.uk and set my server to be using the same domain name i.e. xxx.co.uk.  I already have a static IP in place and can connect to my box over a VPN connection from a WAN connection.

I have already forwarded port 25 from my router to the IP address of my server.

So my question is for the e-mail to work from an external point of view do I simply need to set the MX record as my static IP address from my ISP ??

You don't need an MX record. If xxx.co.uk has an A record which points to your server, that address will be used for delivery of mail addressed to user@xxx.co.uk, unless there is an MX record directing it elsewhere.

That said, there's no harm in you creating foo.xxx.co.uk, and adding an MX record for xxx.co.uk pointing to foo.xxx.co.uk.

[shell]

I have run into trouble with a number of ISP's (here is NZ) that run a check on the mx record as part of their spam checks and although dns records dictate that the mx record can be left blank (mail will send to A record as a default) these servers have not passed these spam tests.  I would still have said as best practice to include the mail record.  In addition there are a number of ISP's that are also checking against a PTR record (reverse dns pointer) - and again although strictly speaking dns doesn't require these records there are instances where isp's are instigating these checks in a bid to reduce spam to end users.

Any thoughts on the naming of the system mail?  I am not sure of the reserved nature of system names and couldn't find a reference.

Cheers, shell

[Bricka]

Thanks, All Working Now !!