SPF Record Query

Hi All

I was wondering how to configure an SPF Record


what values to include on all the different fields i'm using the ISPConfig DNS Manager

Hostname:

Are emails sent
from A Record?: NoYes

Are emails sen
from MX Record?: NoYes

Are emails sent
from all servers of
this domain?: NoYes

Are emails sent
from other A Records?:

Are emails sent
from other MX Records?:

Are emails sent
from other IP addresses?:
Inherit SPF Record
from this zone?:

Do the above entries
contain all hosts
allowed to send emails
for this domain?:

Basically all i need really is a breakdown on what to include...

 

Basically it's what it is saying..
ie: If you are using an A record to send email set it to yes. If not, set it to no
It's the same for all the other option..
(it's all about how you have set up your DNS)

A nice way to see if the SPF record is okay, is by sending an email to a gmail account.

Looking at the headers of the email you will see:

a good SPF record example: Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of [email protected] designates ip_from_your_server as permitted sender)

a bad SPF record example: Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of [email protected] designates ip_from_your_server as permitted sender)
(note the: "best guess record for" part!)

 

More Help Please?

Thanks edge for the speedy response

Okay help me understand when you say sending mail from an A record meaning ?

cause i have not configured a seperate A record that will host my mail (so i take it its a no Right?

This is where i really get lost...

Are emails sent
from other A Records?:

Are emails sent
from other MX Records?:

Are emails sent
from other IP addresses?:
Inherit SPF Record
from this zone?:

Do the above entries
contain all hosts
allowed to send emails
for this domain?:


Could you please better describe this...

and another thing does that mean that every domain that i create i have to include a SPF record?

 

Are you using the DNS server of the domain registrar, or are you using your own DNS server?
(it does help if you post the domainname here, so we can have a look)

 

Still not 100%

i'm running on my own DNS servers

i did create my own SPF rcord this is what it looks like
"v=spf1 ip4:196.211.246.10 a mx ptr a:mail.ulwazint.co.za mx:ns2.ulwaziweb.co.za ~all"

does this look correct?

my domain is ulwazint.co.za

any reason why my mail still gets delivered to the BULK folder

 

your SPF looks okay,

The "bulk" problem could be
(1) Your reverse DNS is still not set correct.
(2) You will need to email the webmasters of Hotmail and Yahoo.
See this article about the Bulk mail problem with hotmail (msn)

 

Reverese Dns

Is my reverse dns not automatically created within ispconfig when i do create a zone file?

 

BULK and dns aren't the same. Hotmail likes to put a lot of my mail into bulk & junk when its not. I think they use *sstupid* filters on there end.

So having a SPF record and the issues with mcrosoft are separate issues.

 

Could this be an answer

through further research today i found that if i send mail through Squirrelmail and not UebiMiau! my email gets delivered properly to the Inbox (yahoo and Hotmail)

this is through a domain with A SPF record and a domain without one still under the same ISPConfig server

now my question is what is an alternative to UebiMiau or better yet how would i also go by adding that email frontend to a .pkg cause i know that i'll get it probably in a .tar.gz file and also because squirrelmail is too basic and requires alot of tweaking

if this is the case that should mean that my email is not being taken as SPAM or junk mail on other email clients like (yahoo and Hotmail) right?

Oh ran further tests and this was the outcome

the scenario

2 Email Accounts 1 from a domain with a SPF Record another from a Domain without An SPF Record
3 Testing grounds (Outlook, Squirrelmail and Ueibmaiu)
2 Mail Accounts Yahoo and Hotmail

sent from domain 1 (without SPF record) and domain 2 (with SPF Record)
delivered to Inbox Correctly

via outlook
Both Domains
Yahoo= Delivered Properly
Hotmail= Delivered Properly

via Squirrelmail
domain 1 (without SPF record)
yahoo= Delivered to Inbox
hotmail= delivered to junk mail folder

domain 2 with SPF record
yahoo= Delivered to Bulk mail
hotmail= Delivered to junk mail

What to do??

 

I'm not getting that result here. What are the domain names so I can look at the SPF records.

 

One more thing.

When I was talking (email) to one of the Hotmail admins some time ago, he told me NOT to use any words with TEST in the email, as it would also set some "flags"

small quote from the email:

 

Frustrated!!!

Hi guys

This was my discovery that if i send mail through UebiMiau, squirrelmail and outlook express it is receieved as spam or junk mail on the repeient and thats using a domain that has a SPF record and a reverse PTR record as well...

but if i use another domain that has no SPF record though UebiMiau and squirrelmail not outlook express it is recieved as a normal email and goes into the inbox and this is sometimes as well

now my question is what do i need to do so that my mail is delivered properly to the inbox on both yahoo and hotmail... and for the record does it mean that i will have to go through the same process everytime i configure a new domain?

 

Could you paste just the _headers_ from any of those emails that get tagged as bulk and junk ? I don't need to see the email address or content.

I would need to see both to figure out why you're getting this issue.

 

Hope this helps!!

X-Apparently-To: (myaddy)@yahoo.com via 209.191.68.173; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:53:15 -0800
X-YahooFilteredBulk: IP address of server
X-Originating-IP: Ipadress of ISPConfig
Return-Path: <domain off ispconfig>
Authentication-Results: mta565.mail.mud.yahoo.com from=domain off ispconfig; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
Received: from IP of the server (EHLO nameof machine) Ip of the server by mta565.mail.mud.yahoo.com with SMTP; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:53:15 -0800
Received: from A Record Address (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by name of machine (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8C9391B778B for <(myaddy)@yahoo.com>; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:35:09 +0200 (SAST)
Received: from 192.68.1.87 (SquirrelMail authenticated user web2_mailadmin) by A record of the ISPCONFIG server where squirrelmail is running with HTTP; Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:35:09 +0200 (SAST)
Message-ID: <4100.192.68.1.87.1166020509.squirrel@domain of ispconfig>
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:35:09 +0200 (SAST)
Subject: Re: Running at ya!!
From: Mail from ISPCOFIG Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: <(myaddy)@yahoo.com>
Reply-to: domain off ispconfig
User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.8
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
Importance: Normal
Content-Length: 147

 

2 things I see that yahoo thinks its junk.

1) X-YahooFilteredBulk: IP address of server
2) Authentication-Results: mta565.mail.mud.yahoo.com from=domain off ispconfig; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)


For problem 1, I wouldn't know why unless you gave your IP out. Its no big secret since you are emailing from it.

For problem 2, This is because Yahhoo refusees to use SPF records because they sponsor the rival of SPF which is DomanKeys. DomainKeys is known to be buggy and fail when it shouldn't whereas SPF never fails unless its 'admin error'.

My best guess is that your IP block has been tagged for spamming... That doesn't mean YOUR ip is but rather the WHOLE ip block. EG; a /16 or /24 class

 

BTW good luck with ISPConfig... I went to Virtualmin Pro which is alot more friendly to systems then this program was. ISPConfig ate my websites up after a upgrade to the dev version and if its going to do that then its a waste of time for me.

 

Maybe the reason of the upgrade going wrong was that you used a dev (development (unstable)) version?

I've tested Virtualmin Pro, and I think that for me it was a waste of time, as I did allready have a good working system.

 

X-YahooFilteredBulk: 196.211.246.13


My best guess is that your IP block has been tagged for spamming... That doesn't mean YOUR ip is but rather the WHOLE ip block. EG; a /16 or /24 class

wouldn't that mean that every single mail sent from this IP block will be recognized as spam but the thing is some other mail is recognized as Normal mail like if i send mail through Microsoft Outlook??

What would cause that?

 

Yes.

If the mail is sent through a mail server in that subnet, it would still be tagged as spam.