SPF Records
Information on configuring SPF records in preparation for emailing from RMS.
Sender Policy Framework is an email validation system used by mail servers globally to allow for specifying the IP addresses that other mail servers should expect to receive emails from using that domain name.
SPF provides a safe list of ISPs with permission to send from a particular domain.
If planning to send any kind of email from within RMS then SPF records must be updated to include RMS on the safelist.
Side effects of not updating SPF records
When no SPF record has been setup for sending from RMS some mail servers may reject emails sent which can result in undelivered emails or bounce backs on eDM campaigns.
Recommended SPF record settings for RMS
RMS Recommends adding an 'include' entry to your SPF record that will include all of the IP addresses from the RMS SPF record used for sending email from RMS.
Updating the SPF record this way will future proof for any new servers or changes made to our network at a later stage without the need to amend the SPF record again.
Example:
If your current SPF record looks like this:
yourdomain.com descriptive text "v=spf1 mx ip4:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/32 ~all"
The updated SPF record would be updated to include the bold text below:
yourdomain.com descriptive text "v=spf1 mx ip4:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/32 include:_spf.rmscloud.com ~all"
More information on the correct format of an SPF record and how the system works can be found found here.
Editing the SPF record
The SPF record lives in the DNS (Domain Name System) settings.
These settings need to be changed with either your domain name registrar (the company that you bought the domain from) or your web hosting company (the company that hosts your website and/or emails).
Included below are links to instructions for editing DNS records with popular domain providers.
If your service isn’t listed here, log in to your provider’s site and search their help documents or contact their customer support team.
Amazon Web Services: Configuring DNS, Resource Record Types
Dreamhost: SPF
GoDaddy: Add a CNAME Record
Google Domains: DNS Basics
Namecheap: SPF & DKIM
MelbourneIT: How do I create a TXT/SPF Record
Netregistry: Creating TXT/SPF records
Verifying SPF records are updated
Changes to DNS settings can take up to 24-hours to propagate across the internet.
Use a tool such as the MX Toolbox SPF to check to see if the change has begun to take effect.
Type in your domain name and hit the 'SPF Record Lookup' button.
Verify that you see 'include:_spf.rmscloud.com' in the record displayed.
Troubleshooting
If 24-hours have passed and email bouncebacks are not related to emails sent prior to the update of SPF records, contact your domain provider or review their help site for steps to troubleshoot DNS records in their service.