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How to Add DNS Records for Sending Domains

To add the SPF and DKIM records for your sending domains, you'll need to add records of type TXT through your hosting provider, domain registrar, or DNS provider.

Note

You'll need to add SPF and DKIM records and verify ownership of your sending domains before you can send email through your account. Transactional Email will not send any email from unverified domains or domains without valid SPF and DKIM records, including public domains like gmail.com, yahoo.com, and more.

A message that is rejected with the reject reason unsigned indicates that the sending domain hasn't been properly set up, and that your account is unable to send and authenticate email from that domain.

Learn more about SPF and DKIM and domain verification, or manage sending domains in your Transactional Email account.

SPF Record

If you don't yet have an SPF record, add one for your domain. At a minimum, the value should be the following if you're only sending mail through Transactional Email for that domain:

v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com ?all

If you already have a TXT record with SPF information, you'll need to add Transactional Email's servers to that record by adding include:spf.mandrillapp.com in the record (before the last operator, which is usually ?all, ~all, or -all).

DKIM Record

Add a new TXT record with the name mandrill._domainkey.yourdomain.com (just replace yourdomain.com with the domain you're setting up).

The value for the record should be one of the options listed below. There are two options because the record contains semicolons, and some DNS providers escape semicolons for you while others require you to do it when setting up the record.

With semicolons escaped:

v=DKIM1\; k=rsa\; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCrLHiExVd55zd/IQ/J/mRwSRMAocV/hMB3jXwaHH36d9NaVynQFYV8NaWi69c1veUtRzGt7yAioXqLj7Z4TeEUoOLgrKsn8YnckGs9i3B3tVFB+Ch/4mPhXWiNfNdynHWBcPcbJ8kjEQ2U8y78dHZj1YeRXXVvWob2OaKynO8/lQIDAQAB\;

With semicolons unescaped:

v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCrLHiExVd55zd/IQ/J/mRwSRMAocV/hMB3jXwaHH36d9NaVynQFYV8NaWi69c1veUtRzGt7yAioXqLj7Z4TeEUoOLgrKsn8YnckGs9i3B3tVFB+Ch/4mPhXWiNfNdynHWBcPcbJ8kjEQ2U8y78dHZj1YeRXXVvWob2OaKynO8/lQIDAQAB;

DNS Providers

Here are links and information for several hosting and DNS providers.

Provider Links Formatting Notes
CPanel (general)

Many hosting providers offer CPanel to manage your domain. CPanel instructions are often similar among hosts that offer this option.		 Bluehost

GoDaddy		 DKIM record typically escaped automatically.

The 'name' of your DKIMrecordshouldbe 
mandrill._domainkey.yourdomain.com
where yourdomain.com is replaced by the domain name where you're adding the record. Most hosts that utilize cPanel don't automatically add the domain name to the end of the record name.
Amazon Route 53 Route 53 console

Route 53 API		  
CloudFlare SPF records

DKIM records		 DKIM record escaped automatically.
DNS Made Easy DNS Made Easy The 'Value' field where you enter the content for each record must be enclosed in quotes.
DreamHost DreamHost  
DynDNS DynDNS The 'data' field where you enter the value for each record must be enclosed in double quotes.
GoDaddy Plesk Panel 9

Plesk Panel 10		  
Hover Hover  
ZoneEdit ZoneEdit  

 

If your host or DNS provider doesn't appear here, contact their customer support or help files for more information. Each host may handle the adding or editing of records differently, so your host's technical support or documentation is the best resource for any limitations or formatting specific to that provider.

Troubleshooting

After you've added the appropriate DNS records, it can take up to 24 hours for the changes to take effect. If there's an error validating your records, you can view the error details in Transactional Email for additional information. There are also some third-party resources you can use to check your records or for other details if needed:

  • Check the SPF validator here. Enter your domain name in the first text box and click Get SPF Record for a diagnostic of your SPF records.

  • Check whether your DKIM record is valid using the DKIMCore validator. Enter mandrill as the selector and your domain name.

  • The SPF validator looks for a TXT record with the appropriate SPF information. If your domain has an SPF type record, it's best to add a matching TXT record for compatibility.

  • If you already have an SPF record, edit that record instead of adding a new one. The specs for SPF require that there only be one TXT record with SPF information.

  • If you've added the DKIM record and are still seeing that it's missing, your DNS provider may require the record be formatted differently. The DKIM record Transactional Email provides has semicolons escaped with a backslash, so the record starts with this:

     v=DKIM1\; k=rsa\;

    and ends like this:

     \;

  • Some DNS providers don't require semicolons be escaped. If you see issues, try removing the backslashes right before semicolons at the beginning and end of the record.

  • Some DNS providers take longer than others to publish and push the record. If you're adding a completely new record, those often validate within 10-15 minutes. Changing records can take longer, but can vary based on your DNS provider and TTL for the record.