A Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is a type of Domain Name Service (DNS) TXT record that identifies which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is a security measure to block unsolicited/unwanted email (spam).
It is an email validation protocol to detect and block email spoofing (impersonating).
This is prevented by providing a mechanism to allow receiving mail servers to verify that incoming mail from a domain comes from an IP Address authorised by that domain’s administrators.
SPF records help reduce the chance of your domain being spoofed in spam messages. It can also increase the deliverability of e-mail to external providers such as Gmail and Outlook.
We maintain an SPF record that is kept up to date with all IP addresses used to transmit e-mail from our network. This ensures that any e-mail sent from our services passes an SPF check.
SPF records are automatically added to all our hosting packages domains.
If you have an additional or external domain, to use this on your domain, you need to add a TXT record in DNS.
Manage DNS section
Towards the bottom of the Manage DNS page you will see 3 inputs to allow you to add new records. To add it:
- Leave the Name field blank
- Select TXT for Type
- Enter v=spf1 include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all as data
Then save the changes. Your domain is now protected by an SPF record.
How do I add another server/include to an SPF record?
If you’re using QuantaTec mail server but want to route emails via another provider – such as G Suite, Office 365 or Mailchimp – you may need to add a secondary sending server source to the SPF record.
You can do this by specifying multiple includes within the TXT record within Manage DNS. Each include is separated by a space and if any one include should fail, the SPF mechanism will simply move on to the next one. Below are some common providers you may need to add to your SPF record.
QuantaTec’s default SPF record:
v=spf1 include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all
To include a secondary include, you can edit the record:
G Suite
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all
Office 365
v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all
Mailchimp
v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all
SendGrid
v=spf1 include:sendgrid.net include:spf.stackmail.com a mx -all