Connecting your domain

The DNS records eoinbox needs, how to add them at any DNS provider, and how to avoid the common mistakes.

Connecting a domain means adding a few records to its DNS. This page explains them for any provider. For click-by-click instructions, see the guide for your DNS provider.

Before you start

Find out where your DNS is hosted. This is not always the company you bought the domain from. If you moved your nameservers to Cloudflare, for example, you edit DNS at Cloudflare. The eoinbox dashboard detects the DNS host for you when you add the domain.

Check whether the domain already receives mail. If it does, keep the existing MX records until the very end. Add everything else first, import your old mail, and switch MX last. The dashboard tells you what it found.

The records

Your dashboard shows these with the exact values for your domain and a copy button next to each. Values in angle brackets, such as <id>, are unique to your domain.

• Required records are needed to receive and send mail.
• Recommended records improve security and deliverability. Add them, it takes two minutes.
• Optional records let mail apps set themselves up automatically.

How to enter names

DNS providers disagree on how to write record names:

If your provider adds the domain for you, do not type it again. A frequent mistake is ending up with eo1._domainkey.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com. The live check in the dashboard spots this.

Some providers want hostnames in values to end with a dot (mx1.eoinbox.com.). If yours does, its guide says so.

Common mistakes

• Two SPF records. A domain can have only one TXT record starting with v=spf1. If you already have one (for example for your website's contact form or a newsletter tool), add include:spf.eoinbox.com to it instead of creating a second one. Example: v=spf1 include:spf.eoinbox.com include:_spf.example-host.net ~all. The dashboard shows a merged suggestion and warns if you go over SPF's limit of 10 lookups.
• Old MX records left in place. When you switch, remove the previous provider's MX records. With MX records at two providers, mail is split between them at random.
• Proxied CNAMEs. Some providers (notably Cloudflare) can proxy CNAME records. Mail records must not be proxied: set them to "DNS only".
• Quotes in TXT values. Most dashboards add quotes for you. Amazon Route 53 is the exception, see its guide.
• SRV records. Not every provider supports SRV records in its form. They are optional, skip them if yours does not.

Checking and switching

1. Add the verification TXT record first. As soon as we see it, the domain is verified.
2. Add SPF, DKIM and the recommended records. Each turns green in the dashboard when it is correct.
3. When you are ready to receive mail here, set the MX records and remove the old ones. You will see a confirmation when the first message arrives.
4. Send a test message to the test address shown in the dashboard. The automatic reply tells you whether SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass.

DNS changes usually appear within minutes, but can take up to 48 hours depending on the record's TTL (time to live). If you are moving from another mail provider, lower the TTL of your MX records to 300 seconds a day before switching.

Using a subdomain

If your main domain must keep its current mail provider, you can connect a subdomain such as mail.yourdomain.com as its own domain. Add the same records, with names under the subdomain.

After setup

We keep checking your records: hourly for the first two days, then daily. If something breaks, you get a warning in webmail and by email to your recovery address. Because DKIM uses CNAME records, we rotate signing keys without you having to touch DNS again.