Configuring DNS

In order for other mail servers and clients to be able to send mail to your mail server, ensure that the appropriate DNS records are published. These records are used by other mail servers to locate your server when they attempt to parse recipient addresses (i.e.: it allows a domain name to equate to an IP Address). Exactly how DNS is configured depends largely on whether you are hosting your own publicly accessible DNS server or whether a third party (usually an ISP) is hosting your DNS for you.

For each domain serviced by MailEnable, ensure that the following the following DNS Records exist:

A RECORD
An A record should be registered for the mail host. It associates the IP Address of the host with its host name.

MX RECORD
An MX record should be defined for each domain that is hosted under MailEnable. It allows remote mail servers to identify the host name of the mail host.

PTR RECORD
The PTR record maps an IP address of the host to its host name. The PTR record is used for reverse lookups.

Note: An MX record should be a pointer to an A record. In other words, there should be an A record that equates to the host name of the IP Address of your server.

For example, if you were setting up mail services for mailenable.com, create an A record in your DNS to publish the host name of the server. This could be named mail.mailenable.com. Then create an MX record that contains the hostname of the mail server (i.e.: the name specified for the A record).

MailEnable, like any other mail server, requires DNS entries to be modified when hosting multiple mail domains on the same server. The following articles outline how to configure DNS servers:

More information:

Setting up Microsoft DNS Server on NT 4.0 SP6.

How to install and configure Microsoft DNS Server.

How to create a new zone on a DNS Server in Windows 2000.