Publish MX and mail DNS
Publish MX and supporting address records for inbound mail.
Objective
Publish DNS for email
Publish MX and related DNS records required for mail delivery and authentication.
Starting state
Domain is delegated; mail hostnames are known
Prerequisites
- Access to authoritative DNS
- Known mail server hostnames
Estimated time
1–2 hours
Difficulty
intermediate
Required access
- DNS zone edit rights
Inputs
- Domain
- MX targets and preferences
- A/AAAA for MX hosts
Step-by-step instructions
- Confirm host address recordsEnsure MX hostnames resolve via A/AAAA.
- Publish MX RRsetAdd MX preferences pointing at the mail hosts.
- Verify authoritative answersQuery authoritative servers and confirm the intended RRset.
Verification
- Authoritative MX matches intended targets
Common mistakes
- MX host has no address record
- Single MX vs multiple preferences
Rollback / recovery
- Restore prior MX RRset from backup
Expected outcome
Inbound SMTP can discover mail exchangers via DNS.
When to escalate
- Production inbound mail fails after publish