Utilising third-party solutions for Email Services, such as Google Apps, will require additional SPF Records to be added to your domain’s DNS. Failing to do so may result in undelivered mail or mail that ends up in Junk or Spam folders.
Performing the necessary changes is easy and can be followed with the guide below
Add or Modify your SPF Record
A standard TXT Entry for an SPF Record looks similar to the following example:
"v=spf1 +ip4:221.121.129.2 +a +mx -all"Explaining this entry in more detail is as follows:
Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
v=spft1 | SPF Version 1 |
+ip:221.121.129.2 | Allow the IPV4 address to send mail for this domain (value will change) |
+a | Allow any A-Record associated with the domain to send mail |
+mx | Allow any MX-Records associated with the domain to send mail |
-all | Fail all other mail outside of these rules |
We need to modify this line to read:
"v=spf1 +ip4:221.121.129.2 +a +mx include:_spf.google.com ~all"
What we added:
include:_spf.google.com | Allows googles mail servers to send mail on behalf of the domain |
~all | A ‘Sof Fail’ meaning mail will go through, even mail that fails the SPF, but can help to ensure the SPF rules arent too strict. Mail will be dropped if using -all (Hard Fail). |
Done!
Once the DNS change has propagated (usually within a few hours), yor emails should send without an issue.
Reviewing propagation status can be checked through a site like https://www.whatsmydns.net/ and selecting ‘TXT’ to see the record.