Mailing List Archive: SPF: Help

SPF record allowing mail from hosting company

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mickthetree at gmail

Jul 11, 2007, 3:37 AM

Post #1 of 7 (1170 views)
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SPF record allowing mail from hosting company

Hi there

I'm trying to set up an SPF record for lucasuk.com.

We have an email system tied into the website, which sends an email to a mailing
list.

So this mail is going from the hosting companies servers.

The server in the header of the mail from the website is webcontrolcenter.com

Our mail is run through an exchange server.

as far as I understand it, our spf record should be:

"v=spf1 mx include:webcontrolcenter.com ~all"

Does this make sence from what I have said above?

Do I need to add something in for our exchange server?

Is it right that I "include" webcontrolcenter or should I be adding an IP
address in there?

I'd certainly appreciate any help you could offer.

Kindest regards

Paul

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alex at ergens

Jul 11, 2007, 3:55 AM

Post #2 of 7 (1123 views)
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Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 10:37:09AM +0000, Paul Mills wrote:
> Hi there
>
> I'm trying to set up an SPF record for lucasuk.com.
>
> We have an email system tied into the website, which sends an email to a mailing
> list.
>
> So this mail is going from the hosting companies servers.

All of the mail from @lucasuk.com addresses?

> The server in the header of the mail from the website is webcontrolcenter.com
>
> Our mail is run through an exchange server.

In other words: via the exchange server, possibly via other servers,
and then finally via a server at webcontrolcenter.com to the destination?

Only that last server (or: group of servers) need to be authorized in
your policy.

> as far as I understand it, our spf record should be:
>
> "v=spf1 mx include:webcontrolcenter.com ~all"

webcontrolcenter.com does have an SPF policy published (in a TXT record)
so you can include it.

Why that "mx" ?

Alex

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mickthetree at gmail

Jul 11, 2007, 7:13 AM

Post #3 of 7 (1108 views)
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Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

Hi Alex, thanks for looking at this

I created this using the wizard here http://old.openspf.org/wizard.html

The wizard identified 4 mx servers for the lucasuk.com domain name.

It said that MX servers do receive mail for lucasuk.com, I selected yes they do
also send mail for lucasuk.com. This added in the "MX" bit. I thought it looked
odd being there when I checked the syntax page.

so this line

"v=spf1 include:webcontrolcenter.com ~all"

should allow mail to be sent from the exchange server and also from the
"webcontrolcenter.com" server?

kind regards

Paul

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steve at teamITS

Jul 11, 2007, 7:24 AM

Post #4 of 7 (1109 views)
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RE: Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

Paul Mills wrote on 7/11/2007 9:13:11 AM:

> It said that MX servers do receive mail for lucasuk.com, I selected
yes they do
> also send mail for lucasuk.com. This added in the "MX" bit. I thought
it looked
> odd being there when I checked the syntax page.
>
> so this line
>
> "v=spf1 include:webcontrolcenter.com ~all"
>
> should allow mail to be sent from the exchange server and also from
the
> "webcontrolcenter.com" server?

No, that SPF record only covers the servers that
webcontrolcenter.com allows to send mail for the webcontrolcenter.com
domain. If your MX servers and/or Exchange servers also deliver mail
directly to the destination server (i.e., do not use a smart host) then
you would add them to your SPF record as well.

-----
SPF FAQ: http://www.openspf.org/FAQ
Common mistakes: http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Common_mistakes

- Steve Yates
- ITS, Inc.
- Power corrupts. Absolute power is kinda neat, though.

~ Taglines by Taglinator - www.srtware.com ~

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alex at ergens

Jul 11, 2007, 7:59 AM

Post #5 of 7 (1121 views)
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Re: Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

On Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 02:13:11PM +0000, Paul Mills wrote:

> Hi Alex, thanks for looking at this
>
> I created this using the wizard here http://old.openspf.org/wizard.html
>
> The wizard identified 4 mx servers for the lucasuk.com domain name.

>
> It said that MX servers do receive mail for lucasuk.com

Yes, and it asks if they also send mail.

> It said that MX servers do receive mail for lucasuk.com, I selected yes they do
> also send mail for lucasuk.com. This added in the "MX" bit. I thought it looked
> odd being there when I checked the syntax page.

I may have overlooked this in your first mail, but I believe you didn't
mention this then. That's why I asked about "mx" in your policy.

>
> so this line
>
> "v=spf1 include:webcontrolcenter.com ~all"
>
> should allow mail to be sent from the exchange server and also from the
> "webcontrolcenter.com" server?

Does the exchange server use webcontrolcenter.com to deliver its mail,
or does it deliver itself... this is the important part.

Look at this from my perspective. I receive mail from your domain. The
server contacting me needs to be authorized. Does the exchange server
contact my server or not, that's the question.

If it does, you need to find out how to list it. If you list "mx", you
will be listing more than just your exchange server. Do the other mx hosts
also deliver mail for you? If not, you probably shouldn't authorize "mx".

If your exchange server needs to be listed, and if it has a static IP address,
why not authorize "ip4:212.169.50.60" ?

HTH
Alex

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mickthetree at gmail

Jul 11, 2007, 8:19 AM

Post #6 of 7 (1120 views)
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Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

>
> No, that SPF record only covers the servers that
> webcontrolcenter.com allows to send mail for the webcontrolcenter.com
> domain. If your MX servers and/or Exchange servers also deliver mail
> directly to the destination server (i.e., do not use a smart host) then
> you would add them to your SPF record as well.
>

Thanks for your help Steve

The exchange server does not use a smart host. There is an mx record of
mail.lucasuk.com does this need to be included as well to allow mail from the
exchange server?

am I right in understanding that SPF doesn't automatically allow mail from top
level domain name in question? i.e lucasuk.com

Really appreciate your help.

Kind regards

Paul

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steve at teamITS

Jul 12, 2007, 11:02 AM

Post #7 of 7 (1122 views)
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RE: Re: SPF record allowing mail from hosting company [In reply to]

Paul Mills wrote on 7/11/2007 10:19:13 AM:

>> If your MX servers and/or Exchange servers also deliver mail
>> directly to the destination server (i.e., do not use a smart host)
then
>> you would add them to your SPF record as well.

> The exchange server does not use a smart host. There is an mx record
of
> mail.lucasuk.com does this need to be included as well to allow mail
from the
> exchange server?

Does it deliver outgoing mail?

> am I right in understanding that SPF doesn't automatically allow mail
from top
> level domain name in question? i.e lucasuk.com

I don't understand your question. If you create an SPF record
for something.lucasuk.com then no, that does not apply to the
lucasuk.com domain, you would need to set up another SPF record to
protect mail from that domain.

If you do not have an SPF record for a domain, then the receiver
should receive mail for that domain regardless of its source.

-----
SPF FAQ: http://www.openspf.org/FAQ
Common mistakes: http://www.openspf.org/FAQ/Common_mistakes

- Steve Yates
- ITS, Inc.
- Did you hear about the programmer who died while washing his hair?
The instructions said, 'Lather, rinse, repeat.'

~ Taglines by Taglinator - www.srtware.com ~

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