In the world of internet email, a DMARC record is a Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance record. That is, it’s a record to help ward off spammers and spoofers. It’s recommended that all modern servers make use of this DMARC record.
Practically speaking, the DMARC record lets a third-party mail server, like Gmail, know what you’d like to have happen to failed email messages. The choices are:
- Quarantine it
- Reject it wholly
- Don’t take any action
Holistically, though, the fact that you even have a DMARC record means that the external mail server takes you more seriously. They consider you a more legitimate type of connection.
To create a DMARC record, go into the interface you use to create your A records, AAAA records, MX records, and so on. On Network Solutions this area is found by looking at your domain listing, choosing ‘manage’ by one, and going into the ‘advanced DNS settings’.
In this area, create a new TXT record. The name of this record will be _dmarc – note in Network Solutions you have to choose a ‘refers to’ value of “Other Host” to be given the option of a field to type the _dmarc value into.
The TXT value area has a wide variety of options. I suggest starting with this format of value, including the quotes:
“v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:webmaster@domain.com”
The V version is what version of DMARC you want to use. Version 1 is fine.
The P is which policy to use – quarantine, reject, or don’t take any action (none).
The RUA is where to report results to. This lets you keep an eye on what is going on, especially at first.
I suggest setting this up for each domain from which you send email.
Ask with any questions!
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