Setup my own email server

Hello,

I have been doing a lot of reading, but still unsure about a few things regarding setting up an email server. I'm hoping someone can help answer a few questions.


Right now I have a test server setup with a dynamic IP. I plan to get a static IP.

I called my isp to ask about a static IP and they told they will create a PTR record and told me I will need to provide them with the FQDN.

I'm not sure what my FQDN is. How would determine what it is?

For example if I had a server named "mserver", full name "mserver.ach.local". A domain named www dot example dot com with Godaddy, with the following records:

A (Host)
Host --> Points To
@ --> 146.xxx.xxx.xx
mail --> 146.xxx.xxx.xx


CNAMES (Aliases)

Host --> Points To
mobilemail --> mobilemail-v01.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net
pda --> mobilemail-v01.prod.mesa1.secureserver.net
email --> email.secureserver.net
e --> mail.secureserver.net
webmail --> webmail.secureserver.net
pop --> pop.secureserver.net
smtp --> smtp.secureserver.net
www --> @
ftp --> @


MX (Mail Exchange)

Priority --> Host --> Goes To
0 --> @ --> mail.example.com



Some other questions I also had.


Can I delete those CNAMES records shown above?

Is a PTR and/or SPF record required?

Is a PTR and/or SPF record required if my server is setup to use a smarthost?

What Server Platform...Exchange or Linux (Postfix, Sendmail, etc.) based?
The FQDN is the full hostname and domain of your server:

When you purchase your domain (if you haven't already purchased one), most mail server software will allow you to change the FQDN your mail server identifies itself as without physically changing the server or domain name on your LAN. (You don't want your mail server to identify itself as a .local domain). So let's say you but the domain, mydomain.com. You setup a host record of mail and your MX record points to mail.mydomain.com. You'll want your email server to advertise itself as mail.mydomain.com

DNS
Remember the role of DNS is to translate names to IP addresses. One of these is your PTR, or reverse DNS entry. This is controlled by your ISP. Nearly every receiving mail server will do some sort of checking to see if mail sent from your domain is legit. This includes checking your reverse DNS record; to see if your IP address resolves back to the FQDN of your server. Most SPAM comes from infected computers or PCs on dynamic IPs and improperly setup mail servers.

Host/SPF Records
I, personally, don't use CNAME records in my public DNS records. Mail records that resolve to CNAME entries usually score higher (and I believe is a violation of the RFC) in SPAM filters. I would ditch CNAME records and stick with host records.

SPF records are HIGHLY recommended. They essentially tell the Internet world legit email sent from your domain can come from 'this IP address' and/or 'this host' and are frequently checked by receiving MTAs. These are created as a text enry in your public DNS. There is a good online SPF record creator here:

SPF Project

Thanks PWD for the help.


I'm using Exchange on SBS 2003.


So when setting up SBS, I should enter mail.mydomain.com as the FDQN.

When my ISP creates the PTR record, I will provide them mail.mydomain.com as the FDQN.

If you haven't fully setup SBS yet, keep your local domain and your Internet Domain separate. When setting up your local domain, call it something like mydomain.local. Your Internet Domain, is the one you regsiter with a domain registrar.

To make your SMTP server advertise as mail.mydomain.com, do the following:

1) Go to Start => Programs => Microsoft Exchange => System Manager
2) When Echange System Manager opens up, expand 'Servers' => expand 'Your Server name' => expand 'Protocols' => expand 'SMTP'
3) Right click 'Default SMTP Virtual Server' and select 'Properties'
4) Click the 'Delivery' tab then click the 'Advanced' button toward the bottom.
5) In the 'Fully Qualified Domain Name' field enter 'mail.mydomain.com or what ever mail host record you set up in your public DNS.

Locally you will still summon your server by it's local name. You are simply changing what your SMTP server will identify itself as in the Internet world.

Domain Name
Noticing your Host and CNAME records is your first post, was your public domain name purchased through GoDaddy? This looks like the default entries in GoDaddy's total DNS Panel. They automatically give you mail, and a place to park your website. If so, you'll need to delete all of these and create your own host, MX and SPF records once you obtain your static IP. If you need help with that just let us know....

SBS 2003 Side Note
When installing SBS 2003 you need to define the local domain for which SBS will be authoritative for, in this example you would enter mydomain.com. A FQDN is hostname + domain and as we all remember computer name = hostname. Although the setup wizard asks for a domain name you may have registered with a registrar, I (and many other system administrators) have long kept local domains and Internet domains separate. So as a best practice, define your local domain for your local network and enter that into your setup wizard.

Thanks PWD for the help