How to manage e-mail deliverability settings in cPanel

This article describes how to manage e-mail deliverability settings in cPanel to help reduce unwanted e-mail (spam). These settings include:

• DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
• Sender Policy Framework (SPF).
• Reverse DNS (PTR records).

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM)

You can use DKIM to verify that an incoming e-mail message is actually from the stated sender, and that the message has not been altered during transit. When DKIM is enabled, the sender digitally signs a message using a private key. The recipient uses DNS to retrieve the sender's public key and verify the message's signature. If the signature is invalid, then the message is assumed to be forged and therefore spam.

To manage DKIM settings, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel.
   If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
2. Open the Email Deliverability tool:
   • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Email section, click Email Deliverability:

     

   • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the EMAIL section of the cPanel home page, click Email Deliverability:
     

     

3. Locate the domain you want to manage, and then click Manage.
4. Under DKIM, you can view the name/value pair for the DKIM DNS entry.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

SPF helps prevent spammers from forging messages that implicate your domain as the sender. As a result, SPF can also reduce the amount of bounce messages that you receive (also known as backscatter spam). SPF uses DNS records that specify the mail servers and IP addresses that are authorized to send e-mail messages from a domain.

To manage SPF settings, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel.
   If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
2. Open the Email Deliverability tool:
   • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Email section, click Email Deliverability:

     

   • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the EMAIL section of the cPanel home page, click Email Deliverability:
     

     

3. Locate the domain you want to manage, and then click Manage.

4. Under SPF, you can view and modify the name/value pair for the SPF DNS entry.
   

   If you have a shared hosting or reseller hosting account, confirm that the raw SPF record includes one of the following configuration lines:
   

   • If you have a shared hosting account, the raw SPF record should contain +include:spf.a2hosting.com.
   • If you have a reseller hosting account, the raw SPF record should contain +include:spf.supercp.com.

   If one of these configuration lines is not in the raw SPF record, follow these steps:

   1. Click Customize.
   2. Under ADDITIONAL SETTINGS, under Include List (INCLUDE), click Add A New “+include” Item.
   3. In the text box, type one of the following lines:
      • If you have a shared hosting account, type spf.a2hosting.com.
      • If you have a reseller hosting account, type spf.supercp.com.
   4. Click Install A Customized SPF Record.
   5. You can use additional options on this page to further customize the SPF record if necessary.

Reverse DNS (PTR records)

A PTR record is a DNS entry that enables resolving IP addresses to domain names. This is called “reverse DNS” because a typical DNS lookup involves going the other way—returning the associated IP address for a given hostname. Verifying the domain name for a given IP address is another technique that is used to help reduce spam.

To manage reverse DNS settings, follow these steps:

1. Log in to cPanel.
   If you do not know how to log in to your cPanel account, please see this article.
2. Open the Email Deliverability tool:
   • If you are using the Jupiter theme, on the Tools page, in the Email section, click Email Deliverability:

     

   • If you are using the Paper Lantern theme, in the EMAIL section of the cPanel home page, click Email Deliverability:
     

     

3. Locate the domain you want to manage, and then click Manage.
4. Under REVERSE DNS (PTR), you can view the name/value pair for the PTR record.

More Information

• For more information about DKIM, please visit http://www.dkim.org.
• For more information about SPF, please visit http://www.openspf.org.
• For more information about reverse DNS, please visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_DNS_lookup.