How to route a domain's incoming mail to a specific server

What is a Mail server?

A Mail server is an application that handles incoming and outgoing emails within a network like the Internet. It can receive incoming emails from users within a domain, as well as those from remote senders. It can also forward incoming emails and send outgoing emails.

Most domains have several mail servers associated to them.

If you want to know how to check your mail server settings, click here.

What is an MX record?

An MX (Mail Exchanger) record is basically an email routing record associated with a DNS (Domain Name System) that directs the emails your domain receives and sends. More precisely, it specifies which mail servers will handle and deliver the emails that pass through your domain.

It can also designate specific levels of priority for mail servers (in case there are multiple servers available to receive the messages), so your mails go to the servers with the highest level of priority and only proceeds to the next if the former is down.

If you want to know more about what is an MX record, click here.

How to route a domain's incoming mail to a specific server

If you want to direct your incoming mails to a particular mail server, you need to configure or update your MX record. Doing this will ensure you have a backup email exchanger to handle your emails when any of your mail servers is unable to do so.

The following are some of the configuration settings you can do in the MX Entry page:

1. Configure Email Routing
   
   First thing you need to do is configure your domain’s email routing. To do this, follow the steps below:
   
   
   1. Click Sign Up / Log In at the top of this page.
   2. Select Hosting Manager from the drop-down menu.
   3. Enter your username and password, and click Log In.
   4. On the Home page, click the word Email or the [ v ] arrow symbol on the right side.
   5. Next, click the MX Entry icon, which is next to the Forwarders icon.
   6. On the next page, select the domain that is associated with the MX record you want to configure.
   7. Under Email Routing, select one of the following options:

   Automatically Detect Configuration	The server uses the current MX record or records for the domain to automatically select the configuration option it thinks is most appropriate.
   Local Mail Exchanger	The domain accepts mails even if an MX record with higher priority exists. The server routes mails to both domains when this happens.
   Backup Mail Exchanger	The domain acts as a backup mail exchanger and holds mails in the queue if the primary exchanger is offline.
   Remote Mail Exchanger	The domain does not accept any mail. Instead, it sends it to the primary mail exchanger.

   8. Click Change to confirm.

   Important Note: MX entries that are not properly configured can completely disable your mail servers from receiving and sending emails. To avoid this, consult your hosting provider if you are unsure about your MX entry settings.



2. Add a New MX entry
   
   If you want to add a new MX entry, follow the steps below:
   
   
   1. Click Sign Up / Log In at the top of this page.
   2. Select Hosting Manager from the drop-down menu.
   3. Enter your username and password, and click Log In.
   4. On the Home page, click the word Email or the [ v ] arrow symbol on the right side.
   5. Next, click the MX Entry icon, which is next to the Forwarders icon.
   6. On the next page, go to the Add a New Record section.
   7. Enter the priority value of the MX entry and the domain name where you want the emails to be handled in the Destination text box.
      Example: For domain allaboutstraya.com the MX Record should look like mail.allaboutstraya.com
   8. Click Add New Record.

   Important Note: The lower the number, the higher the priority value is, which means the primary mail server is the entry with the number 0. By default, incoming emails will be handled by mail servers with the lowest priority value. Mail servers with higher priority values will be considered backup servers.
   
   If multiple mail servers have the same priority value, the system will send your incoming emails among the mail servers randomly.



3. Edit an MX entry
   
   If you want to edit an MX entry, follow the steps below:
   
   
   1. Inside the MX Entry, add the MX entry on the MX Records list you want to edit and click the Edit icon.
   2. Change the Priority value and/or Destination domain as you see fit.
   3. Click Edit to confirm.

   Important Note: Any changes in the MX records will likewise reflect in your domain’s DNS records.



4. Delete an MX entry
   
   If you want to delete an MX entry, follow the steps below:
   
   
   1. Inside the MX Entry page, find the entry in the MX Records list you want to remove and click the Delete icon.
   2. Click Delete to confirm.