Creating MX Records

What is an MX record?

MX records define the name of the Mail eXchange (MX) and to establish priority of processing. These records set the location of the server (or host) that all electronic mail is to be processed by. MX records must only be pointed to a hostname, and not to an IP – the IP address is always resolved by the A record of the host.

Priority

In many cases, in order to provide an uninterrupted email service, many zone records contain more than one MX record. Each contains its own entry, and each is given a priority. The lower the number, the higher the priority. If one of these MX fails for any reason, the next listed prioritised MX record will process the email.

MX records used for Netregistry email hosting services:

In this example email for mydomainname.com.au is first processed by mx2.planetdomain.com, because this has the highest priority.

Changing MX records

If you have cPanel hosting, you need to log in to the cPanel and create the CNAME record through  “Advanced DNS Zone Editor” which is in the cPanel.

Please be advised that the below tutorial is for domains which their Name Servers are pointing to ns1/ns2.planetdomain.com only.

To point your domain name to your own email exchange server, (which must have a static IP address):

1. Login to your Account level console using the Master Account Reference and Password.
2. Locate Administer/Upgrade domain along the left hand side of the page.
3. Search for or select the domain to which the email hosting applies.
4. Click [Administer].
5. Click Zone Manager.
   Note: If this option is not displayed, please contact Netregistry Technical Support.The Zone Manager page details the domain zone records and allows for changes to A, CNAME, MX, NS, TXT or SRV records.
6. Create an A record hostname defining the MX IP address (e.g. mail).
7. Click MX to create an MX record.
8. In the following page, type:
   Name – leave this blank/empty (unless you want email addresses like email@subdomain.domain.tld)
   TTL – Time to Live
   Host – the hostname created in step 6 e.g. mail.domain.tld
   Preference – 10 (Priority)
   Is host fully qualified? – Selected
9. Click [Add Record].
10. Create additional MX records as required.

Note: standard DNS propagation time of approximately 2 hours may apply.

A Record already exists:

A records are automatically set by default in the Zone Manager. The default A-records can be removed if hosting is required elsewhere.