Note: Our documentation pages are a work in progress! If you can't find the answers you need, please email us to let us know. We'll be happy to answer your questions.
You can (and should!) use your own domains with Purelymail for no additional charge. Using your own domain for your email addresses ensures you always control your email address and that you can switch it between mail providers at any time.
We don't sell domain names, but a lot of other companies do. A domain should only cost around $10 a year.
Cloudflare is a good registrar if you don't know what to pick. You can always transfer your domain to another registrar.
Note that Cloudflare actually offers email routing; if all you want is to forward your email to an existing inbox like e.g. Gmail, you may not even need Purelymail.
The following documentation can also be found on the Add New Domain page but is reproduced here for your convenience. View it there to see the value of your DNS ownership record.
To use a domain with Purelymail, you'll need to add at least three DNS (Domain Name System) records to it.
These prove you own the domain, tell the world to send all your email to our servers, and allow us to send email
on your behalf.
The company you bought your domain from will have instructions on how to add DNS records, and should
be able to help you if you get stuck. If not, our support might be able to help.
For a quick explanation of what DNS is and what these records do:
The Domain Name System (DNS) allows a computer to get information about domains like "purelymail.com". Most commonly, it retrieves an Internet Protocol (IP) address that the computer can use to reach "purelymail.com". Sometimes it retrieves another domain name, like "mailserver.purelymail.com", and then resolves that to get an IP address.
Each piece of information in DNS is called a record. A record can be one of several different types, and it can have a subdomain associated with it. A subdomain is just something that goes in front of "purelymail.com", like "news", to form "news.purelymail.com".
When you buy a domain, you get the right to choose the DNS records for it. That means you can point computers looking for information about "yoursite.com" anywhere you like.
What does this have to do with email?
Email addresses all have domain names in them. It's the second half after the @: the "purelymail.com" in "user@purelymail.com". And to figure out where to send mail for a domain, computers use the DNS system.
Why do I need to add all these DNS records?
The most important record (#1) is the MX record, which has the MX type. When delivering mail to a domain, mailservers will look for this record and then follow it to find where to deliver their mail. In the old days, this was the only DNS record you'd need to set up email.
Another is our ownership record (#3). This one just proves that you really own the domain you're trying to add. If, for example, you deleted your Purelymail account but forgot to remove your DNS records, needing to add this record would prevent somebody else from using your domain for email.
The rest, believe it or not, are all related to anti-spam measures. In brief:
The Sender Protection Framework (SPF) record (#2) tells other mail hosts that our IP addresses are allowed to send mail for your domain.
The three Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) records (#4, #5, #6) let mailservers verify the signatures we append to all the emails we send. Basically, these signatures verify the email was authorized to come from your domain and weren't changed after we sent them. There are three of them because we sign your mails with one of three different keys, which we regularly rotate for security purposes.
The Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) record (#7) tells other mail hosts that we use DKIM and SPF to keep your mail safe, and that they should reject any emails without them.
Can't you add records for me?
Unfortunately, no. There are no easy standards for automating or simplifying this process, and details tend to vary slightly between different registrars.
What happens if I lose my domain?
If your domain lapses, somebody else might buy it and can then change all the DNS records. You will lose control over where mail goes for all custom domain email addresses, however, you will retain control of your Purelymail account and all mail already delivered to it, although any users on your custom domain may need to be moved off of it.
Note that if Allow Account Reset (see further down this page) is enabled for a custom domain, you should make extra sure it doesn't expire, or else someone could buy your domain and take control of your account.
For Cosmotown specific pointers:
Find the DNS management page under the "DNS (Zone File) records" option of the "Manage Domains" dropdown on the detail page for your domain.
Click the "Quick add" button under the "MX" section. Set priority to 50. Leave "Host" blank, and set "Points to" to the value given in the standard instructions.. Click "Save".
Click the "Quick add" button under the "TXT" section. Leave "Host" blank, and set "TXT Value" to the value given in the standard instructions. Click "Save".
Repeat step 2 with the new value.
Click the "Quick add" button under the "CNAME" section. Set "Host" to the value given in standard instructions, and "Points to" to the target hostname value. Click "Save".
Same as 4.
Same as 4.
Like 4, but with the DMARC values.
Click "Save DNS Zone" when finished.
For Namesilo specific pointers:
Find the "Manage DNS" page for your domain. Once there, use the box labelled "Add/Edit a Resource Record" to add DNS records. See the standard instructions for specific values for the following DNS records, but remove any trailing periods at the end:
Click the "MX" resource record type. Leave "Hostname" blank, and set "Target Hostname" to the host value. TTL and Distance can be left at their defaults.
Click the "TXT/SPF" record type. Leave hostname blank, and add the value to the "Text" field. Do not add quotes. Leave TTL at its default.
Same as 2, with the new value.
Click the "CNAME" record type. Fill in both the "Hostname" and "Target Hostname" fields.
Same as 4.
Same as 4.
Like 4, but with the DMARC values.
Allow up to 15 minutes for records to propagate.
For Google Domains specific pointers:
Go to your Google Domains DNS page. (You can find it under https://domains.google.com/m/registrar/<yourDomain>/dns where <yourDomain> is replaced with the name of your custom domain.) Scroll to the bottom of the page, and enter custom resource records:
Choose the "MX" record type from the dropdown and enter 50 mailserver.purelymail.com. in the "Mail server" field. Click Add.
Choose the "TXT" record type from the dropdown and enter v=spf1 include:_spf.purelymail.com ~all in the "Text" field. Click the + icon next to the "Text" field. Enter (This specific value is different per user and can be found on the add Domains page in the management portal for your account.) Click Add.
Note that the ownership record was added at the same time as the SPF record above.
Select "CNAME" from the dropdown record type, putting the host in the "@" field and the value in the "Domain name" field. The trailing periods are required. Click the Add button.
Type
Host
Value
CNAME
purelymail1._domainkey
key1.dkimroot.purelymail.com.
Same as 4, with values:
Type
Host
Value
CNAME
purelymail2._domainkey
key2.dkimroot.purelymail.com.
Same as 4.
Type
Host
Value
CNAME
purelymail3._domainkey
key3.dkimroot.purelymail.com.
Like 4, but with the DMARC values:
Type
Host
Value
CNAME
_dmarc
dmarcroot.purelymail.com.
Allow up to 15 minutes for records to propagate.
For Cloudflare specific pointers:
Click the "Add record" button and select the "MX" type. Put @ on the "Name" field and mailserver.purelymail.com on the Mail Server field. Leave TTL on Auto and set priority to 50. Save.
Click the "Add record" button again and select the "TXT" type. Put @ on the "Name" field and v=spf1 include:_spf.purelymail.com ~all on the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto. Save.
Click the "Add record" button again and select the "TXT" type. Put @ on the "Name" field and (This specific value is different per user and can be found on the add Domains page in the management portal for your account.) on the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto. Save.
Click the "Add record" button again but this time select the "CNAME" type. Put purelymail1._domainkey on the "Name" field and key1.dkimroot.purelymail.comon the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto and click on the cloud on "Proxy Status" and set it as DNS only (this is very important). Save.
Click the "Add record" button again but this time select the "CNAME" type. Put purelymail2._domainkey on the "Name" field and key2.dkimroot.purelymail.comon the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto and click on the cloud on "Proxy Status" and set it as DNS only (this is very important). Save.
Click the "Add record" button again but this time select the "CNAME" type. Put purelymail3._domainkey on the "Name" field and key3.dkimroot.purelymail.comon the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto and click on the cloud on "Proxy Status" and set it as DNS only (this is very important). Save.
Finally, click the "Add record" button again and select the "CNAME" type. Put _dmarcon the "Name" field and dmarcroot.purelymail.com on the Content field. Leave TTL on Auto and click on the cloud on "Proxy Status" and set it as DNS only (this is very important). Save.
Allow a few minutes (normally it's very fast) for the records to propagate.
Some tips:
Host (also called name) fields can be left blank for the first three DNS records, but you may need to enter an @ sign instead, depending on your registrar.
Registrars can also be pretty inconsistent about when they allow (or require) periods at the end of some host names. If they won't let you add a record with a period at the end, try one without.
If you have existing MX or SPF records for your domain, you'll need to update or delete them.
TTL (Time to Live) fields can generally be left to their defaults, or set to suitably high values like 3600 for one hour.
Remember to allow some time for the records to propagate!
And now, for the records:
MX record
Type
Host
Value
MX
(Empty)
mailserver.purelymail.com.
This record tells other mail servers to send your mail to us. The trailing period is required. Any value for "Priority" fields will do, like for example 10.
SPF record
Type
Host
Value
TXT
(Empty)
v=spf1 include:_spf.purelymail.com ~all
This authorizes us to send email on your behalf. Value may also be called answer, or destination.
Ownership proof record
Type
Host
Value
TXT
(Empty)
(This specific value is different per user and can be found on the add Domains page in the management portal for your account.)
This record proves to us that you own this domain. (You can delete it after adding your domain, if you want.)
DKIM records are optional but recommended. They fight spam and improve email deliverability. You will need to add three similar records. Each is a CNAME record, which essentially points to another record that we manage for you. Unlike the others, these records all have values for the host field. Please note that all of these have values with a period at the end.
For the host fields, most DNS providers will automatically add your domain name to them. For example, purelymail1._domainkey becomes purelymail1._domainkey.yourdomain.com. Some do not, however, so make sure it's added if you run into issues.
Note that the "Value" fields may be called "Target Hostname" or similar.
A DMARC record is optional but recommended. It makes DKIM and SPF more effective and allows us to notify you if your domain is the target of large spoofing efforts. This is again a CNAME record with a specific host, like DKIM.
If you send mail under your domain through automated scripts (such as PHP forms or web applications), make sure they are either sending through Purelymail or are themselves authenticated with either SPF or DKIM, otherwise DMARC will cause their mail to be rejected.
If your account allows password reset, then only domains with this option enabled can be used for password reset. Anyone with control over the DNS for that domain can perform password recovery for your account's admin user and gain control over the account.
Leave this setting on the "Purelymail" option if Purelymail is your MX and you plan for mail to be delivered through us. This is most common.
If your MX is another mail service, set this to "External Server". For example, use this if you're only using Purelymail to send messages and mail you receive should be delivered directly to Gmail. (If you're forwarding from Purelymail to Gmail through routing rules, you still want the "Purelymail" option.)If you don't set this, Purelymail may still try to route messages sent from Purelymail to itself, even if your MX says otherwise.
If you want Purelymail to forward any mail it receives to this domain to a specific machine, for example a personal at-home mail server, use the Relay option. You can configure how many delivery retries are made for a message. The default retries (5) are spaced over an hour, and every attempt above that increases the total delivery time before timeout by an hour.
