This article covers the SPF and DKIM authentication processes for Adestra and how they are managed in Valimail. While only one of the two authentication methods is required for an email to pass DMARC, our recommendation is to configure both whenever possible.

DKIM signing is a type of email authentication that allows senders to sign an email with a particular domain. This is a digital signature which can be validated by recipients, meaning it can be confirmed that the email came from that sender and that it hasn't been modified.

It works using a private and public key system, so MessageFocus will encrypt emails with a private key, and recipients' email servers use a public key to decrypt it, which they look up via DNS.

By default, your campaigns will be signed by the msgfocus.com domain if a custom DKIM has not been configured for the domain.

You can view the public key in the Delegated Domain by clicking the "View DKIM" button in the Administrative Options panel.

Once you have set up your domain with either a CNAME or NS record in your DNS provider, you will need to add the domain to the 'Domains' interface of MessageFocus.

You can access the 'Domains' section of MessageFocus via the 'Admin' tab in the header bar at the top of the screen, and then the 'Delegated' tab.

Any existing delegated domains will be displayed in the domains list.

Each domain will show the delegation method, whether that domain is correctly configured, and the last time this was checked. You can click on the domain name to access more information about that particular domain.

To add a new domain, select the 'Create Domain' link in the sidebar.

Enter the domain name, for example 'example.adestra-demo.com'.

You have the option to disable conversion tracking cookies for this domain.

NOTE: Conversion cookies track behavior and therefore fall under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations

Click Save and you will be directed to the overview for that domain which, if everything has been set up correctly, will display the delegation method for the domain.

If the domain has been set up incorrectly a warning will be displayed, with advice on how the record should be added to your DNS provider. If you require additional help please contact Support.

If you need to delete the domain you can select the 'Delete Domain' link in the sidebar.

As well as creating a domain, if you click a specific one you will be provided with further administrative options.

When in the list of domains you can choose to activate or deactivate the DKIM signing on the specified domain. This allows you to prevent MessageFocus from trying to DKIM sign a domain if it is not yet configured.

Once configured or updated you can re-activate the domain, for MessageFocus to then attempt DKIM signing.

If the domain has been set up incorrectly a warning will be displayed, with advice on how the record should be added to your DNS provider. If you require additional help please contact Adestra Support.

You can find more detailed information on how to add a DKIM key in Valimail, here:

Once you establish that Adestra is an authorized sender for your domain, you will need to add the service in your Enabled Senders.

You will find more detailed information on how to add a service for your domain in Valimail, here:

Note: We encourage you to use the comment section for any useful information about your sending service, such as the name of the service owner, change request ticket numbers, etc.