DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail and, in short, significantly reduces the chance that mail you send will be marked as spam.
The receiving mail server checks the received email message for authenticity using a digital signature. The server that sends your email (generally our mail server) sends a private key along with your email that the receiving mail server checks based on, among other things, a DNS record that you must set up under your domain.
In this guide, we will explain how to enable DKIM in the Plesk control panel for your email account and how to add the appropriate DNS records to your domain through the DNS settings in My Cloud86.
Login on Plesk Control Panel
- In My Cloud86 (link), click in the left menu on My Services.
- Click the 3 dots behind the web hosting package you want to see in Plesk and click View Details.
- Under the heading Manage Webhosting (middle of the page), click on Websites & Domains.
- You will now be automatically logged into the Plesk Control Panel.
For the full manual with images, follow Login to Plesk
Enabling DKIM in Plesk
- In Plesk, click in the left menu on Mail.
- Click on Mail Settings and then on the domain name of the domain for which you want to enable DKIM (in our example cloud86example.com)
- Check the “Use DKIM spam protection system to sign outgoing email messages” box (at the bottom of the page) and then click the Apply button. The settings will now be applied and the screen will refresh.
- In this same screen, you can now click on the “How to configure external DNS” link. A
popup will open that gives instructions on which DNS records need to be create for your domain.
- Copy the text between the quotes starting with “v=DKIM1...” (outlined in red). We will enter this key into the DNS record later. The value in front of it (cloud86._domainkey.cloud86example.com) is the record name, we need this as well (this value can be different, such as default._domainkey.cloud86example.com).
Adding DKIM to DNS Zone in My Cloud86
- Go to My Cloud86 (link).
- In the left menu click on Domains and Manage DNS.
- Find the domain you want to manage the DNS records of and click on the pencil icon behind it (this is the Edit DNS zone button).
- Click + Add Record and we are going to add the next two TXT records:
DNS record 1
- Type: TXT
- Name: cloud86._domainkey (without domain, the domain will be automatically added)
- Value: (Note! This key is different for every domain and you get it from the Plesk control panel): "v=DKIM1;p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCA...;
- Click Confirm
DNS record 2
- Type: TXT
- Name: _domainkey (without domain, the domain will be automatically added)
- Value: o=-
- Click Confirm
Result
The two records are now added in the DNS Zone.
And that's it! It can take up to 4 hours before all DNS servers are updated and your new DNS records are known. After this time, all your e-mail will be digitally signed with a DKIM key and the chances of your email ending up in the recipient's spam folder will be much lower.
If you need some help, you can always reach our support desk by email support@cloud86.io and on weekdays from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm you can also reach us by phone and via the chat in My Cloud86.