This is an original planning guide. It is not a vendor manual, an official standard, or legal advice. Example addresses use documentation ranges. Review every command before you paste it.
What this hour is for
SPF names who may send. DKIM signs. DMARC says what to do when they disagree. The generators draft records. They do not change DNS.
A starter SPF uses an include and ~all. +all is a line you delete. DMARC starts at p=none until reports show your real mail is aligned.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
The change you can finish
Apply nothing while you are writing the note. When the lab window opens, it is one change on the system named in the ticket. Read the draft, then the system, then decide.
Rollback is the file, the record, or the snapshot you saved first. You do not invent a rollback after the only copy is gone.
- Name the domain you administer.
- Read the three drafts.
- Delete +all.
- Leave DMARC at p=none unless the ticket already moved it.
- Do not publish during the reading.
Mistakes that outlive the statement
SPF, DKIM and DMARC Explained goes wrong in a small set of ways. The list is here so the ticket can forbid them before the window.
- +all published.
- p=reject on the first day.
- DNS changed during the reading.
Decisions to write down
One decision for SPF, DKIM and DMARC Explained: The domain is yours. +all is absent. And nothing was published.
Checks before you call it done
Confirm this before you call the change done: The domain is written. The drafts were read. +all is absent. DNS was not changed. And the domain is yours. If one of those fails, stop.
# SPF, DKIM, DMARC drafts.
# Do not publish +all. Do not start at p=reject.
# 192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.Before you leave the system
SPF, DKIM and DMARC Explained ends when the system in the note is the system in the ticket. If it is not, stop.
The draft stays a draft until a person has read the names in it. A generator does not log in, does not scan, and does not send mail.
192.0.2.10/24, gateway 192.0.2.1, 198.51.100.0/24, 203.0.113.0/24, and 2001:db8::/32 are documentation. example.com is a documentation name. They belong in the note. They are not values you publish because a draft included them.
prompt-for-this is a reminder that a secret is missing. It is not a password, a key, or a token you save. A sample password is replaced. It is not a password you keep.
One change is the window. If two things move and the result is wrong, you will not know which one did it.
If the same step fails twice, stop for the day. Restore the copy you took first.
A second person reads the scope aloud. If they cannot find it in the ticket, the note is not done.
This page is a planning guide. It is not legal advice, not an audit opinion, not a vendor manual, and not the text of a standard. You do not disable a security control to make a check pass. You do not use the page against a system you do not administer.
Tools for this guide
These tools run in the browser on this site. They do not log into your machines.
Related pillar guides
More in this cluster
The pillar for this page, and the next published pages filed with it.
- Pillar: Email Security Guide
- How-To: Setting Up DMARC Step by Step
- Troubleshooting: Fixing 'SPF PermError: Too Many DNS Lookups'
- How-To: How to Generate and Rotate DKIM Keys
Companion: Network: DNS Record Types Explained.