Unable to Send Emails to Gmail Addresses
If you are having troubles sending email message to recipients using Googles Gmail service, you may need to verify that you have setup all DNS records properly for your domain. Fear not, this guide will show you how to achieve this.
Note: Somebody using a Google Gmail address will always end with @gmail.com.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
SPF is a DNS text record (also commonly written as TXT) with a specific value. It is used to verify that emails being sent are actually from who they claim they are (ie. your email address). Hackers and cyber criminals often try to convince mail servers that they are someone else in disguise. This technique is commonly refered to as email spoofing.
In order to prevent this abuse by malicious actors and to safeguard its users, Google has made it mandatory to have a valid SPF DNS record for every email address sending email messages to Gmail users.
Note: There are other email verification / anti-spam technologies related to SPF. Two common examples are DKIM and DMARC.
Should you therefore lack this entry, you may receive an error message from Googles mail servers. If you are using the mailservers from Green, please enter this DNS entry as a TXT type:
v=spf1 include:servicehoster.ch a mx ~all
Note: Hosted Exchange customers need to set a different value. Please view this page to find out more.
Additionally check your nameservers. When using Green nameservers, please verify that they are up to date:
- ns1.namesrv.ch
- ns2.namesrv.net
- ns3.namesrv.io
Note: Nameservers called dns1.agrinet.ch and dns2.agrinet.ch are no longer valid and need to be updated.
Do not forget to check that all other DNS records are set correctly for the email service. Some common DNS record types include:
- MX records
- A records
- TXT records
- CNAME records
Please see this guide for further details.
Note: If you are using another vendor than Green for your email service, reach out to your vendor directly to find out which DNS records to define.