Please whitelist cPanel in your adblocker so that you’re able to see our version release promotions, thanks!

The Community Forums

Interact with an entire community of cPanel & WHM users!

cPanel SPF records always configured for SOFTFAIL, why?

Discussion in 'E-mail Discussion' started by jols, Feb 27, 2015.

  1. jols

    jols Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2004
    Messages:
    1,111
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    168
    Hi,

    I keep reading this sort of thing:

    Publishing an SPF record that uses -all instead of ~all may result in delivery problems.

    So I am wondering why all cPanel SPF records are automatically established with SOFTFAIL "~all", rather than "-all"?
     
    #1 jols, Feb 27, 2015
  2. kdean

    kdean Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2012
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    cPanel Access Level:
    Root Administrator
    Softfail "~all" is a safe default because receiving mail servers will not as likely block it or send it to a spam folder.

    When you set it to "-all" you better make sure that you have all the included servers, IPs, etc. that send email with your domain, otherwise the SPF record will indicate that a server may not be authorized to send mail on behalf of your domain.

    So, if you know you have everything you need, then go ahead and set it to "-all" in my opinion.
     
    #2 kdean, Feb 27, 2015
  3. jols

    jols Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2004
    Messages:
    1,111
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    168
    Thanks very much for the clarification. This is something I've been grappling with for years, and you've explained it clearly.
     
    #3 jols, Feb 27, 2015
  4. cPanelMichael

    cPanelMichael Forums Analyst
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2011
    Messages:
    43,961
    Likes Received:
    1,821
    Trophy Points:
    363
    cPanel Access Level:
    Root Administrator
    Hello :)

    Yes, the consensus is to avoid hard fails on SPF records since it breaks email forwarding unless the forwarding server uses SRS. The "~all" entry is generally preferred since it gets messages from non-standard senders bumped up in spam detection systems, but doesn't outright fail them.

    Thank you.
     
    Stop hovering to collapse... Click to collapse... Hover to expand... Click to expand...
    #4 cPanelMichael, Mar 2, 2015
  5. kdean

    kdean Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2012
    Messages:
    280
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    cPanel Access Level:
    Root Administrator
    #5 kdean, Mar 2, 2015
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Loading...
Similar Threads - cPanel records always
  1. rinkleton

    SOLVED [CPANEL-20535] Adding MX records to subdomains

    rinkleton, May 29, 2018, in forum: E-mail Discussion
    Replies:
    2
    Views:
    176
    cPanelMichael
    May 29, 2018
  2. cPanelMichael

    SOLVED [Case CPANEL-20319] Conflicting A records are added for proxy subdomains upon update to version 70

    cPanelMichael, May 9, 2018, in forum: General Discussion
    Replies:
    3
    Views:
    523
    cPanelMichael
    May 10, 2018
  3. thowden

    cPanel DNSonly SSL No Records Found error

    thowden, Mar 4, 2018, in forum: Security
    Replies:
    5
    Views:
    242
    cPanelMichael
    Apr 3, 2018
  4. Menkele

    SOLVED Issue with DNS records for Office 365 in cPanel account

    Menkele, Dec 15, 2017, in forum: E-mail Discussion
    Replies:
    9
    Views:
    632
    Menkele
    Jan 9, 2018
  5. tom.dev

    cPanel and CloudFlare MX records working but email not working

    tom.dev, Oct 23, 2017, in forum: E-mail Discussion
    Replies:
    2
    Views:
    595
    cPanelMichael
    Oct 25, 2017

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Accept Learn More...
    Dismiss Notice