Guess I've always just used the alias (canonical) rather than a second address (A). In following along this topic I just keep feeling like there's supposed to be a private mail server on the subdomain.
You're absolutely right about avoiding the mail CNAME. I was referring to the www.
I removed the MX record and added A record and pointed to my server IP
A record: Name: Blank Type: A TTL 3600 Target 35.235.111.128. The DNS server did not take any duplicate value as A record for the IP already exists. I am now getting the below error
Failed authorization procedure. mail.foriox.com (http-01): urn:ietf:params:acme:error:unauthorized :: The client la
cks sufficient authorization :: Invalid response from http://mail.foriox.com/.well-known/acme-challenge/ub5J5aKvfOo
QTaccp4_OOg9TYyOFr8SqZm0MXVE_nOU [75.126.102.248]: " \n
\n "
IMPORTANT NOTES:
I am using myfreenon.com for my DNS. I entered as belowā¦ please let em know if anything is incorrect. i know i have added multiple entries in hopes if any one of them works. MX record is not letting me point to the IP, DNS is taking only domain names
My god, thereās just sooooo much wrong with that DNS zone, I donāt know where to startā¦
Please let me know, i am a learner. I want to fix the MX record entries
Wellā¦
If I were you, I would:
Hereās a screenshot of one of my own DNS zones from GoDaddy to give you an example to look at. The Name is the left side and the Value is the right side.
I made changes as suggested, the CNAME entry is throwing an error when i use www on the left side and either blank or @ on the right side. Attached the latest screenshot.
One additional question I have, I have been seeing in MX records have values e.g. mailstore1.secureserver.net. What is mailstore1.secureserver.net here? Do we need a separate email server? I have a mail server with postfix and dovecot, do i need anything else or anything I am missing here?
TIA
Delete the www A record first. Then add the CNAME.
The only reason you need MX records is if the domain itself is not handling your mail (or requires a special subdomain to do so). That is why you see the GoDaddy secureserver records for my DNS zone. You say you have a mail server. What is its ip address?
If, by the way, you do need a subdomain to handle your mail, you would:
I realize you kinda had this setup before. You just had too many mail records going.
On a different note, you should definitely look adding a
SPF TXT record as well. You can find more info on that at What Is an SPF Record? | SPF Email Authentication | Mimecast.
Thanks for the explanation. I have started understanding it. I have deleted the MX record since I am using my own mail server IP 35.235.111.128
I followed the instructions and deleted the www A record to replace it with CNAME record. The DNS is still throwing an error for the CNAME entry
What are you trying to enter for the CNAME?
As per the instruction, www was given for the left hand side entry (name) and blank on the right hand side (value).
I also tried blank CNAME name and @ for value with combinations.
More like...
@ ttl in A ip.of.the.web.server
@ ttl in MX priority mail
mail ttl in A ip.of.the.mail.server
www ttl in CNAME @
You can avoid setting an MX record on @ and an A record on mail, because it will default to A for @, but that's not wise.
So I did some digging. It looks like for your CNAME records that you have to enter the full domain name (foriox.ml) on the right. GoDaddy allows me to just use @. You can also just use an A record with mail.foriox.ml on the left and your ip address on the right and skip the CNAME completely.
Soā¦ letās try with only these records:
usually these two are different:
mail.foriox.mlmail.foriox.ml.First one is relative, means mail.foriox.ml.@ -> mail.foriox.ml.foriox.ml thatās usually not what you need/mean, you want just mail to mean mail.@.
Second one (note the dot at the end) is absolute.
I actually donāt remember if you can use relative names in MX records. On my domain it is absolute but I donāt know if I tried using a relative one.
Iām usually all onboard @9peppe, but Iām not sure how that relates here, though it is good to know. I believe the records I last suggested should work given the situation. The right side of an MX record is NOT relative in a freenom (or GoDaddy) dns zone.
I found out that you can use relative names for MX records IF THE DNS PROVIDER ALLOWS IT. 
The problem is that many providers will strip the period from the end in the GUI and treat the MX record as absolute regardless. Just donāt point at a CNAME or youāre toast.
Thanks for your support, the settings got updated. My server is currently down and will update feedback after testing once my sever is up again.
You need to know that putting a mailserver online is something not to be taken lightly. Itās not easy to begin with, and spammers are everywhere waiting for your errors and misconfigurations. Good luck.
Records are looking good. You are running the mail server on the same ip address as www.foriox.ml, correct?
