Steps to Create SPF Record
To protect your message against phishing attacks and spoofing, you need to authenticate your email.
You can create your SPF record setup by following steps.
Step 1: Collect all IP addresses that are used to send emails.
The Sender Policy Framework has specifications for the ability to authenticate your email and to specify what IP address is allowed to send your email on your behalf.
To attain success in the implementation of SPF, you first need to collect all the mail servers that are used to send messages or emails for your domain. These mail servers can be used by any third-party organization, like email marketers.
You must list the email server, office mail server, and third-party servers that you use to send messages on your behalf.
Step 2: Create your SPF record.
You need to start with the version. This will define the version of SPF that we are going to use. An SPF record always starts with the version number v=spf1. This tag helps define the record as SPF.
After including the version by SPF version tag, you need to follow up with all the IP addresses that you gathered to authorize someone to send an email on your behalf. List the IP address you gathered in the first step.
Example:
v= spf1
IP1: IP address
IP2: IP address
Include your third-party domain in the include tag. You need to include every third-party domain that you used to send messages to.
Example :
include:thirdpartydomain.com.
This will authorize that particular third-party domain to send a message on behalf of you. Before that, discuss with the party which domain you need to include.
Once all IP addresses and tags are included, the record should end with the ~all or ~all tags.
It is an important tag for the SPF record, and it indicates which type of policy should be used when the ISPs find or detect the server not included in your SPF record. If any unauthorized person tries to send an email behalf or in your name, it will choose what action to take according to the policy that has been published.
Example: It takes decisions like rejecting the email or marking the email as spam.
Now the SPF record for your domain has been created.
Step 3: Publish or configure your SPF record.
After creating the SPF record, publish your record into DNS to make it valid.