Server Mail · Linux Server

Mail server setup with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Postfix or CyberPanel mail server hardened against spoofing. Records published, keys rotated, DMARC reports landing in your inbox. From $290, three business days.

From: $290 · Turnaround: 3 business days
3 business days Records published and verified
Postfix and CyberPanel Both stacks, same checklist
DMARC weekly reports We watch what your domain sends
Google/Yahoo bulk rules 2024+ requirements met

Google and Yahoo’s 2024 bulk-sender rules pushed thousands of small businesses into the same conversation: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are not optional anymore. If you send any volume of email from your domain and your records are wrong, your messages land in spam or get rejected outright.

We set the records up correctly on your mail server, rotate the DKIM key, get DMARC to p=quarantine without breaking legitimate senders, and hand you a weekly report so you know what’s still trying to spoof you. Three business days from kickoff to verified DNS, from $290.

What we set up

Three records, one job

SPF

We list every server that is allowed to send mail as your domain. Your Postfix host, your transactional sender (Mailgun, Postmark, SES), your marketing tool. One SPF record per domain, kept under the 10-lookup limit so it doesn't break silently.

DKIM

We generate a 2048-bit key on the mail server, publish the public half in DNS as a TXT record, and configure Postfix or CyberPanel to sign outgoing mail with the private half. The signature lets receivers verify the message wasn't altered in transit.

DMARC

We start with p=none and a reporting address so you see what's happening, then move to p=quarantine once legitimate mail is clean. Reports come from Google, Microsoft, and everyone else, and we summarise them weekly for the first month.

Most setup mistakes we see are not in the syntax. They are in scope: someone published an SPF record that covered the marketing tool but missed the Postfix server, or set DMARC to p=reject before legitimate mail had time to align. We move you forward in steps so neither happens.

What the setup covers

Full setup, no upsell to a second tier

Everything below is in the $290 tier. We do the harder work once, hand it over, and you do not pay us monthly to keep records that should not need touching.

Audit your current DNS — read existing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records and document what is wrong
Publish a corrected SPF record covering every legitimate sender, under the 10-lookup limit
Generate a 2048-bit DKIM key on your mail server (Postfix/OpenDKIM or CyberPanel mail), publish the public half in DNS
Configure Postfix or the CyberPanel mail engine to sign outgoing mail with the new selector
Publish a DMARC record starting at p=none with rua and ruf reporting addresses you control
Set up forensic and aggregate report parsing — we use a simple inbox or a free tier of dmarcian
Add MTA-STS and TLS-RPT records so receivers know to use TLS and report failures
Set rDNS (PTR record) on the mail server's IP if your provider lets you, so receivers can verify the reverse lookup matches
Test from a clean inbox at Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo to confirm all three pass the authentication checks
Move DMARC to p=quarantine once a week of reports shows legitimate mail aligning correctly
What you receive

Working records, plus the doc to maintain them

You get verified DNS records, a parsed first week of DMARC reports, and a written runbook for adding new senders.

01

Verified SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records

Published in your DNS zone, confirmed via MXToolbox and a Gmail/Outlook/Yahoo round-trip test.

02

First week of DMARC report parsing

We collect rua reports for the first seven days, summarise who is sending mail as your domain (legitimately and otherwise), and flag anything suspicious.

03

DKIM key rotation runbook

One-page doc: when to rotate, how to rotate without breaking signatures in flight, how to retire the old selector.

04

Sender-onboarding checklist

How to add a new transactional sender (e.g. you sign up for HubSpot or switch from Mailgun to Postmark) without breaking SPF.

05

MTA-STS and TLS-RPT setup

The TLS-side records most setup guides leave out, plus a check that your mail server presents a valid certificate on port 25.

How it runs

Three steps, three days, then a week of watching

Three business days from kickoff to verified records, then a week of DMARC report parsing before we step back.

1

Audit current DNS and mail server

We read your existing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, check the Postfix or CyberPanel mail config, and write a one-page diff: what is wrong and what we are going to change.

Day 1 — audit delivered same day
2

Publish records and configure mail server

Corrected SPF, new 2048-bit DKIM key, DMARC at p=none with reporting addresses, MTA-STS and TLS-RPT. We confirm via MXToolbox and a round-trip from Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.

Days 2-3 — all records live
3

Parse first week of DMARC reports

Aggregate (rua) reports come in for seven days. We summarise who is sending as your domain and flag what needs to align. If legitimate mail aligns cleanly, we move DMARC to p=quarantine.

Days 4-10 — weekly summary and policy upgrade
Pricing

Fixed price, no monthly retainer

The setup tier is $290. That covers DNS audit, corrected SPF, new DKIM key and Postfix signing config, DMARC at p=none with reporting, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT, and the first week of report parsing. After that you own the records and the runbook.

If you are also building or rebuilding the mail server itself (Postfix install on a fresh VPS, Dovecot for IMAP, Let’s Encrypt, rspamd, monitoring), that is the $890 Full Mail Server Build tier — same DKIM/DMARC work plus the whole stack.

Already failing the Gmail 2024 bulk rules?

If your transactional or marketing mail is bouncing from Gmail or Yahoo because of the bulk-sender requirements, we prioritise that path first. We have moved a domain from outright rejection to p=quarantine-clean in five business days when the records were genuinely broken.

Most popular

SPF/DKIM/DMARC Setup

$290 one-time
  • DNS audit and one-page diff
  • SPF corrected, under the 10-lookup limit
  • New 2048-bit DKIM key, Postfix or CyberPanel signing configured
  • DMARC at p=none with rua/ruf reporting
  • MTA-STS and TLS-RPT records
  • First week of report parsing
  • Move to p=quarantine after week-one alignment check
Get a quote

Full Mail Server Build

$890 one-time
  • Postfix and Dovecot installed on your VPS
  • Let's Encrypt certificate auto-renewing
  • rspamd or SpamAssassin filtering tuned
  • Everything in SPF/DKIM/DMARC Setup
  • Postscreen for connection-level greylisting
  • rDNS configured with your hosting provider
  • Basic monitoring (queue depth, deferred mail alert)
Book this tier
Tech we use

Stack we deploy and audit

Postfix Dovecot OpenDKIM OpenDMARC rspamd ClamAV Postscreen Let's Encrypt MTA-STS TLS-RPT CyberPanel Mail MXToolbox dmarcian Google Postmaster Tools
Where this fits

How this connects to the rest of the stack

This pairs naturally with our WordPress security audit and hardening work. If WordPress is your sending domain (transactional mail, contact forms, WooCommerce receipts), the application layer and the mail authentication layer break in the same kinds of ways and benefit from a single sweep.

For the broader email-deliverability picture across other senders (Workspace, 365, marketing tools), the email deliverability services hub covers the full scope. If you are setting up the Linux server underneath the mail stack from scratch, the Linux server support overview is where to start.

A compromise bad enough to blacklist your mail usually means the box itself needs rebuilding, which is our Linux server recovery job. If you would rather not run a mail server at all, our Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 setup moves you onto hosted email instead.

Mail for Linux Server

Need mail for linux server sorted?

We'll triage the same day. Send context, screenshots, error messages — whatever you have. No sales calls, no chatbots.

We read every message. We don't pass your details to anyone else, ever.