Domains

Table of Contents

Overview

Types of Domains

Sandbox domains

Custom domains

Domain verification

Overview

When emails are sent, they are transmitted through domains over the internet. An email address has two main parts: the username and the domain (e.g., username@example.com). Domains have a crucial role, as they are responsible for identification, routing and deliverability of email!

Within Mailgun, many features such as webhooks, logs, mailing lists and suppressions are associated with individual Domains.

Types of Domains

There are two types of Domains to be aware of when working within Mailgun:

• Sandbox - Used for testing
• Custom - Used for production

Sandbox Domain

Want to immediately send email from your account without setting up your own Domain?

Each new Mailgun account is automatically provisioned with a sandbox domain, sandbox <uniq-alpha-numeric-string\>@mailgun.org. This is for testing purposes only. Sandbox domains can only send to authorized recipients.

Your Sandbox Domain allows:

• Sending messages to lists with up to 5 authorized participants
• Receiving Messages (limited to one Route)
• Tracking Messages

To use your Sandbox Domain:

1. Log in to your Mailgun account
2. Go to the Mailgun Control Panel
3. On the left side control panel, click 'Send' then 'Sending' to expand the sidebar, then click 'Domains'
4. Click on your Sandbox Domain link to go to the Overview page
5. On the Overview page, select API or SMTP to see quick instructions on how to send.

Custom Domains

Creating custom domains in Mailgun enables you to send emails through your own domain instead of relying on the default sandbox domain. To use Mailgun for production, you must create and verify your custom domain(s) with Mailgun to ensure proper authentication and deliverability. Once you've acquired a domain through a DNS provider, follow these steps to set it up with Mailgun.

Add your domain:

1. Go to the Mailgun Control Panel
2. On the left side control panel, click 'Send' then 'Sending' to expand the sidebar, then click 'Domains'
3. Click the Add new domain button from the upper right corner
4. Enter your domain name in the Domain name field
5. Select Domain region
6. Choose your IP assignment option
7. Click the Add Domain button

Once a domain has been added, you will receive an email that you will need to respond to so that it can be verified.

Domain Verification

Five reasons why you need to verify your domain:

• To prove you are an authorized sender for the domain
• Verified domains are not subject to a sending limit of 300 emails per day
• No more "sent via Mailgun.org" message in your emails
• Establishes a positive email reputation for your own domain
• Mailgun is less suspicious of traffic that is being sent on verified domains and that reduces the likelihood of being disabled

Go to Domain Verification Walkthrough for a more detailed step-by-step guide on how to verify your domain with Mailgun.

The basic steps are:

1. Add your domain or subdomain
2. Open your DNS provider and add the two TXT DNS records provide
   • SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Sending server IP validation. This is used by most email providers.
   • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Email): Like SPF, however cryptographic methods are used for validation.
3. If you would like Mailgun to track clicks and opens, add the CNAME record
4. MX records should also be added, unless you already have MX records for your domain pointed at another email service provider (e.g., Gmail)

Once you've added the supplied records, and they've propagated over the internet, your domain is now able to be verified. You can either wait for Mailgun's system to check the domain and automatically verify it for you, or if you don't want to wait you can click 'Verify DNS settings' in the 'Domain Settings' section of the Control Panel.

Verified domains will show up on the Mailgun Control Panel with a green Verified badge next to it.

Other DNS Records

• CNAME (Canonical Name) DNS record with value mailgun.org should be added if you want Mailgun to track clicks, opens, and unsubscribes.
• MX (Mail Exchange) records are required if you would like Mailgun to receive route/store messages addressed to the domain recipients. You will need to configure two (2) MX records with values 10 mxa.mailgun.org and 10 mxb.mailgun.org

DNS Records Summary

Common DNS Providers Documentation