Adding MX records to Bluehost

These instructions are for users who purchased their domain on Bluehost and would like to change their mail records (MX) so they can send and receive mail with Fastmail.

Changing your MX records is the best option for users who have a website on their domain hosted with another service. For users who do not have a website hosted at their domain, switching nameservers to Fastmail is usually a better option.

This guide covers three steps to setting up your domain:

• Step 1: Add your domain to Fastmail
• Step 2: Edit your MX records in Bluehost
• Step 3: Set up DKIM and SPF

Advanced instructions for setting up MX records can be found here.

Step 1: Add your domain to Fastmail

We have a domain setup wizard to help you get your domain working as quickly and easily as possible.

After you have purchased your domain from Bluehost, you can get to our setup wizard using these steps:

1. Log in to your Fastmail account and go to the Settings → Domains screen.
2. Click Add or buy domain, then select Use a domain you already own.
3. Enter your domain into the text box and click Continue.

Follow the steps in the setup wizard to add your domain and email addresses to Fastmail. To have the wizard provide you with steps to update your MX records by default, choose Yes when you are asked if you have a website.

For more information, please see our Using the domain setup wizard help page.

Please note: If you are on a legacy plan, the domain setup wizard can only set up email addresses, not users. You will need to add users manually in order to create additional user accounts at your custom domain.

Step 2: Edit your MX records in Bluehost

Note: We recommend making these changes at a time when you do not expect a lot of mail to be sent to your domain.

1. Log in to your Bluehost Account Manager and click Hosting on the left navigation menu.

2. Find Quick Links and click CPANEL.

3. Go to the Domains section and click Zone Editor.

4. Click the Manage button for your domain, then click Add Record.
5. For the record type, select MX. Enter the details as follows, then click Save.

Name	Value	Priority
@	in1-smtp.messagingengine.com	10

6. Click Add Record again, then add a second MX record with the following details and click Save.

Name	Value	Priority
@	in2-smtp.messagingengine.com	20

 

When you are finished with the above steps, your MX records should look like this:

Please make sure that these two MX records are the only MX records present on the domain. Any other MX records should be removed.

Step 3: Set up DKIM and SPF

Your domain should now be ready to receive messages. In order to make sure your sent messages reach your recipients, there are a couple more records to add in your Bluehost account.

Set up DKIM

1. Under Manage Advanced DNS Records, click Add Record.
2. Add three new DNS records, all with the type CNAME.
3. Click the dropdown menu under Refers to, then select Other Host.
4. Enter the details as follows, then click Save (make sure to replace {mydomain.com} with your actual domain name).

Type	Host Name	Alias to
CNAME	fm1._domainkey	fm1.{mydomain.com}.dkim.fmhosted.com
CNAME	fm2._domainkey	fm2.{mydomain.com}.dkim.fmhosted.com
CNAME	fm3._domainkey	fm3.{mydomain.com}.dkim.fmhosted.com

You can leave any other CNAME records you have for your domain where they are.

When you are finished, it should look similar to this:

Set up SPF

1. Under Manage Advanced DNS Records, click Add Record.
2. Add one new DNS record with the type TXT.
3. Enter the details as follows, then click Save.

Type	Refers to	TXT Value
TXT	@	v=spf1 include:spf.messagingengine.com ?all

When you are finished, it should look similar to this:

Check your domain

Once you have finished this step, your domain should be working with Fastmail.

To check all your settings are correct, log in to your Fastmail account and go to the Settings → Domains screen. Click Recheck DNS. Your domain should now say Active. MX records set.