How to Set Up/Modify SPF for Proofpoint
The following description addresses how to update a Domain Name Service (DNS) record to use SPF with your custom domain in Proofpoint.
To utilize a custom domain, the Proofpoint provider requires an SPF TXT record be added to the DNS record. This TXT record is then used by DNS to recognize email servers allowed to send messages on behalf of your custom/third-party domain. To determine whether a correspondence from the specified domain comes from an authorized messaging server, the recipient system relies on the implemented SPF TXT record. At that point, the message is either accepted, quarantined, or rejected by the email receiving system.
To implement SPF authentication for your domain, you will need access to your DNS records in the domain hosting account. Important: If you already have an SPF record, then you should modify that existing record. You must not have more than one SPF record.
For convenience, be sure to log in to your Proofpoint account to verify your domain and copy your TXT records. Proofpoint utilizes an include mechanism during the set-up process. For example, if you do not have an SPF record on your domain, the following scenario is the most common for the US1, 2, 3, and 4 platforms and would pass SPF:
v=spf1 a:dispatch-us.ppe-hosted.com ~all
Note: If in the EU1 platform, substitute “eu” for “us” above.
If you do already have an SPF record on your domain, simply add the following to it:
a:dispatch-us.ppe-hosted.com
To create an SPF record for your domain name, follow these steps:
1. Log in to control panel for your domain DNS host
2. Create a TXT record with the following specifications:
v=spf1 a:dispatch-us.ppe-hosted.com ~all
3. Decide how you want to enforce SPF failures:
~all results in a soft fail (not authorized, but not explicitly unauthorized)
-all results in a hard fail (unauthorized)
?all is neutral (similar to no policy)
As shown above, enter your choice after v=spf1 a:dispatch-us.ppe-hosted.com
4. Save changes
Note: If in the EU1 platform, substitute “eu” for “us” above.