Troubleshooting Email Deliverability in Bigin
How to fix the error which says "DKIM record missing"?
After entering the public key value in you domain settings page, go to https://zohomail.tools/#domainDetails and select TXT. You can also use other tools to check the DNS records. Enter the public key value you generated in Bigin and select Lookup.
- If the DKIM key is not populated, then the key has not been updated properly. Enter the public key in the Host/domain name column without your domain name. For example, enter the host name as: 1522905413783._domainkey instead of 1522905413783._domainkey.zohosupport.com. If the issue persists, contact our support team (support@bigin.com).
- If the DKIM is populated but you are still getting the "DKIM record missing" error, wait for 24 to 48 hours based on the provider and then select Validate record in the Bigin. If the issue persists even after 24 hours, contact support (support@bigin.com).
For users utilizing the Email-in Topping:
In addition to the existing setup, you will need to validate the Email-in column to enable email sending via the topping. To do so, follow these steps:
- On the Email Deliverability page in Bigin, you'll find a second column displaying an additional set of SPF and DKIM records required for the Email-in Topping to function.
- Add the Email-in SPF entry to your existing SPF record.
For example: - Existing record: "v=spf1 include one.zoho.com ~all"
- Updated record: "v=spf1 include one.zoho.com include spf.mail360.zoho.com ~all"
- Create a new DKIM record using the value provided in the Email-in Deliverability modal.
Make sure to complete these updates to ensure the Email-in topping operates correctly.
Learn more about Email Deliverability
What are the common reasons for SPF validation failure, and how can they be resolved?
There are a few possibilities for SPF validation failure that can be resolved by changing the domain settings or the SPF record itself.
1) Having multiple SPF records:
SPF validation failures can arise due to various reasons, many of which can be resolved by updating the domain settings or modifying the SPF record.
- Multiple SPF Records:
Having multiple SPF records can disrupt the SPF check, leading to validation failures. This can result in emails being marked as spam by recipient servers. To prevent this, ensure that only one SPF record exists in your DNS settings.
- If an SPF record is already present for another application, include the Bigin SPF entry in the same record instead of creating a new one.
- Multiple SPF records are invalid. If there are two or more, merge their values into a single SPF record and then verify it.
Go to https://zohomail.tools/#domainDetails, select TXT, enter the public key value you generated in Bigin, and select Lookup.
For example:
- If two SPF records are added like this:
"v=spf1 include:transmail.net ~all""v=spf1 include:zcsend.net ~all"Then add them as:v=spf1 include:transmail.net include:zoho.com include:zcsend.net ~all
- If two SPF records are added like this
"v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:transmail.net ~all""v=spf1 include:transmail.net ~all"Then add them as:v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:transmail.net ~all
- If two SPF records are added like this
"v=spf1 include:spf.sendinblue.com mx ~all""v=spf1 include:transmail.net.in ~all"Then add it as:v=spf1 include:spf.sendinblue.com mx include:transmail.net.in ~all
If the SPF is populated, but you still get the "SPF record missing" error, wait for 24 - 48 hours, then select Validate record in the Bigin. If the issue persists after 48 hours, please contact our support team (support@bigin.com).
2) SPF Lookup Limit:
When an SPF record is processed, the domains listed within it are resolved via DNS queries. The IP addresses associated with these domains are then authorized as valid senders for the domain.
However, SPF records are globally limited to a maximum of 10 DNS lookups, including nested lookups. If the lookup count exceeds 10, the SPF record is considered invalid, and email authentication will fail.
​
To resolve this, you can Flatten your SPF record by replacing domain references with their corresponding IP addresses or remove any unused domains to reduce the lookup count.
3) SPF Syntax Errors:
Syntax errors in SPF records, such as leading or trailing spaces, can cause validation failures. Ensure there are no extra spaces in the SPF record to maintain proper syntax.
Additionally, SPF records use specific Mechanisms that must be correctly formatted to function properly. Verify the syntax of all mechanisms to avoid errors.
What is SPF alignment, and why might it fail?
When an email is sent, its sender ID is validated and then its SPF and DKIM records are aligned. Complying with DMARC policy tells the recipient systems that the email sender has done something that only an authentic sender can do: align the DKIM and/or SPF domain with the From domain that the recipient sees.
If you're sending emails through your business domain as the From domain, DMARC will compare it with the Envelope From (also known as Return-Path) domain. If both the domains or their subdomains match, SPF is aligned.
Does SPF alignment failure impact email deliverability?
If the domain in the Return-Path header is the same as the domain in the From address, then the SPF alignment will pass. If they are different, the SPF alignment will fail.
For example:
If the user ted@zylker.com sends emails from Bigin, the email is sent from Zoho Bigin's email server on behalf of ted@zylker.com. For bounce tracking purposes, Bigin will set a notifications.bigin.com email address as the Return-Path header. As the domain in the Return-Path header is "notifications.bigin.com", which does not match the domain in the From address ("zylker.com") the SPF alignment will fail.
This means you will see the following message:
"bigin.com is authorized to send on behalf of zylker.com, however it looks like SPF is still failing DMARC’s alignment test. DMARC looks at the Return-Path of a message to make sure the domain there matches the domain in your From address. Since the Return-Path path doesn’t match your From address, those messages will fail DMARC’s SPF alignment test."
As DMARC requires either SPF or DKIM alignment, the solution would be to either change the Return-Path header in Bigin or add an aligned DKIM signature. Changing the Return-Path header in Bigin is not possible as we need to track the bounced emails, so the only option is to configure email authentication. If DKIM authentication is complete, you will pass the DMARC check even without SPF alignment.
If SPF alignment fails, will it impact the email deliverability?
No, SPF alignment failure won't affect your email deliverability.
Why is email tracking not working?
When you send an email through Bigin and want to track whether the recipient has opened it or clicked on any links, Bigin uses a technology called a "web beacon." This is a small, invisible tracker embedded within the email.
Bigin includes a one-pixel image, nearly invisible at the bottom of your email, which is hosted on Zoho's servers. When the recipient opens the email and displays images, this pixel image is automatically downloaded from Zoho's server. This download allows Bigin to track when the email is opened and whether any links within the email are clicked.
- Emails can only be tracked if the email is sent from your Bigin account.
- As mentioned above, check whether Display Images is enabled in the mail client.
- Check whether the email was sent to multiple recipients like to, cc, and bcc. If so, emails cannot be tracked, and this is not applicable to Mass Email.
Notes
- Email tracking relies on the recipient's email client settings. It will not function if the email client blocks or disables the display of images.
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