Hello All,

I'm in the process of moving my sites from another host to Linode.

I currently (on my current host) send a large volume of (valid) email, and my IP there has a good reputation which I've built up over the last few years.

I would like to (in the medium term) continue sending from my current IP (with current host) while I gradually build up the reputation of my new IP with Linode.

So I will be sending from both.

I would like the email to have a return to / reply to/ address from the same domain.

So if my site is sitename.com - email from both current IP and new IP would be from noreply@sitename.com be DKIM and SPF signed.

Is this setup at all possible ? If yes, any pointers where to start would be helpful. Both servers run Cpanel. I'm a dev and comfortable with shell commands, etc.

It sounds like you're talking about keeping a mail server running at your old location, and running the web server with Linode. If so that's easy. You point your A records at your Linode IP, and your MX records to your mail servers.

Let's say you run example.com. The A record for example.com points to your Linode's IP address. The MX record points to mail.example.com. the A record for mail.example.com points to your existing mail server. Read the full Linode Library DNS guide for more info: https://library.linode.com/dns-guides/i ... ns-records

Thank you, like that I'll be able to continue sending from my old location, how about sending from my Linode ?


I need to send from both while I wind down the old and ramp up the new.

Multiple locations can send mails, this doesn't matter. SPF/DKIM wise you'll have to include the IP of your linode in the SPF records, and you can use something like opendkim to generate DKIM records for your Linode. After that you'll have to add those in the DNS as well.

So say I'm sending a message from noreply@example.com - would I have to create this on both locations ?

"this"? I think you're confusing receiving and sending mail.

Any computer can send mail and make it seem like it comes from <whateverdomain>. I can send mail from admin@linode.com if I want to. Of course I won't be able to pass checks like SPF/DKIM/DMARC but you will be able to configure that as you own the domain.

Receiving is another story, you can only receive your mail in one location (which will go to where your MX records are pointed at).

Thank you, I'll start testing the changes and will get back with any questions. Appreciate your time.

Hello after reading more, Im unclear about sonething: from what I understand MX records control where INCOMING mail will be delivered to.

What I am trying to acheive is having both my existing IP and new linode IP as OUTGOING mail servers.

Yes, read my previous post, that basically is the answer to your question. You don't need any DNS records to send (outgoing) mail. The options SPF/DKIM/DMARC help to reduce the risk of your mails being tagged as spam, but this is entirely optional and not required for the sending of mails itself.