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Best Practices on Email Protection: SPF, DKIM
and DMARC
Table of Contents
Best Practices on Email Protection: SPF, DKIM and DMARC ................................................................1
SPF ........................................................................................................................................................1
Where needs to be configured? ........................................................................................................2
How to configure it? .........................................................................................................................2
Understand the "all" feature in the SPF entry ...................................................................................3
Difference between ~all and -all.......................................................................................................3
How to test it.....................................................................................................................................3
Deprecated SPF RR, use TXT RR only............................................................................................4
DKIM ....................................................................................................................................................4
Where needs to be configured? ........................................................................................................5
How to configure it? .........................................................................................................................5
How to test it.....................................................................................................................................5
2048-bit signatures starting ZCS 8.7.x .............................................................................................5
How to check that you have a valid DKIM signature..................................................................6
DMARC ................................................................................................................................................7
Where needs to be configured? ........................................................................................................8
How to configure it? .........................................................................................................................8
How to test it.....................................................................................................................................9
rDNS....................................................................................................................................................10
Where needs to be configured? ......................................................................................................10
How to configure it? .......................................................................................................................10
How to test it...................................................................................................................................10
Zimbra Settings For DMARC Alignment ........................................................................................... 11
Out Of Office Replies (Auto Responders) ..................................................................................... 11
Zimbra Web Client Personas .......................................................................................................... 11

Once we installed Zimbra Collaboration, we need to be aware of some additional configurations that
will allow us to send emails to other Email systems with an improve Security, such Gmail, Hotmail,
Yahoo!, etc. This Wiki article will show the different Email Protection resources that exists, depends of
the volume of sent email, will be better to implement only one, or two, or maybe all of them, depends.

1

SPF
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email validation system, designed to prevent unwanted emails
using a spoofing system. To check this common security problem, SPF going to verify the source IP of
the email and compare it with a DNS TXT record with a SPF content.

Where needs to be configured?
SPF needs to be configured in the Public DNS

How to configure it?
First of all, generate the TXT SPF DNS entry (using the MXToolbox SPF Tool, or something similar),
for example with the domain called domain.com and have 3 different entries to add:
 The A entry - mail.domain.com
 The MX entry - srvmta.domain.com
 The IPv4 entry - 60.70.80.90
If in your email system you are using external services like Mailchimp, Salesforce, etc. add them in the
include part, for example:
 include:servers.mcsv.net (Mailchimp)
 include:_spf.salesforce.com (Salesforce)

2

 include:_spf.google.com (Google Apps)

An example will look like:

Understand the "all" feature in the SPF entry
SPF can be configured in different ways, since neutral to hard fail. Almost 98% of domains are using
the ~all (softfail) that means even if something of the SPF entry is wrong against the source Mailserver,
mark the mail only like softfail. Here, the complete table to understand the feature all in the SPF

Parameter Result Means
+all pass Permits all the email, like have nothing configured.
Will only mark the email like pass if the source Email Server fits exactly, IP, MX,
-all fail
etc. with the SPF entry.
~all softfail Allows to send the email, and if something is wrong will mark it like softfail.
?all neutral Without policy

Difference between ~all and -all
If your domain is under an SPAM attack trying to spoofing your domain, try to change the SPF to -all
for a while, and reset to ~all when the attack ends. Keep selected the -all if you want to be strict with
the SPF entry and you are sure that your DNS entry is correct.

How to test it
Have a lot of SPF tools to check if the DNS entry is correct, for example:
 http://tools.wordtothewise.com/spf (will show an overview of all the allowed IPS that can
send using the domain)

3

 http://www.kitterman.com/spf/validate.html (Simple but effective, will show the SPF DNs
entry and also the result: pass, softfail, fail, neutral, etc.)
 http://mxtoolbox.com/ A Classic

Deprecated SPF RR, use TXT RR only
In April 2014, the SPF DNS record was deprecated in the RFC, and the correct way to implement the
SPF is using only a TXT DNS record. For example, this was a valid DNS entries before April 2014,
TXT and SPF:

And here the RFC text where you can find the part about use only TXT:

 RFC before April 2014
 RFC after April 2014

DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), is a method to associate the domain name and the email,
allowing to a person or company assume the responsibiltity of the email.

4

Where needs to be configured?
DKIM needs to be generated per domain in our Zimbra Server, and needs to be configured in the public
DNS of each domain.

How to configure it?
To configure properly DKIM, please follow the next Wiki - Configuring_for_DKIM_Signing
Once have the DKIM generated in Zimbra, add the info in the public DNS, will looks like:

How to test it
Have multiple websites to test it, for example:
 http://dkimvalidator.com You need to send a email, once you have the DKIM configured, then
in the website will found a section called DKIM and the result in the end, if the test is passed or
not.

2048-bit signatures starting ZCS 8.7.x
Starting ZCS 8.7.x Zimbra generates a 2048-bit key, after run the next command (mind the -a if it's the
first time, and -u if you are updating the DKIM):
/opt/zimbra/libexec/zmdkimkeyutil -a -d yourdomain.com

You will observe something like the next (with your own information):

5

DKIM Data added to LDAP for domain zimbra.io with selector 25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-
020B6DB9DD9A
Public signature to enter into DNS:
25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-020B6DB9DD9A._domainkey IN TXT ( "v=DKIM1; k=rsa;
"

"p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAwA4vVMiV3/14hRMzbKNnBKNThqxTWLi2E5Nq
qHLccIJg/P33yqwgGVKKUM9HFfXZ8urz6/dl8oNG3oxs73W1sgWHrFRo3ZayHsuUMe+DLyt8wtyR/RUae0n
vd6Z6t0lPwujXWBrRS/FeMg/IGA8ExBKjD+aAYdQfH/lhlDGzumTXgbSB0KMzlpOjcum2Aes69rEiR744GG
aPb2"

"X3MxK8vjpeMIx16n2tADb0wKKP19WTF0at5HCP8F4SFflLUPJMOC1Be9FCWjTjNr1qrRZTwCwC7OC9tnV7
SsKKXG+8D6hu39Tm5U1GLzpKvLMIv14b6MWsU9cV/iVKH+hQq4YRowIDAQAB" ) ; ----- DKIM key
25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-020B6DB9DD9A for zimbra.io

By default, DNS Servers only accepts 255 characters on every TXT entry, so depending on the DNS
Server you are using you will need to do one of the next:
 On cPanel UI it's as easy at creating one new TXT entry with the selector, and on the value all
together like "v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=ALL-THE-CODE-"

 If using old version of Bind, or other DNS Server based in CLI, you can try by adding the DNS
entry on the next format:
25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-020B6DB9DD9A._domainkey IN TXT ("v=DKIM1; k=rsa;
p=MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w..."
25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-020B6DB9DD9A._domainkey IN TXT "...AQAB")

 Another way some DNS Servers might work are the next one:
25D766CE-CEAC-11E7-B087-020B6DB9DD9A._domainkey IN TXT ("v=DKIM1;k=rsa;
p="
"MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w..."
"...AQAB")

How to check that you have a valid DKIM signature
You can check if you have a valid DKIM by using for example the next URL -
http://dkimcore.org/tools/keycheck.html : Introduce your selector and your domain and click on check

6

After a few seconds you will see the result:

DMARC
DMARC, which stands for “Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance”, is a
technical specification created by a group of organizations that want to help reduce the potential for
email-based abuse by solving a couple of long-standing operational, deployment, and reporting issues
related to email authentication protocols.
DMARC standardizes how email receivers perform email authentication using the well-known SPF and
DKIM mechanisms. This means that senders will experience consistent authentication results for their
messages at AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and any other email receiver implementing DMARC. We
hope this will encourage senders to more broadly authenticate their outbound email which can make
email a more reliable way to communicate.

7

Text and Image inspired from the Official dmarc org website

Where needs to be configured?
The DMARC needs to be configured in the public DNS.

How to configure it?
The DMARC record can be generated in multiple websites, for example
http://www.kitterman.com/dmarc/assistant.html
Using the domain example.com, a possible option can be the next, please note that all the default
options will be included implicit, even if you don't select them in the generator:

8

This configuration will generate the next DNS entry
 DMARC record for: example.com
 Record should be published at _dmarc.example.com
 v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=dmarc@example.com; ruf=dmarc@example.com;
sp=quarantine
And will looks like this in a DNS with web interface:

How to test it
One of the best Sites to test the DMARC is the next link - https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-
inspector/google.com is coming with the google.com domain per default. This website will show you
all the DMARC information about your domain.

9

rDNS
The reverse DNS resolution (rDNS) is a determination of the domain name that is associated to an IP.
Some email companies like AOL, for example, will reject any email that doesn't have a valid rDNS.

Where needs to be configured?
To have a perfect match between the rDNS and the SMTP Banner of the server, need to have the next:
 In the public DNS of the ISP provider. Or if you have control of the public DNS of your IP
range, then you can add the rDNS by yourself.
 In the Zimbra Server, need to edit the HELO to match between it and the rDNS record.

How to configure it?
To modify the Public DNS to match the IP and the rDNS, you need to contact with your ISP provider,
or if you have acces to edit the DNS record of your IP, then change it by yourself. For example, if you
have the IP 60.60.60.60 and needs to resolve to mail.example.com.
To edit the SMTP Banner and match it with the external rDNS. Need to edit the next in Zimbra:
Zimbra 8.0.X
zmlocalconfig -e postfix_smtpd_banner="mail.example.com"
zmcontrol restart

Zimbra 8.5, 8.6, and above
zmprov ms `zmhostname` zimbraMtaSmtpdBanner mail.example.com
zmcontrol restart

How to test it
Use the next tool - http://mxtoolbox.com/ReverseLookup.aspx and fill it with your Public IP, if you
have everything well configured, will return the name that you want.

10

Zimbra Settings For DMARC Alignment
Out Of Office Replies (Auto Responders)
Check your zimbraAutoSubmittedNullReturnPath global setting to ensure it is set to false. As the
Zimbra user (su - zimbra) run:
 zmprov gcf zimbraAutoSubmittedNullReturnPath
 zmprov mcf zimbraAutoSubmittedNullReturnPath FALSE
If this is set to False, it will cause the Return Path address in Out Of Office Replies to an empty value
like <>
This may cause SPF alignment to fail when your DMARC policy is set to quarantine or reject. Newer
Zimbra versions should default this setting to False, but older installs may be using a value of True

Zimbra Web Client Personas
If you have mailbox setup of user@domain1.com, with an alias of user@domain2.com. 2. From the
Zimbra Web Client, create a Persona for user@domain2.com. 3. When a message is sent with the
user@domain2.com Persona selected, the following occurs:
 The Return Path email address is set to: user@domain2.com
 The From header email address is set to: user@domain1.com
 If your DMARC policy is set to quarantine or reject, this will cause the SPF alignment test to
fail.
To Change This Behavior, set the zimbraSmtpRestrictEnvelopeFrom value to False for either an
individual user, a domain, or a Class Of Service. For example, to change this setting for an individual
user, as the Zimbra user (su - zimbra):
 zmprov ma user@domain1.com zimbraSmtpRestrictEnvelopeFrom FALSE
Further reading : https://blog.zimbra.com/2022/04/email-security-webinar-about-dmarc/

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