Frequently Asked Questions
Adding Autodiscover DNS Records
DNS Autodisovery is a great way to ease the setup for your users across all platforms. By utilizing automatic discovery, users can setup accounts by themselves as the application only requires an email address and password.
The applications that currently support Autodiscovery are:
You should not have a CNAME record for the "autodiscover" feature. This should always be a record type of "A".
The Lets Encrypt mail servers SSL certificate will always be the following DNS FQDN Name: colony.mailhive.ca. As well, we also generate 2 seperate records for your domains:
webmail.fqdn
autodiscover.fqdn
An example of this is:
webmail.digitaltranstions.ca
autodiscover.digitaltransitions.ca
The webmail record is used for the logins over SSL when accessing your email via a web browser. This is especially helpful when you have to access your email on a public computer.
The autodiscover record is utilized for mobile devices and desktop apps that support that value to simplify setup of all your devices.
Lets encrypt records are free to use, secure, and renew every ninety (90) days.
Example Below: digitaltransitions.ca
In this example, we build out our DNS zone with editing the BIND files by hand:
Most modern DNS Web GUI configuration pages will allow you to enter and edit SRV records without too much issue. For Example, here is a configuration setup from a popular DNS hosting company: dyn.com
Above, some services also give you an additional option to add the TTL (Time To Live) in order for the record to be live. Above, that's a 60 second TTL and not 60 Minutes, meaning the amount of time the record zone refreshes is very quick. Normally, one would have a much higher TTL value as theses records do not change often. In general, a TTL this short might be used when server values are changing and you want the records to propagate around the world as quickly as possible. Once propagation has occurred, you would change that valued back to a much higher number.
Other records that you should consider adding into your DNS are as follows:
_caldavs._tcp.FQDN IN SRV
As always, if you have any questions or are having trouble getting your outlook client configured properly with the above steps, you can email us directly with tickets@mailhive.ca or visit our main support page: https://mailhive.ca/support and create a ticket and one of our staff members will get back to you quickly to help you get your issue resolved.
The applications that currently support Autodiscovery are:
- Microsoft Outlook
- macOS applications
- iOS and Android Devices that support ActiveSync
- Spark App for iOS and Android
- Nine Email App for iOS and Android
You should not have a CNAME record for the "autodiscover" feature. This should always be a record type of "A".
The Lets Encrypt mail servers SSL certificate will always be the following DNS FQDN Name: colony.mailhive.ca. As well, we also generate 2 seperate records for your domains:
webmail.fqdn
autodiscover.fqdn
An example of this is:
webmail.digitaltranstions.ca
autodiscover.digitaltransitions.ca
The webmail record is used for the logins over SSL when accessing your email via a web browser. This is especially helpful when you have to access your email on a public computer.
The autodiscover record is utilized for mobile devices and desktop apps that support that value to simplify setup of all your devices.
Lets encrypt records are free to use, secure, and renew every ninety (90) days.
| Record Name | _____ | TYPE | _____ | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| autodiscover | _____ | IN A | _____ | 208.83.212.221 |
| autodiscover | _____ | IN A | _____ | 208.83.212.221 |
| _imaps._tcp | _____ | IN SRV 5 0 993 | _____ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _smtps._tcp | _____ | IN SRV 5 0 465 | _____ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _caldavs._tcp | _____ | IN SRV 5 0 443 | _____ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _carddavs._tcp | _____ | IN SRV 5 0 443 | _____ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| @ | _____ | IN MX 10 | _____ | swarmx1.mailhive.ca. |
| @ | _____ | IN MX 10 | _____ | swarmx2.mailhive.ca. |
| archive | _____ | IN CNAME | _____ | archive.mailhive.ca. |
Example Below: digitaltransitions.ca
In this example, we build out our DNS zone with editing the BIND files by hand:
| Record Name | ___ | TYPE | ___ | VALUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| autodiscover.digitataltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN A | ___ | 208.83.212.221 |
| autoconfig.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN A | ___ | 208.83.212.221 |
| _imaps._tcp.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN SRV 5 0 993 | ___ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _smtps._tcp.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN SRV 5 0 465 | ___ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _caldavs._tcp.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN SRV 5 0 443 | ___ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| _carddavs._tcp.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN SRV 5 0 443 | ___ | colony.mailhive.ca. |
| digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN MX 10 | ___ | swarmx1.mailhive.ca. |
| digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN MX 10 | ___ | swarmx2.mailhive.ca. |
| archive.digitaltransitions.ca. | ___ | IN A | ___ | 208.83.212.223 |
Understanding the above entries:
| Parameter | Value |
| Record Type | SRV |
| Service | _autodiscover |
| Protocol | _tcp |
| Domain Name | mailhive.ca |
| Priority | 0 |
| Weight | 5 |
| Port | 443 |
| Target | colony.mailhive.ca |
Above, some services also give you an additional option to add the TTL (Time To Live) in order for the record to be live. Above, that's a 60 second TTL and not 60 Minutes, meaning the amount of time the record zone refreshes is very quick. Normally, one would have a much higher TTL value as theses records do not change often. In general, a TTL this short might be used when server values are changing and you want the records to propagate around the world as quickly as possible. Once propagation has occurred, you would change that valued back to a much higher number.
Other records that you should consider adding into your DNS are as follows:
_caldavs._tcp.FQDN IN SRV
As always, if you have any questions or are having trouble getting your outlook client configured properly with the above steps, you can email us directly with tickets@mailhive.ca or visit our main support page: https://mailhive.ca/support and create a ticket and one of our staff members will get back to you quickly to help you get your issue resolved.
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Last Updated 4 years ago