Client needs domain A record to point somewhere else, but mail to point to me

GoWilkes

• October 13, 2021 13:52

I have a hosting client that needed to change the A record for the main domain to another server, but needs to keep their email going through my server. I'm not quite sure how to set that up. I had to add 4 A records to example.com. that points to their IP, and then delete the A record for example.com. that pointed to my IP. The MX record for the domain is: mail.example.com. Priority: 0 Destination: example.com There's a CNAME for mail.example.com that points to: example.com I understand that the MX record has to be a domain, not an IP. So can I change the CNAME for mail.example.com to an A record that points to my IP?

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  andrew.n

  • October 13, 2021 19:02

  Exactly that. Just setup an A record for mail.example.com and leave it as MX record too then you should be good.

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  Daniel12345

  • October 13, 2021 19:34

  Good day, GoWilkes! As andrew.n stated, setting up an A record for mail.example.com and leaving it as the MX record is a good solution. Alternatively, you can use another record that points towards your server such as your server's hostname A record.

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  GoWilkes

  • October 13, 2021 23:34

  Thanks for the info! I changed the CNAME to an A record and my IP, and on my end everything looks like it's working. The client isn't in now so they'll let me know tomorrow if there's still a problem on their end. Thanks again!

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  quietFinn

  • October 14, 2021 09:02

  I understand that the MX record has to be a domain, not an IP. So can I change the CNAME for mail.example.com to an A record that points to my IP?

  
  Correct, MX record must be a hostname, but the hostname can't be a CNAME record.

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