A custom mail domain, such as mail.mycourses.client.com, can be configured as the default outgoing mail domain in your Brightspace environment. As a best practice, the custom mail domain should be used in configurations for sending system emails and notification emails. Other options, such as your Helpdesk Display Name or prefix OrgUnit text, can be adjusted using the Configuration Variable Browser. For more information, see Configuration Variables and Permissions.
Note: Any custom email domain you select must be different from a custom URL used for site access to avoid interference with CNAME records.
SPF record
To indicate that your custom mail domain will rely on the D2L servers for delivery, every domain used in addressed outgoing mail must have an MX, SPF, and DKIM records.
An SPF record allows receiving mail systems to validate that the server IPs sending the mail are approved to send on behalf of the custom mail domain. Create a TXT record including the D2LSPF record to allow sending on your behalf.
| Type |
Host |
Value |
TTL |
| TXT |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
"v=spf1 include:a._spf.brightspace.com" |
60 min. |
DKIM record
DKIM records point to the public keys to be used by receiving mail systems when validating the encrypted signature added by D2L servers. Create two domain key records CNAMEd to D2L records.
| Type |
Host |
Value |
TTL |
CNAME
|
d2lmail1._domainkey .mail.mycourses.client.com |
d2lmail1._domainkey.brightspace.com |
60 min. |
| CNAME |
d2lmail2._domainkey .mail.mycourses.client.com |
d2lmail2._domainkey.brightspace.com |
60 min. |
D2L will rotate the active DKIM key every six months. When one key is rotated, the second will become active in signing emails, after which the process will repeat at six-month intervals. For organizations that have DKIM enabled and are using a custom mail domain, email delivery may be impacted if both required DKIM CNAME records are not in place at the time of rotation.
MX Record
Non-Full mail configuration
An MX record is required to exist for passing standard spam filtering rules, that validate the sending domain is associated to a mail server. A D2L gateway has been created to facilitate MX validation. However, it will not retain any messages routed here and does not provide full mail functionality. For each outgoing domain configured in the environment (if not using Full Mail), you MUST first contact D2L so we can configure our email gateway for your chosen domain. Not contacting us first puts us and your organization at risk of having email loops that would negatively impact email delivery. You will then need to create an MX record pointing to the default D2L gateway hostname:
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
gourmand.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |
Full mail configuration
AP01 MX Record for Full Mail
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
ap01psmtp.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |
AP02 MX Record for Full Mail
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
ap02psmtp.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |
CA05 MX Record for Full Mail (Canada)
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
ca05psmtp.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |
EU01 MX Record for Full Mail (Europe)
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
eu01psmtp.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |
US04 MX Record for Full Mail (North or South America)
| Type |
Host |
Value |
Priority |
TTL
|
| MX |
mail.mycourses.client.com |
us04psmtp.brightspace.com |
10
|
24 hrs. |