Summary
Troubleshooting DMARC, SPF, and DKIM setup issues in Klaviyo involves a multi-faceted approach. Start by verifying the setup using Klaviyo's documentation and tools, while understanding that some third-party tools may not be entirely accurate. Address DMARC alignment by ensuring the 'From' domain matches validated domains. Manage SPF records by including all sending sources and staying within the 10 DNS lookup limit. Properly validate DKIM records using tools like dmarcian and understanding the importance of the selector. Be aware of how DMARC policies affect email delivery and how subdomains inherit these policies. Finally, adopt a monitoring approach with a 'none' DMARC policy initially before moving to stricter settings. Always check email headers to understand authentication results and confirm DNS records have propagated after making changes.
Key findings
- DMARC Alignment: DMARC requires either SPF or DKIM to pass and align, meaning the domain in the 'From' address must match the domain validated by SPF or DKIM.
- SPF Configuration: SPF records must include all authorized sending sources and adhere to the 10 DNS lookup limit to avoid 'SPF Permanent Error'.
- DKIM Verification: Verifying DKIM involves checking DNS records and the selector, and reviewing a received message for full confirmation.
- DMARC Policies: DMARC policies (none, quarantine, reject) dictate how emails are handled based on authentication results; 'none' is for monitoring.
- Subdomain Impact: DMARC policies set for a primary domain can influence the deliverability of emails from subdomains.
Key considerations
- Tool Accuracy: Be aware that some third-party tools might not accurately reflect DMARC/SPF/DKIM setup and results due to selector or other limitations.
- Policy Implementation: Start with a DMARC policy of 'none' to monitor results before implementing stricter policies like 'quarantine' or 'reject'.
- DNS Propagation: Always ensure DNS records have fully propagated after making changes to SPF, DKIM, or DMARC settings.
- Header Analysis: Checking raw email headers is crucial to accurately diagnose SPF, DKIM, and DMARC pass/fail results.
- DKIM Selectors: When configuring multiple DKIM selectors, use unique keys for each.
- SPF Flattening: If you are exceeding the 10 DNS lookup limit in SPF, consider flattening your SPF records.
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
Troubleshooting DMARC, SPF, and DKIM setup issues in Klaviyo involves verifying correct alignment, monitoring DMARC policies, and ensuring proper SPF and DKIM configurations. Key steps include checking DNS propagation, ensuring proper syntax, respecting DNS lookup limits, and understanding how subdomains affect DMARC.
Key opinions
- DMARC Alignment: DMARC requires SPF or DKIM to pass and align, meaning the domain in the 'From' address must match the domain validated by SPF or DKIM.
- DMARC Policies: DMARC policies (none, quarantine, reject) dictate how emails that fail authentication are handled, with 'none' being a monitoring mode.
- SPF Configuration: SPF records must include all authorized sending sources and adhere to the 10 DNS lookup limit to avoid failures.
- DKIM Verification: Verifying DKIM involves checking DNS records for propagation and ensuring correct signatures.
- Subdomain Impact: DMARC policies set for a main domain can be inherited by subdomains, affecting email authentication.
Key considerations
- Tool Accuracy: Third-party tools may not always accurately reflect DMARC setup due to selector issues.
- Policy Staging: Start with a DMARC policy of 'none' to monitor results before implementing stricter policies like 'quarantine' or 'reject'.
- Header Inspection: Checking raw email headers helps identify the domain used for SPF checks and authentication results.
- DNS Propagation: Ensure DNS records have fully propagated after making changes to SPF, DKIM, or DMARC settings.
- Key Rotation: Address DKIM failures related to key rotation issues by ensuring DNS records are updated accordingly.
- Multiple Selectors: For multiple DKIM selectors, ensure different keys are used for different DNS records.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares common DMARC errors. These include incorrect syntax, SPF failures due to exceeding DNS lookup limits, and DKIM failures due to key rotation issues. The article advises using DMARC monitoring tools to identify and resolve these errors.
15 Dec 2022 - Email on Acid
Marketer view
Email marketer from Gmass answers question about how subdomains can affect DMARC. For example if you have a DMARC record set up for your main domain, then subdomains with email traffic will inherit that DMARC policy.
3 Jun 2022 - Gmass
What the experts say
7 expert opinions
Troubleshooting DMARC, SPF, and DKIM setup issues involves verifying the setup using tools, understanding DKIM selector implications, respecting SPF DNS lookup limits, and employing valid testing methodologies. Confirmation of setup correctness from tools and experts is valuable, but deeper analysis is sometimes necessary to ensure functionality.
Key opinions
- DMARC Setup Confirmation: Tools and experts can confirm the basic DMARC setup, but this does not guarantee full functionality.
- DKIM Selector Importance: Retrieving a DKIM public key relies on knowing or guessing the selector; verification requires examining received messages.
- SPF DNS Lookup Limits: SPF records are limited to 10 DNS lookups; exceeding this limit results in an SPF Permanent Error and record invalidation.
Key considerations
- Selector Guessing: Testing websites often guess at DKIM selectors, which can lead to inaccurate results if non-standard selectors are used.
- SPF Record Flattening: Reduce SPF DNS lookups by flattening SPF records to avoid exceeding the limit, especially when using multiple includes.
- SPF Testing Tools: Be cautious when using online SPF testing tools due to potential issues with their code; direct header analysis may be more reliable.
- Review Received Message: The only 100% accurate way to confirm that DKIM is working, is to review a received message from that sender.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Atkins, answers questions about testing SPF records. It's important to test your SPF records to ensure they are valid before sending email. It suggests that many online tools use bad code, and may cause issues. Check if your SPF record returns a neutral result, or check your headers directly.
20 Nov 2022 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks, Steve Atkins, confirms that according to his tool, the DMARC setup is working correctly.
20 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Troubleshooting DMARC, SPF, and DKIM involves following setup guides, understanding record syntax, and validating DNS records. Key resources include Klaviyo's setup documentation, dmarcian's DKIM checking guide, Cloudflare's explanation of DMARC policies, and the RFC defining SPF syntax.
Key findings
- Klaviyo Setup: Klaviyo provides documentation for setting up DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, including steps for authenticating sending domains and troubleshooting issues.
- DKIM Record Verification: dmarcian outlines methods to check DKIM records using online tools or command-line utilities, emphasizing the importance of validating the selector.
- DMARC Policies: Cloudflare explains DMARC policies (none, quarantine, reject) and their impact on email delivery.
- SPF Record Syntax: The RFC defines SPF record syntax, including mechanisms and qualifiers for specifying authorized sending sources.
Key considerations
- DNS Record Validation: Properly validating DNS records is crucial for ensuring that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly configured.
- Selector Validation: Validating the DKIM selector ensures that the correct public key is being used for DKIM verification.
- Policy Impact: Understanding the impact of different DMARC policies is essential for managing email deliverability.
- Syntax Accuracy: Adhering to the correct SPF record syntax is critical for avoiding configuration errors.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC explains SPF record syntax. It outlines the different mechanisms and qualifiers that can be used in an SPF record, such as 'a', 'mx', 'ip4', 'ip6', 'include', etc. It also specifies the rules for combining these mechanisms to create a valid SPF record.
20 Nov 2024 - RFC
Technical article
Documentation from Klaviyo explains how to set up a sending domain with DMARC, SPF, and DKIM. It details the steps for authenticating a sending domain, including adding DNS records and troubleshooting common issues within the Klaviyo platform.
15 Mar 2024 - Klaviyo
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