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This User Guide explains how to configure your domains to use Spam Experts, and also how to access Spam Experts as a Domain Administrator. Information on how to access Spam Experts as a normal mail user and manage your e-mail quarantine are found here - http://support.eapps.com/vps/spamx_user |
SolarWinds Spam Experts is an anti-spam and anti-virus system available to eApps customers using the Virtual Private Server (VPS) plans. Spam Experts works by using a globally de-centralized network that scans e-mail messages to find and detect new spam and virus threats, and then uses that information to update locally hosted Spam Experts servers, such as the one at eApps.
A free Spam Experts Admin account is available to the owner of the VPS hosting account. Most customers do not need this level of access, but it is useful to have if you are not using eApps DNS for your domains. If you wish to have an Admin account, please send an e-mail to eApps Support asking for Spam Experts Admin access. Please send your request from the e-mail address that was used to create the VPS account, and also give your name as it appears on the account. You will receive a reply with a user ID that you can use to access Spam Experts as an Admin user.
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Do NOT change your user ID for Spam Experts! The user name is tied to your domain in the Spam Experts system, and if you change your user name the system will see a mis-match and delete your domain from Spam Experts. This will stop the e-mail delivery for your entire domain, and any e-mail sent to your domain will be bounced back to the sender. |
Spam Experts is billed per VPS, with the first five domains in each VPS free. Each additional domain is billed at a rate of $1.00 per month.
Enabling SpamExperts for your domains
Using eApps DNS
Manually adding MX Records at your Domain registrar
Manually adding your domains to SpamExperts (SpamExperts Admin Account)
SpamExperts is enabled on a per-domain basis, meaning that you can have some domains on a VPS using SpamExperts, and other domains using a different spam filter (or no spam filter).
If you are using eApps DNS, you can enable SpamExperts for your domain when you add the domain to All My Domains in the Parallels Panel, or you can enable SpamExperts for your domains manually after they are already added.
If you are not using eApps DNS, you can request a free SpamExperts admin account, and add your domains manually. You will also need to add the MX records for SpamExperts to the DNS for the domain at your registrar or DNS provider.
If you are using eApps DNS, SpamExperts is setup by default as the MX (Mail eXchange) for your domains. If you add a new domain to your account in Parallels Panel, the DNS Zone for that domain will also be setup by default to use SpamExperts as the MX records.
However, if you have set up the domain in the eApps DNS to use another anti-spam system, or have pointed your MX records directly at your VPS, you can change the MX records to use SpamExperts from the Parallels Panel.
Log in to the Parallels Panel at https://cp.eapps.com/cp.
Once you are logged in to the Parallel Panels, you will need to navigate to the domains you wish to set up for SpamExperts. Do the following:
In the next screen, click on the DNS Zone tab. This shows all the DNS records for the domain. Find the MX record (highlighted in yellow here). This MX record points directly to the VPS.
You will need to edit the existing MX record, and then add a second MX record. If you have more than one existing MX record, you will need to make sure that at the end of this process that you have only two MX records.
To edit the existing MX record, click on the name of the record. This takes you to a screen where you can manage the record. Click on Edit.
In the next screen you can edit the actual MX record.
There are two things that need to change in this screen:
The screen will look like this when you are done:
Click on Save.
Click back on the All My Domains tab, then again on the domain name, and then on DNS Zone. In the DNS Zone, click on New Record. This takes you to the screen where you can add the new MX record.
You need to make three changes to this screen:
Leave the other fields on the screen (Name, TTL, and Comment) at the defaults.
Once you have made your changes, click Save. This takes you back to the DNS Zone screen, where you can see the new MX records (highlighted in yellow here)
Once the MX records have propagated, your e-mail will start going through the SpamExperts anti-spam system.
If you are not hosting your domains in the eApps DNS, but you are going to use the VPS at eApps as the mail server for your domains, then you can still use SpamExperts for your e-mail spam and malware filtering. To do this, you will need to manually enter the SpamExperts MX records into the DNS zone for your domain at your domain registrar or DNS provider.
You will also need a free Administrator account for SpamExperts, so that you can add your domains into the eApps SpamExperts system. Please contact eApps Support for access to your Administrator account.
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If the e-mail for your domain is hosted elsewhere, for example at Google Apps or another hosting company or a local mail server, then you cannot use the eApps SpamExperts service. You will need to contact your e-mail provider for more information as to what anti-spam solutions they may have available. |
At your DNS provider or domain registrar, insert the following Mail eXchanger (MX) records at a higher priority than your current MX records for each domain that you want to activate for SpamExperts. In this case, the term “higher priority” means a lower number. In the MX records listed below, the record with the priority of 10 has the highest priority, meaning that record will be tried first. If you are going to leave your old MX records in place as a fall back, make sure their priority is 30 or greater.
You will need to substitute your own domain name for eapps-example.com. Also, make sure to use the correct priority with the correct server.
Your registrar or DNS provider may also use a different format for entering MX records. If you have questions on how to access or enter DNS records at your registrar or DNS provider, please contact their support for assistance. eApps Support cannot assist you here.
eapps-example.com. IN MX 10 mx-01.eapps.com.
eapps-example.com. IN MX 20 mx-02.eapps.com.
Once you have added the MX records to your registrar or DNS provider, please allow several hours for the DNS changes to propagate.
If you want to be able to access SpamExperts using your own domain name, then you will need to add a CNAME at your DNS provider, that points spamexperts.domain.com to spamexperts.eapps.com. Please contact the support team at your DNS provider if you need assistance adding the CNAME.
If you are not using eApps DNS, you will need to manually add your domains to SpamExperts using the Administrator account. It will also be your responsibility to manage your domains and users in SpamExperts. This admin account is free.
To have administrator access, you will need to send an e-mail to eApps Support asking for SpamExperts Admin access. Please send your request from the e-mail address that was used to create the VPS account, and also give your name as it appears on the account.
Once you have done this, eApps support will set up your Admin account (called a Reseller account by SpamExperts), and send you your Admin login information. Please note that the Admin login for SpamExperts will be the Account ID of your VPS in the Cloud hosting account, which will be a minimum of three digits.
To set the password for the Admin User, go to the SpamExperts URL: http://eapps-spx01.vm.eapps.com
Enter your Admin login, and then click on Retrieve log-in link.
In the Password Recovery screen, enter your Admin login again, and click on Submit. This will send an e-mail to the e-mail address you used to sign up for the VPS service, with a link to follow to set your password. Be aware that this link is only valid for 15 minutes. If you do not follow the link to change your password in that time frame, you will need to go back to the Login screen and click on Retrieve log-in link again.
Once you have changed the Admin password, you can log in to SpamExperts with the Admin login details.
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This login is only for SpamExperts Admin tasks. If you need to access SpamExperts as a regular mail user, in order to view your Spam quarantine and Delivery queue, you will need to login using the e-mail address and password associated with your domain on the VPS. See the SpamExperts User Guide for more information: http://support.eapps.com/ispmgr/spamx_user. |
Once you are logged in, you are taken to the SpamExperts Admin Dashboard. In the Dashboard, click on Add domain in the Domains section.
This opens the Add Domain screen, where you can add the new domain, in the form of domain.com (do not add www.domain.com, just add the base domain name where the users will receive their e-mail). Once you have added the domain name, click on Continue.
Once you add the domain, SpamExperts will verify that it can find the “route” for the domain, also known at the mail server or MX record. Assuming you have already set up your MX records for the domain at your registrar or DNS provider, it should find the routes automatically.
If SpamExperts cannot find the routes (for example, if your DNS has not propagated yet) you will need to add them manually. The two routes to add are:
mx-01.eapps.com
mx-02.eapps.com
Once the domain and routes are in place, click Add. This will add the domains to SpamExperts, and will now allow your users to be able to log in to the web interface and manage their e-mail quarantine.
If you have a lot of domains to add at once, you can upload a CSV file to SpamExperts. Click on the link for Upload CSV file (for adding multiple domains), which will explain the format required by SpamExperts for the CSV file.
There are other Admin user related functions, such as managing the Webinterface (mail) users. Please take some time to explore the SpamExperts Admin Dashboard to familiarize yourself with the available options.
For various reasons, some customers prefer to opt-out of SpamExperts. If you do not wish to use SpamExperts, you will need to change the MX records for your domain to point to either your VPS or to another anti-spam system of your choice.
eApps also offers the SpamTitan anti-spam service. Please contact eApps Sales for more information on this system if you are interested.
If you are hosting your domains in the eApps DNS, you can opt out of SpamExperts by changing the MX records for the domain to either point directly at your VPS, or to another mail provider or anti-spam service of your choice.
Log in to the Parallels Panel at https://cp.eapps.com/cp.
Once you are logged in to the Parallel Panels, you will need to navigate to the domain you wish to remove from SpamExperts. Do the following:
In the next screen, click on the DNS Zone tab. This shows all the DNS records for the domain. Find the MX records (highlighted in yellow here). These MX records point to the SpamExperts.
You will need to edit these MX records, and point them at your VPS or at the other third-party anti-spam system that you are using. If you are going to point the MX records at your VPS, you will have only one MX record when this process is complete. If you are going to use a third-party anti-spam service, you will need to find out from them how many MX records you will need to add.
To edit the existing MX record, click on the name of the record. This takes you to a screen where you can manage the record. Click on Edit.
In the next screen you can edit the actual MX record.
There are two things that need to change in this screen:
Substitute yourdomain.com with your actual VPS domain name.
The screen will look like this when you are done:
Click on Save.
You will then need to delete the second MX record. Click back on the All My Domains tab, then again on the domain name, and then on DNS Zone. In the DNS Zone, check the box next to the second MX record (highlighted in yellow), and then click on Delete.
This will remove the additional MX record.
If you are simply pointing your MX record at your VPS, then you are done. Once the MX records have propagated, your e-mail will start going through your VPS for delivery.
If you are going to point your MX records at a third-party anti-spam service, you will need to contact that service to find out exactly what your MX records should be, and how many MX records you need to have. Some services require only one, some require as many as six or seven. Please make sure that you have the correct information.
You will then need to delete the existing MX record(s) as shown above, and then add the new record(s). Click back on the All My Domains tab, then again on the domain name, and then on DNS Zone. In the DNS Zone, click on New Record. This takes you to the screen where you can add the new MX record.
You need to make three changes to this screen:
Leave the other fields on the screen (Name, TTL, and Comment) at the defaults.
Once you have made your changes, click Save. This takes you back to the DNS Zone screen, where you can see the new MX records. Once the DNS changes have propagated, your e-mail will start to go through the third-party system.
If you are not using eApps DNS for your domains, you will need to contact your DNS provider and verify that your MX records are set correctly. They will be able to assist you to make sure that your e-mail is pointing to either your VPS, or to another anti-spam system of your choosing.