Best Practices for Changing MX Records

Overview

When implementing MailRoute's email filtering service, you'll need to update your domain's MX records. Many customers believe this process is complex and worry about potential email service interruptions. This article outlines the recommended best practices for a smooth transition.

Understanding MX Record Changes

How MX Record Propagation Works

MX record changes do not propagate instantly across the internet. The update time depends on the Time To Live (TTL) values set in your DNS records.

For example, if your MX records have a TTL of 3600 seconds (1 hour), DNS servers that have recently queried your records will continue using the cached version for approximately one hour before picking up the new settings.

Do I Need Overlapping MX Records?

There is no significant benefit to maintaining both old and new MX records simultaneously during transition.

If both your previous mail server and MailRoute will accept mail during the transition period, you can simply update your MX records to point to MailRoute and allow DNS caches to refresh naturally according to your TTL settings.

Best Practices for Implementation

Standard Implementation Process

1. Check your current MX record TTL value using a DNS lookup tool (example command: dig mx yourdomain.com)
2. Update your MX records to point to MailRoute's servers
3. Allow time for propagation based on your TTL value

For Faster Transitions

If you want to accelerate the transition process:

1. Reduce your MX record TTL value to 300-600 seconds (5-10 minutes)
2. Wait at least as long as your original TTL value before making the MX record change
   • For example, if your original TTL was 24 hours, wait at least 24 hours after reducing the TTL
   • This ensures that all DNS caches holding your records have had time to expire and fetch the new shorter TTL value
3. Update your MX records to point to MailRoute's servers
4. The transition will now happen more quickly as DNS caches expire faster

Important Note

This acceleration technique is particularly valuable for domains with long TTLs (such as 86,400 seconds/24 hours), as it can significantly reduce the transition time.

Common Questions

Will changing MX records cause email interruptions?

If properly implemented, changing MX records should not cause email interruptions. During the propagation period, some emails will arrive through your old mail server while others will begin arriving through MailRoute, depending on when various sending servers refresh their DNS cache.

Should I add MailRoute MX records first, then remove old records later?

This approach is unnecessary and may complicate your mail flow. A clean replacement of your MX records is the recommended approach.

Need Further Assistance?

If you have additional questions about implementing MailRoute or transitioning your MX records, please contact our support team support@mailroute.net