Why isn't the MX record propagating after pointing a domain to Yahoo Mail Server?

Question

I have bought a domain https://kmtc.com.sa/. The domain provider is marcaria.com. It is currently pointed to a Hostinger for the web files.

The Yahoo mail server is supposed to be working with Yahoo now, pointing an MX record to the yahoo mail server.

Problem: It's been 5 days now, the mail server isn't still working. I have asked Yahoo and they provided me the value that needs to be added to the MX record.

Below is the configuration value that has been added to Marcaria's dashboard.

A RECORDS

kmtc.com.sa         31.220.51.87    
kmtc.com.sa         68.142.212.40   
mail.kmtc.com.sa    68.142.212.40

MX Records: Mail exchanger - Mail Server

Host Name          Server                           Priority     
kmtc.com.sa        mx-biz.mail.am0.yahoodns.net     10

TXT Records: Address

Host Name            TXT Value   
kmtc.com.sa          v=spf1 ~all    
kmtc.com.sa          v=spf1 a mx include:aramco.com include:aramco.com.sa ~all  
_dmarc.kmtc.com.sa   v=DMARC1; p=none; pct=100; rua=mailto:re+baknzohptz3@dmarc.postmarkapp.com; sp=none; aspf=r;

I'm really not sure if this is the correct configuration as it's the 5th day now. I'm just hoping that I get the correct configuration ASAP.

I only managed to reach Yahoo support and not Marcaria (domain provider). Maybe as it's still Easter season and the Domain Provider is still not responding as it's their holiday.

Parties used:

Component	Provider	Status
Domain	Marcaria.com	Working
Webfiles	Hostinger.com.	Working
Mailserver	Yahoo Small Business	Not-Working

You did not show us any MX records so far I believe you don't set one — djdomi, Apr 04 '21 at 16:30
@djdomi: I have updated a screenshot of the DNS configuration in the post. You may want to check if what is wrong with it. — Jed, Apr 05 '21 at 07:39
Use a tool like mxtoolbox to check your domain setup. no need to ask other people to do it for you. — Mr Zach, Apr 05 '21 at 09:39
@jed then contact your domain provider support with this issue you pay for it — djdomi, Apr 05 '21 at 09:50
The two A records are there, the A record for mail.kmtc.com.sa is not there, one of the two spf TXT records is there, the _dmarc TXT record is there, the three standard NS records for trademarkarea.com are there, but there is no MX record ... — Hagen von Eitzen, Apr 05 '21 at 19:52
@HagenvonEitzen, thank you for the comment. It's been working now. I have managed to ask customer support for an answer. They have already refreshed the configuration on their side. It working finally working now. — Jed, Apr 06 '21 at 11:02
Please note that you have multiple SPF records defined. There should be only one SPF record defined for one domain. — AlexD, Apr 08 '21 at 19:44

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 04 '21 at 13:21

11

I took a look, unfortunately I couldn't find an MX record, the SOA record shows me that something was last changed to the dns records on March 23. When did you make your changes?

;kmtc.com.sa.                   IN      MX

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
kmtc.com.sa.            900     IN      SOA     ns01.trademarkarea.com. postmaster.kmtc.com.sa. 2021032365 3660 1000 604800 84600

answered Apr 04 '21 at 13:21

jbot

126
1
5

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Nice touch with SOA query! – Mircea Vutcovici Apr 04 '21 at 13:24
@jbot: The MX record has already been updated for 5-6 days now. It should suppose to be working now if just 72 hours is required for the domain to propagate. Thank you for giving me an idea about the domain's SOA. Does the provider need to configure on their side to let the updates reflect with SOA or to MX record to propagate? **Note: I have updated a screenshot for you to see whats with the DNS configurations.** – Jed Apr 05 '21 at 07:30
1

@Jed to be honest, I don’t see anything wrong with the MX record. Has your Domain / DNS Provider already contacted you? – jbot Apr 05 '21 at 09:40
@jbot, they aren't replying till now. I'm trying to reach them daily haven't replied yet till now. :( – Jed Apr 05 '21 at 10:48
1

This answer may not be the one that solves the problem directly but this is the first one that helps me out figure out that the problem is on the provider's side. Pushed me to try harder to contact Marcaria's support team. I hope you can help more someone like me. – Jed Apr 06 '21 at 11:06

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '21 at 13:24

11

DNS doesn't propagate; the responses from authoritative servers are cached by the recursive servers. Currently your authoritative servers are responding with an empty set of MX records, so they are not configured correctly.

$ dig kmtc.com.sa. MX @ns01.trademarkarea.com

;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 33020
;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;kmtc.com.sa.                   IN      MX

I'm afraid you have to wait for the response from your DNS provider.

answered Apr 04 '21 at 13:24

Esa Jokinen

43,252
2
75
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So true, there is no `propagation` in https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc8499 or other DNS RFCs. – Mircea Vutcovici Apr 04 '21 at 14:14
there is propogation but from the auhoritive source for your domain that source is ns01.trademarkarea.com. – Jasen Apr 05 '21 at 01:33
@Esa, thank you for the explanation. BTW, I have updated a screenshot of the DNS configuration in the post. You may want to check. If what is wrong with it – Jed Apr 05 '21 at 08:02
3

@Jed It rather appears that the records that you have added there are just not getting published to the nameservers. At first I considered the possibility that the `ns01.trademarkarea.com` etc nameservers were not actually related to that marcaria.com admin UI (it's not immediately obvious that the domain names are necessarily related), but https://support.marcaria.com/hc/en-us/articles/215525423-Set-up-DNS-Servers seems to confirm that they are indeed supposed to be. In summary, it appears that something may be broken on their end. – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 05 '21 at 09:19
@HåkanLindqvist, thank you for your advice. Any suggestion to resolve this as I'm not able to contact or receive any response from their backend experts. I've been doing chat but they aren't able to return a reply for a practical solution than to wait for their experts to fix it. – Jed Apr 05 '21 at 12:06
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@Jed If the current nameserver operator cannot help you, the main suggestion I see is switching to different nameservers. – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 05 '21 at 12:30
@HåkanLindqvist. Wouldn't be that hassle? I'm not sure whats the process. Is there any guide you can recommend? – Jed Apr 05 '21 at 13:37

score 5 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 04 '21 at 13:23

There is nothing to propagate. The DNS servers that are authoritative for your domain kmtc.com.sa do not have any MX record for your domain. This means you are configuring in the wrong place.

[mot@boo ~]$ whois kmtc.com.sa|grep -A 3 "Name Servers"
Name Servers:
ns01.trademarkarea.com
ns02.trademarkarea.com
ns03.trademarkarea.com
[mot@boo ~]$ host -t mx kmtc.com.sa ns01.trademarkarea.com
Using domain server:
Name: ns01.trademarkarea.com
Address: 209.217.79.189#53
Aliases: 

kmtc.com.sa has no MX record
[mot@boo ~]$ host -t mx kmtc.com.sa ns02.trademarkarea.com
Using domain server:
Name: ns02.trademarkarea.com
Address: 65.60.27.192#53
Aliases: 

kmtc.com.sa has no MX record
[mot@boo ~]$ host -t mx kmtc.com.sa ns03.trademarkarea.com
Using domain server:
Name: ns03.trademarkarea.com
Address: 198.20.101.138#53
Aliases: 

kmtc.com.sa has no MX record
mot@boo:~$ host -t NS kmtc.com.sa ns01.trademarkarea.com
Using domain server:
Name: ns01.trademarkarea.com
Address: 209.217.79.189#53
Aliases: 

kmtc.com.sa name server ns02.trademarkarea.com.
kmtc.com.sa name server ns01.trademarkarea.com.
kmtc.com.sa name server ns03.trademarkarea.com.
mot@boo:~$

Thanks for your answer. I have updated a screenshot of the DNS configuration in the post. You may want to check if what is wrong with it. — Jed, Apr 05 '21 at 08:01
Your screenshot looks fine, it must be a problem or restriction at your dns provider. For example since they define a Mail host in your domain they might require human approval before you can specify external MXs. — eckes, Apr 06 '21 at 03:31
@eckes, thank you for pointing out that my configuration is fine. I have managed to contact the domain provider. After they made a refresh, the MX record has already propagated. Thank you. — Jed, Apr 06 '21 at 11:04

Why isn't the MX record propagating after pointing a domain to Yahoo Mail Server?

3 Answers3