AWS SES TXT Record Content

Question

I need to get AWS SES setup for a domain. The registrar's DNS tool only allows me to put in a block of text for the TXT/SPF records (one block per record). I'm not sure how to format the TXT record as a single block of text vs. a key/value pair.

Amazon Says

Record Type: TXT (Text)
TXT Name: _amazonses.the-domain.org
TXT Value: the-very-special-key

The registrar in this case is iPage, here's what it looks like:

iPage DNS TXT Entry

So, how do I format this record as a block of text?

@VasiliSyrakis - removed it for clarity. Amazon just explains that you can leave the leading `_` off if your registrar doesn't allow it. — Josh M., Apr 13 '14 at 14:50
Turns out there was no way to do it using iPage's UI. I contacted them and they added the TXT record manually and it works fine. — Josh M., Apr 14 '14 at 16:30

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 12 '14 at 20:48

1

It sounds like what they expect you to add is a record like the following (as written in the normal master file format):

_amazonses IN TXT "the-very-special-key"

You don't specify what this management tool that you refer to offers in terms of UI but the name where you want to add the record is _amazonses (if specified as relative to the zone), the type is TXT and the value is the-very-special-key

answered Apr 12 '14 at 20:48

Håkan Lindqvist

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I added a screenshot to show the existing TXT/SPF record so you can see how I should enter the one for AWS SES. The registrar is iPage. Thanks. – Josh M. Apr 12 '14 at 21:03
@JoshM. Did you have an opportunity to specify the name before reaching the point where you took the screenshot? It looks like you're at a stage when you have already chosen the name and type. – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 12 '14 at 21:17
No - it is literally a single textbox and a Save button. – Josh M. Apr 12 '14 at 21:55
@JoshM. It appears that you will need to find how to specify the "owner" name. If this is not obvious in the UI you may need to consult the manual or contact support. – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 12 '14 at 21:59
@JoshM. Just to clarify, it's not that what you are trying to do is strange or hard, it's actually rather trivial in terms of DNS. It's just a matter of understanding the management UI that you are using (or possibly that said management UI is limited). – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 12 '14 at 22:03
I know, and I'm just not sure how to enter what Amazon wants as a single string. Thanks! – Josh M. Apr 12 '14 at 22:16
It's not a single string. Amazon are specifying what you should enter/choose for the owner name, the type and the value. Those are three different fields and in the screenshot it seems you have chosen the type but only have a field for entering the value. – Håkan Lindqvist Apr 12 '14 at 22:21
Right. And I had assumed that the other registrar(s) I've used were dumbing it down alowing a key/value pair. And this registrar was "more flexible" (or perhaps not as good). So I was assuming I could enter the TXT record in the form `x=_amazonses.com v=the-very-special-key` or similar. Just don't know the syntax. – Josh M. Apr 12 '14 at 22:45

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 13 '14 at 15:26

It looks like your domain registrar does not allow you the flexibility to name your text records, or place them into subdomains.

You should contact their support team to either see if they can name the record for you.

Alternatively, you could set up your own DNS server, or utilize a free DNS hosting service on the net (you can find some quickly by Googling) so that you can have more control over your DNS records. Registrar portals can be limited sometimes.

Amazon Web Services also has Route53 which you could consider, however there is a cost associated with how many zones you host, plus the number of queries you receive.

Thanks. It's not my domain, I'm just helping someone out. Otherwise it would be at my registrar of choice, Namecheap. Route53 may be an option. I'm going to check with iPage support and see what they have to say. — Josh M., Apr 14 '14 at 14:49

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 19 '15 at 14:45

According to http://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/DeveloperGuide/dns-txt-records.html there is the following passage:

If your DNS provider does not allow DNS record names to contain underscores, you can omit _amazonses from the TXT record name. In that case, for the preceding example, the TXT record name would be example.com instead of _amazonses.example.com. To make the record easier to recognize and maintain, you can also optionally prefix the TXT record's value with amazonses:. In the example above, the value of the TXT record would therefore be amazonses:pmBGN/7MjnfhTKUZ06Enqq1PeGUaOkw8lGhcfwefcHU=.

And so without saying it directly, it seems as though the following TXT record content may suffice:

amazonses:pmBGN/7MjnfhTKUZ06Enqq1PeGUaOkw8lGhcfwefcHU=

AWS SES TXT Record Content

3 Answers3