Applicable Plans - All Cloud Hosting Plans

SolarWinds® Spam Experts Admin Guide

Overview

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/ispmgr/spamexperts-user

SolarWinds Spam Experts is an anti-spam and anti-virus system available to eApps customers using the Virtual Server in the Cloud 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 Virtual Server 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 Virtual Server 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.

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 Virtual Server, with the first five domains in each Virtual Server free. Each additional domain is billed at a rate of $1.00 per month.

Enabling Spam Experts for your domains
    Using eApps DNS (DNS Manager)
    Manually adding DNS Records at your Domain registrar (not using eApps DNS)
    Manually adding your domains to Spam Experts (Spam Experts Admin Account)

Enabling Spam Experts for your domains

Spam Experts is enabled on a per-domain basis, meaning that you can have some domains on a Virtual Server using Spam Experts, and other domains using a different spam filter (or no spam filter).

If you are using eApps DNS, you can enable Spam Experts for your domain when you add the domain to the DNS Manager in the Customer Portal, or you can enable Spam Experts for your domains manually after they are already added.

If you are not using eApps DNS, you can request a free Spam Experts admin account, and add your domains manually. You will also need to add the MX and SPF records for Spam Experts to the DNS for the domain at your registrar or DNS provider.

Using eApps DNS (DNS Manager)

If you are using eApps DNS, Spam Experts is the default choice for Email Handing when you add your domains to the DNS Manager. If you accepted the default when you added your domain, then nothing further needs to be done to enable Spam Experts for the domain.

However, if you choose another option instead of Spam Experts, you can edit the domain in the DNS Manager and change your Email Handling choice to Spam Experts.

To change a domain to Spam Experts, log in to the Customer Portal - http://portal.eapps.com. Once you are logged in, click on the DNS Manager tab. In the HOSTED DOMAINS LIST, click on the Edit icon (a small pencil) to the right of the domain that you wish to change to Spam Experts.

(In this example, the domain has no filter for spam and malware)

In the Email handling (MX): section of the DNS Manager, select SpamExperts. Make sure to read and understand that Spam Experts is free for the first five domains on a Virtual Server, and that any additional domains on the Virtual Server are billed at $1.00 per domain per month.

Once you have made your change, click on Update Domain. This writes the new MX records to the eApps DNS system, which will start immediately propagating those records. However, it may take your ISP several hours to update their DNS servers, so the changes may not work for you right away.

If you scroll down the screen, you can see the new MX records listed.

Once you have updated the domain, click on Hosted Domains List just above the edit section. This takes you back to the list of domains, and will show that the domain is now using Spam Experts.

From the command line, the MX records will look like this:

;; ANSWER SECTION:
eapps-example.com. 600 IN MX 10 mx-01.eapps.com.
eapps-example.com. 600 IN MX 20 mx-02.eapps.com.

Manually adding DNS Records at your Domain registrar (not using eApps DNS)

If you are not hosting your domains in the eApps DNS, but you are going to use the Virtual Server at eApps as the mail server for your domains, then you can still use Spam Experts for your e-mail spam and malware filtering. To do this, you will need to manually enter the Spam Experts MX and SPF records into the DNS zone for your domain at your domain registrar or DNS provider.

You will also need a free Administrator account for Spam Experts, so that you can add your domains into the eApps Spam Experts system. Please contact eApps Support for access to your Administrator account.

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 Spam Experts service. You will need to contact your e-mail provider for more information as to what anti-spam solutions they may have available.

Adding the MX Records

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 Spam Experts. 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.

Adding the SPF Record

Depending on your DNS hosting configuration, you may have an SPF record, a TXT record, or both SPF and TXT records.

Add the following information to your existing SPF or TXT record: a:outgoing.eapps.com - for example, your default SPF or TXT record will look similar to this:

"v=spf1 a mx ~all"

With the additional record, it will now look similar to this:

"v=spf1 a mx a:outgoing.eapps.com ~all"

If you need assistance adding these records, please contact the support team at your DNS provider or domain registrar for assistance.

Manually adding your domains to Spam Experts (Spam Experts Admin Account)

If you are not using eApps DNS, you will need to manually add your domains to Spam Experts using the Administrator account. It will also be your responsibility to manage your domains and users in Spam Experts. This admin account is free.

To have administrator access, you will need to 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 Virtual Server 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 Spam Experts), and send you your Admin login information. Please note that the Admin login for Spam Experts will be the Account ID of your Virtual Server in the Cloud hosting account, which will be a minimum of three digits.

To set the password for the Admin User, go to the Spam Experts 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 Virtual Server 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 Spam Experts with the Admin login details.

This login is only for Spam Experts Admin tasks. If you need to access Spam Experts 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 Virtual Server. See the Spam Experts User Guide for more information: http://support.eapps.com/ispmgr/spamexperts-user.

Once you are logged in, you are taken to the Spam Experts 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.tld (do not add www.domain.tld, 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, Spam Experts 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 Spam Experts 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 Spam Experts, 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 Spam Experts. Click on the link for Upload CSV file (for adding multiple domains), which will explain the format required by Spam Experts 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 Spam Experts Admin Dashboard to familiarize yourself with the available options.