BDP primarily uses a bulk email service provider; you can also enter your own mail server details. The default provider is Mandrill, owned by Mailchimp. We would highly recommend using Mandrill, as this service is integrated with our servers and will give your mail the best possible chance of reaching its destination.
The email provider can be selected in BDP by going to configuration->configuration->account configuration->Default SMTP Sender. Changing any of these settings requires admin permissions in BDP.
If no settings are changed, mail will be sent via Mandril by default.
We would recommend using Mandrill for sending emails
If the SMTP Host is entered, this overrides Mandrill and attempts to use the SMTP server you specify instead; note that BDP can can be set to use SMTP without authentication (it’ll use just IP restrictions instead), so don’t always expect to see credentials entered here.
Configuring your domain for Mandrill
The exponential increase in the volume of spam has forced email service providers to apply increasingly strict filtering and we recommend that you implement some settings on your domain, to prevent legitimate emails from being filtered as spam.
SPF
SPF is a DNS-based email validation mechanism. If you don’t yet have an SPF record, you’ll want to add one for your domain. As a minimum, the setting should implemented as follows:
v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com ~all
You’ll need to add items to the SPF record for any services that already send mail on your behalf, as well; your IT department or ISP can help you with this.
If you already have an existing SPF record, you’ll neeed to add Mandrill’s servers to it; just make sure your existing SPF rcord includes “include:spf.mandrillapp.com” in addition to whatever’s already there.
More information about SPF is available from Mandrill help pages.
DKIM (Mandrill only)
DKIM is a DNS-based email authentication mechanism that helps Mandrill more effectively send mail on your behalf, by allowing receivers to verify that we have permission to send your email using digital signatures.
To enable DKIM, create a TXT record for mandrill._domainkey.yourdomain.com (just replace yourdomain.com with the domain you’re setting up) with the following value:
v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCrLHiExVd55zd/IQ/J/mRwSRMAocV/hMB3jXwaHH36d9NaVynQFYV8NaWi69c1veUtRzGt7yAioXqLj7Z4TeEUoOLgrKsn8YnckGs9i3B3tVFB+Ch/4mPhXWiNfNdynHWBcPcbJ8kjEQ2U8y78dHZj1YeRXXVvWob2OaKynO8/lQIDAQAB;
Some DNS providers require that semicolons be escaped. If your provider requires escaping, use this value instead:
v=DKIM1\; k=rsa\; p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQCrLHiExVd55zd/IQ/J/mRwSRMAocV/hMB3jXwaHH36d9NaVynQFYV8NaWi69c1veUtRzGt7yAioXqLj7Z4TeEUoOLgrKsn8YnckGs9i3B3tVFB+Ch/4mPhXWiNfNdynHWBcPcbJ8kjEQ2U8y78dHZj1YeRXXVvWob2OaKynO8/lQIDAQAB\;
More information about DKIM is available from Mandrill help pages. Your IT department or IT service provider can assist you with your DNS setup.
Relaying Emails by SMTP
This option is often the most effective at ensuring emails are successfully authenticated as coming from your organisation becasue it routes mail via your own infrastructure. To select this option, simply enter a host under SMTP Host in configuration->configuration->account configuration.
BDP requires the following information:
SMTP Host
SMTP Username
SMTP Password
SMTP Encryption Type (Often TLS)
SMTP Port (usually 587 when using TLS)
Please note that firewall constraints may prevent this setup from working and you may need to ask your network administrator to allow the following source IP addresses to relay mail via your SMTP host:
134.213.49.101
162.13.140.239
134.213.212.163
194.176.73.158
Please do NOT just open up access to your SMTP server to anyone; there’s a high chance that your server may be used to send or relay spam if you do.
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