Louhi: DKIM, SPF and DMARC setup

Before you start

This guide covers mail sent from a Louhi web hotel. Louhi says its DKIM steps apply only if you use the web hotel's email service. Louhi's instructions are in Finnish, so this guide gives Louhi's Finnish menu and field names, with a translation in parentheses.

You work in two places:

• cPanel, the web hotel's control panel, where you create the DKIM key.
• Louhi Konsoli at https://kauppa.louhi.fi/console, where you add DNS records. You sign in with your customer ID, which starts with id.

Louhi Konsoli can change the DNS records of example.com only if example.com uses Louhi's nameservers. If it uses other nameservers, add the records at the DNS host those nameservers belong to. Louhi says changes usually take effect within about an hour.

Turn on DKIM

You create the key in cPanel and publish it in Louhi Konsoli as a TXT record under the selector default.

1. In cPanel, open Email Deliverability from the Email menu.
2. Create the DKIM key for example.com in the Email Deliverability view.
3. From the DKIM record cPanel shows, copy the default._domainkey part of the Name field and the whole Value field.
4. In Louhi Konsoli, go to Palvelut (Services) → Verkkotunnukset (Domains), click example.com, open DNS-tietueet (DNS records) and click Lisää uusi (Add new).
5. Fill in the fields:
   • Tietue (Record): default._domainkey
   • Tyyppi (Type): TXT
   • Osoite (Address): the public key you copied from cPanel
6. Wait a while, then run a new test in Email Deliverability. example.com should show Valid.

Sign with your own domain

Reports show Louhi mail with a DKIM signature from a domain other than example.com. DMARC counts DKIM only when the signing domain matches example.com. Louhi's steps publish the key under example.com, at default._domainkey.example.com. Publish it as in Turn on DKIM, and DKIM can align.

Check the DKIM key

The Email Deliverability view in cPanel warns when the SPF or DKIM record of example.com is not in order.

1. In Louhi Konsoli, open DNS-tietueet for example.com. The Osoite of the TXT record default._domainkey must hold the whole Value that cPanel shows for the DKIM record.
2. If the value is wrong, replace it with Muokkaa (Edit) on that record instead of adding a second one. Louhi says to use Muokkaa when a new value replaces an old one.
3. Run a new test in Email Deliverability. example.com should show Valid.

SPF

For mail sent through the Louhi web hotel's server, Louhi gives this record:

v=spf1 include:_spf.louhi.net ~all

A domain may have only one SPF record. If other servers also send as example.com, add each of them to the same record. Louhi's example is a domain whose mail is in Google Workspace and whose website, hosted at Louhi, has a form that sends mail from the web hotel's server:

v=spf1 include:_spf.louhi.net include:_spf.google.com ~all

Louhi reminds you to include every server that sends mail as example.com, such as your internet provider's SMTP service and network printers.

To add the record in Louhi Konsoli, go to Palvelut → Verkkotunnukset, click example.com, open DNS-tietueet and click Lisää uusi. Enter @ in Tietue, choose TXT in Tyyppi, and enter the SPF value in Osoite. If example.com already has an SPF record, change it with Muokkaa instead of adding a second one.

Publish the DMARC record

You add the DMARC record in Louhi Konsoli the same way as the SPF record: _dmarc in Tietue, TXT in Tyyppi, and the policy in Osoite.

A domain may have only one DMARC record. If example.com already has a DMARC record, it sends reports to your reporting address. Do not add a second record.

Louhi's examples add adkim=s; aspf=s;, which Louhi calls strict checks, and Louhi says both settings are optional. Louhi suggests starting with p=none or p=quarantine and moving to p=reject over time.

Check it worked

1. In the Email Deliverability view in cPanel, example.com shows Valid.
2. Most mailbox providers send one report a day. Reports from the next 24 to 48 hours show whether DKIM and SPF align for Louhi. The DKIM table on Mailmoni's DNS tab lists the selector default once a report includes it.

Louhi's pages: Email Deliverability, Sähköpostiviestien lähettäjän todennus SPF-tietueella, DMARC-tietue and Verkkotunnuksen ohjaaminen.