Setting up Cedros email on your domain

Set up Cedros to receive mail for addresses on your own domain, such as hello@example.com. You will choose the mail domain, prepare the first address, publish the required DNS records, and test both incoming mail and outgoing replies.

This guide is for Cedros-hosted email. If your mailbox should stay in Google Workspace, use Choosing Cedros email or Google Workspace and connect that account instead. Connecting your website domain to Cedros does not, by itself, move its email.

Prepare the domain and mail service

Before starting, confirm:

• The intended mail domain. For hello@example.com, the mail domain is example.com. Use a subdomain only if you want it in the actual address, such as hello@support.example.com.
• Settings access. You can manage the site's mail setup, or someone with that access is helping you.
• DNS access. You or your administrator can update the domain's active DNS provider. This may be different from the company where you bought the domain.
• A ready mail service. On a self-managed installation, the server administrator must have configured the native mail service and its public mail hostname. Creating a domain in Cedros does not install a missing mail server.
• A plan for existing mail. List the current addresses, aliases, shared access, and messages you need to keep. Keep the old service available until you have verified the move.
• Outgoing delivery. Arrange the sending-service setup as well as incoming delivery. Native mail uses Amazon SES for outbound delivery; inbox setup can progress before outbound sending is ready.

If this domain already receives mail elsewhere, agree on the switch with your mail administrator before creating the mail domain or enabling DNS automation. Cedros can publish records through an available managed DNS service or a configured Cloudflare connection, and can activate incoming-mail routing once the mail service and an address are ready. Do not assume there will always be a final manual MX edit.

Changing MX records changes where future incoming mail goes; it does not copy old messages. Prepare every address that needs to receive mail, preserve the existing DNS values, and plan any import before switching live traffic. Do not combine two providers' MX records expecting a copy in each inbox.

Choose your mail domain

1. Open Settings → Site → Mail.
2. If setup is incomplete, find Set up mail. Its steps are Choose your mail domain, Add DNS records at your registrar, Create your first address, and the optional Bring your old mail over.
3. Under Choose your mail domain, enter the domain in Mail domain. Enter example.com, not hello@example.com or https://example.com.
4. Select Create mail domain. Read the result and confirm that Cedros shows the intended domain before proceeding.

The suggested domain is a starting point; check it against the addresses you actually want. Your website might use www.example.com while your mail addresses use example.com.

If Mail domain and Mail service cards already appear, setup may already be running. Check the existing domain and status instead of trying to recreate it. Where Manage domain is available, verify the selected domain before inspecting its records or addresses.

The setup flow follows service state. You can leave and return without restarting the whole process. A pending or failed step needs attention to the reported cause, not another copy of the same domain.

Prepare your first address

The setup list shows DNS before the first address, but its step headings can be opened individually. After the domain exists, you can open Create your first address to prepare the destination while incoming DNS is still pending. This is useful when you need the mailbox ready before changing mail routing.

1. Open Create your first address.
2. In Address (@example.com), enter only the part before the @, such as hello. Confirm that the domain shown beside the field is correct.
3. Optionally enter a Display name, such as “Example support.” This changes the friendly name, not the address itself.
4. Select Create address. Read any provisioning or error message and wait for the address to become active.
5. Confirm that the first-address step recognizes an address on the intended domain. A successful save followed by a provisioning state is not yet proof that the mailbox can receive mail.

This first setup address is a shared mailbox. Do not use a teammate's existing personal address just to get through setup. Once mail is running, use Team → Mail addresses and New address for additional shared addresses, and check the personal addresses created for your teammates. Follow Creating personal and shared email addresses for address setup, aliases, and access.

If you are moving an existing service, confirm the required addresses, aliases, and access before the mail-routing switch. If you cannot complete that preparation with the controls available, have the administrator finish the migration setup before directing live mail to Cedros.

Publish and verify the DNS records

Open Add DNS records at your registrar. The heading describes the task; make the changes wherever the domain's authoritative DNS is actually hosted.

If Cedros says The mail server has not connected yet, ask the server administrator to finish service setup. Wait to switch MX until the mail server and destination addresses are ready. Waiting for DNS propagation cannot repair a missing mail service.

Use the records generated for your domain and installation. Mail hostnames, IP addresses, and authentication values are not interchangeable between sites.

1. Review the displayed record type, name or host, value, and any priority and TTL. Read each record's purpose so you know whether it routes incoming mail or supports sending and authentication.
2. If DNS automation is available, follow its status and resolve any reported connection problem. On self-managed sites, Connect Cloudflare, Reconnect Cloudflare, or Open Cloudflare setup may appear. Copy all records is available with that guidance if you need to enter them manually.
3. For manual setup, add or update the displayed records at your DNS provider. Use the exact values and the provider's format for root and subdomain names. Do not erase unrelated website or service records.
4. Make the incoming MX change only as part of the agreed switch. Confirm the mail hostname resolves to the correct server; get its actual address from Cedros or the installation administrator rather than guessing it.
5. Return to Cedros and select Check records. Read the results for individual records and the current step status.
6. Once setup has moved to the normal Mail domain card, use Recheck DNS for another check. Its ⋯ menu includes Show DNS records when the records are collapsed.

For Cloudflare, the mail hostname must use DNS only, so SMTP connections reach the mail server. Cloudflare's email troubleshooting guidance explains the distinction between an MX record and the hostname it points to.

See Connecting Cloudflare to manage your DNS for connection setup, or Setting up a domain with another DNS provider for entering records manually.

For record-by-record instructions and failed checks, use Understanding and verifying your email DNS records.

DNS changes are not always visible immediately. Allow for your provider's update time and the existing records' TTL, then check again. If a check keeps failing, compare the published value and reported error with the expected record rather than repeatedly changing correct values.

Inbound DNS verified confirms the required incoming-mail records. SES verified describes the separate sending-domain authentication. One can be ready while the other still needs work. Optional sending records do not necessarily block incoming mail, but their purpose still matters before you send.

Bring over existing mail if needed

The Bring your old mail over step is optional. It copies messages into a Cedros mailbox; it does not change where new messages are delivered.

If you need an import, select an active destination under Import into, choose the source under Where is the mail now?, and review the source-specific requirements before starting. Coordinate the import with the planned mail-routing switch. Do not assume an import copies contacts, calendars, every folder feature, or all settings from the old service.

If no import is needed, choose Skip this. An import marked Import started is still work in progress; check its eventual result and the messages in the destination. Do not retire the old service just because the job was accepted.

Once mail is running, use Team → Mail addresses → ⋯ → Import mail here… for the intended mailbox. Follow Importing existing email into Cedros for supported sources, progress, recovery, and checks before retiring the old service.

Finish outgoing delivery separately

Incoming setup can succeed before you can send a reply. Follow Setting up outgoing email delivery to connect Amazon SES, finish sending-domain authentication, resolve account restrictions, and verify the intended sender. On a managed site, follow the managed-service status and ask the person responsible for email to resolve any provider problem.

Check both domain authentication and the sending service. A domain showing SES verified does not prove that messages can reach recipients. Look for any SES outbound warning under Mail service, then complete the external send-and-reply test below. Changing incoming MX records does not resolve an outbound sending restriction.

Leave DMARC enforcement changes for a deliberate authentication review. The email DNS guide explains how to choose and verify that policy without disrupting other senders.

Test mail from outside Cedros

Use an independent address you control and ordinary test content:

1. Confirm that the intended mail domain and first address are ready. The normal Mail service card can show Incoming mail is working once the service is ready; treat that as a readiness signal, then test real delivery.
2. Send a new message from the independent address to your Cedros address, with a distinctive subject such as “Cedros domain setup test.”
3. Open Email → Inbox, or use Go to inbox if the setup flow offers it. Clear old searches, choose the relevant mailbox where a picker appears, and use All mail if Focus is hiding the test.
4. Open the received message and check the sender, recipient, subject, and body. If it is missing, check Junk and the current receiving service as well as the domain's DNS status.
5. Reply from the intended Cedros address. Confirm that the reply reaches the independent recipient and shows the correct sender.
6. Have an intended teammate verify access to the mailbox. Check other essential addresses and aliases before declaring a migration complete.

Mail service → Test delivery sends a test message within your Cedros mail service. Read its completed result. It checks local delivery to a mailbox; it does not test public incoming DNS or outgoing delivery through Amazon SES. Complete the external send-and-reply check above as well.

Once the web inbox can receive and reply, follow the setup guide for Apple Mail on Mac, iPhone or iPad, Outlook, or another mail app. This makes a later app-connection problem easier to isolate.

Resolve an incomplete setup

What you see	What to check
The mail server has not connected	Have the installation administrator finish the service and public-host configuration before switching MX.
Records are pending or failed	Check the active DNS provider, exact names and values, mail-host resolution, and any automation error.
DNS verifies, but the address is still provisioning	Check the address and mail-service status. Saving an address does not mean provisioning has completed.
Incoming works, but replies fail	Check outbound SES setup, sender authentication, provider restrictions, and the delivery error.
The external test reaches the old inbox	Check which MX records are currently published and whether cached records are still in use. Keep both services accessible during the planned transition.
The site cannot read mail-service state	Use Try again and report a persistent error. An unavailable status does not mean the configuration was erased.

For help, provide the site, intended domain and address, the step or record that failed, and the time of the external test. Include the status message without passwords or provider credentials. Collect diagnostics can help the installation administrator investigate; avoid restarting the mail service merely to clear a setup message, since restarting interrupts delivery.

Setup is complete when the correct domain routes mail to Cedros, the required addresses are active and accessible, incoming messages arrive, outgoing replies reach their recipients, and any required import has been checked.