Question Best practice email setup

[Fabian H]

Server operating system version

AlmaLinux 8.9 x86_64

Plesk version and microupdate number

Plesk Obsidian 18.0.58.2

Hi there,
Currently, all of my hostings are set up as follows:

DNS:
A: mail.domain.com -> domain.com
A: domain.com -> IP
MX: -> mail.domain.com

Autodiscovery enabled in plesk admin, pointing to the server's hostname.
Autodiscovery enabled within the mail settings of the domain.
SSL certificate (letsencrypt) set up for both, the server's hostname and the domain (for smtp and imap as well).

I recommend my clients setting up their mail clients using autodiscovery (which loads the server hostname).
Now, one of my clients (a former system administrator) wants to enforce the usage of the domain's name for autodiscovery. He don't want to type in the websites domain

So, what are your thoughts about that? What is the best way to configure that setup (server and client side)? Is it better to use the the hostname or the domain name?

 

[Kaspar]

So, what are your thoughts about that? What is the best way to configure that setup (server and client side)? Is it better to use the the hostname or the domain name?

There are pro's and con's to both. I use a similar setup a you, using the server hostname for autodiscovery. I've chosen to do this because it's creates less hassle in case a customer hosts his/her website elsewhere (with Wix or Squarespace for example) but still uses email on my server. Because then the domain name itself cannot be used for email access (not easily anyway).

The downside to using the hostname for email access is that if you ever migrate your customer to another server with a different hostname, they have to re-add their email again. (Same goes for when a customer switches to another provider, but to me that's their concern).

 

[Fabian H]

There are pro's and con's to both. I use a similar setup a you, using the server hostname for autodiscovery. I've chosen to do this because it's creates less hassle in case a customer hosts his/her website elsewhere (with Wix or Squarespace for example) but still uses email on my server. Because then the domain name itself cannot be used for email access (not easily anyway).

The downside to using the hostname for email access is that if you ever migrate your customer to another server with a different hostname, they have to re-add their email again. (Same goes for when a customer switches to another provider, but to me that's their concern).

Alright, I see, thanks for your thoughts!
Is there a way to modify autodiscovery only for one specific domain? So, that as my client wants it, the domain's name is used within autodiscovery?
Thanks!

 

[manni]

I do not think

Alright, I see, thanks for your thoughts!
Is there a way to modify autodiscovery only for one specific domain? So, that as my client wants it, the domain's name is used within autodiscovery?
Thanks!

I am not sure if I understand this correctly but if I go to outlook and use autodiscovery for EXAMPLE.COM email addresses, it will try to connect to AUTODISCOVER.EXAMPLE.COM, and this is enabled by going to the mail settings of the domain and activating the checkbox for automatic configuration.
So this is the domain configuration, or am I wrong here?

 

[Kaspar]

Is there a way to modify autodiscovery only for one specific domain? So, that as my client wants it, the domain's name is used within autodiscovery?

There is no functionality to do this directly in Plesk. It's been a while since I last worked with autodiscovery, I don't remember all the details. But if I am not mistaken your customer can probably do this himself (or you can do it for your customer). Autodiscovery is based on XML files which contains all the configuration for a particular domain for use with a email client. Different email clients fetch different URL's and XML files autodiscovery. You'll find some more information here: https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/...does-mail-autodiscover-function-work-in-Plesk

So in theory you can create your own autodiscover xml files for a domain with the specific configuration. If you Google around a bit I am sure you'll find plenty of examples for XML files or other tools to help you accomplish this.