To allow DMARCwise to receive and process the DMARC reports, you’ll need to create (or update) a DNS record for your domain.

From the dashboard:

  • Choose a domain name from the list or add a new one.
  • Navigate to the DMARC tab to start the setup process.

Manual vs Hosted

When setting up DMARC with DMARCwise, you have two configuration options:

  • Manual lets you manage the DMARC record yourself through your DNS provider by creating a TXT record: all changes to the DMARC configuration will require you to edit the DNS record manually.
  • Hosted lets you delegate the DNS record management to us with a CNAME record. You’ll then be able to manage the DMARC configuration from the dashboard, without going through your DNS provider for every change.

If you’d like to simplify your DMARC management and manage the configuration from our web dashboard, choose the Hosted option. If you don’t mind editing DNS records manually or have other constraints around DNS management, choose the Manual option. There are no technical drawbacks in choosing the hosted option.

⚠️ The Hosted DMARC feature is not available on the free plan.

Manual configuration

You’ll need to create a DNS record with these settings:

  • Record type: TXT
  • Name: _dmarc (or _dmarc.{your domain})
  • TTL: 3600

The value of the record is different for every domain so it will be provided in the dashboard.

If you already have a DMARC record, we’ll try to keep everything that was in it and only change the rua tag, adding an email address URI so that DMARC reports are delivered to DMARCwise.

Make sure to edit the existing record or remove any existing DMARC records before creating the new one. Double check that you don’t have more than one DMARC record, as this would be an invalid configuration that prevents DMARC from working.

How do I add the DNS record?

The exact steps depend on the DNS provider that you’re using, which is often provided by the company where you buy and renew the domain (the “registrar”).

Here are some tips:

  • Find out whether you’re using the DNS server provided by your domain registrar or an external service (like Cloudflare, Vercel, etc.).
  • Look for the page where you manage DNS records, it may be called “DNS records”, “DNS management” or “DNS zone”.
  • If you already have a _dmarc record, find it and update its value.
  • If you don’t already have _dmarc record, create a new record with the above settings.

If you’re unsure about something or you’re stuck, feel free to contact us.

Hosted configuration

To enable hosted mode, choose the Hosted tab in the DMARC setup box of the dashboard. Click Switch to hosted mode to load the existing DMARC configuration (if any) and start the onboarding process.

You’ll be asked to create a DNS record with these settings:

  • Record type: CNAME
  • Name: _dmarc (or _dmarc.{your domain})
  • TTL: 3600

The value of the record is different for every domain so it will be provided in the dashboard. It will look something like this: {token}._dmarc.dmarcwise.net.

The CNAME record type lets you alias the DMARC record subdomain so that it’s served by DMARCwise through our authoritative DNS server.

If you already have a DMARC record, you may not be able to change the type of the existing record, so you’ll need to remove the record and create a new one.

Double check that you don’t have more than one DMARC record, as this would be an invalid configuration that prevents DMARC from working.

Validating the domain

In the dashboard, click the Validate button to verify that the DMARC record is correctly set up.

If you see a message that tells you to try again later, it means that our system isn’t seeing the record (yet). DNS records are cached, so you sometimes need to wait a few minutes or hours for DMARCwise to be able to see the updated record.

You can also leave the dashboard and we’ll try to validate the domain automatically in the background. You’ll receive an email from us as soon as we detect the DNS record.