Email Routing
Valid for versions 110 through the latest version
Version:
110
Last modified: 2025 April 8
Looking for this interface?
Your hosting provider can enable or disable this interface in WHM's Feature Manager interface (WHM >> Home >> Packages >> Feature Manager).
Overview
This interface allows you to configure how the system routes a domain’s incoming mail. You can either allow the system to set the domain’s routing configuration, or you can set it yourself.
This interface uses a domain’s local mail exchanger (MX) entry to determine where to send mail for the domain. The MX entry contains a number that shows the priority of the mail exchanger. If a domain has more than one MX entry, the system selects the server with the lowest-numbered entry as the primary mail exchanger.
Configure Email Routing
- Misconfigured Email Routing settings can disrupt your domain’s ability to receive mail. If you are unsure which option to choose, contact your hosting provider.
- You or your hosting provider must configure the primary MX entry to point to the appropriate mail exchanger. If your hosting provider allows it, you can edit your domain’s MX entries in cPanel’s Zone Editor interface (cPanel » Home » Domains » Zone Editor).
To configure how your server routes mail for a domain, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to cPanel’s Email Routing interface (cPanel » Home » Email » Email Routing).
- Select the desired domain from the menu. If only one domain exists on your cPanel account, the system selects it automatically.
- To configure email routing for your domain, select one of the following settings under the Configure Email Routing header, then click Change:
Automatically configure email routing
To allow the system to automatically set the domain’s email-routing configuration, select the Automatically Detect Configuration setting. This is the recommended setting.
When you select this setting, the system sets the appropriate email-routing configuration:
- Local Mail Exchanger — The system selects this option if the lowest-numbered mail exchanger points to an Internet Protocol (IP) address on this server.
- Backup Mail Exchanger — The system selects this option if the lowest-numbered mail exchanger points to an IP address not on this server.
- Remote Mail Exchanger — The system selects this option if no mail exchangers point to an IP address on this server.
- This setting only detects the local zone-file entry and does not perform an actual DNS lookup. If the MX entry in the local zone file does not resolve, the system will not automatically detect the domain’s Email Routing configuration.
- The system does not automatically change this setting after you update it.
Manually configure email routing
To manually configure email routing for your domain, select one of the following settings:
Local Mail Exchanger
When you select this setting, the server will always accept mail for the domain. The system will deliver mail to the local mailbox.
Backup Mail Exchanger
When you select this setting, the server will function as a backup mail exchanger. The system will hold mail for the domain until a lower-numbered mail exchanger becomes available.
Remote Mail Exchanger
When you select this setting, the server will not accept mail for the domain. The system will send all mail for the domain to the lowest-numbered mail exchanger.