How to Set Up DKIM for Your CRServers Hosting

DKIM is one of the three key email authentication records — alongside SPF and DMARC — that mailbox providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo use to decide whether to trust and deliver your email to the inbox. This guide explains what DKIM is and how to enable it for your domain.

What is DKIM?

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) works by attaching a digital signature to every email your domain sends. This signature is generated using a private key stored securely on our mail server, and can be verified by the receiving mail server using a matching public key published in your domain's DNS.

If the signature checks out, the receiving server knows two things: the message really was sent by your domain's mail server, and its content wasn't altered in transit. This significantly reduces the chance of your email being flagged as spam or spoofed, and is a requirement for reliable delivery to providers like Gmail.

Note: DKIM configured here only signs mail sent through our local mail server (i.e. mailboxes created in your hosting control panel). If your domain's email is hosted with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or another external provider, you need to enable DKIM from within that provider's admin console instead — this DKIM key won't apply to mail sent from their servers.

How to Set Up DKIM

  1. Log in to your hosting control panel at https://iwx41.crservers.com:2443/siteworx/, or go to your Client Area, open your hosting service, and click Hosting Control Panel to log in automatically without a password.
  2. From the main menu, go to Administration > Mail Options > DKIM. This opens the DKIM Management page.
  3. Click Add next to your domain.
  4. You'll be asked whether the key should be created in Testing mode:
    • Select No if this is a live, active domain that is already sending real email. This is the correct choice for almost every domain.
    • Select Yes only if you want to generate the key and DNS record first, verify it, and enable enforcement afterward. Testing mode publishes a t=y flag telling receiving servers not to strictly enforce DKIM failures yet.
  5. Click Enable. The control panel will automatically generate a public/private key pair and publish the public key as a DNS TXT record for your domain.
Important: If you selected Testing = Yes when creating the key, come back once you've confirmed everything works and edit the record to remove testing mode. A key left in testing mode indefinitely won't get full credit for DKIM alignment from strict DMARC policies.

How to Verify It's Working

  • In your control panel, go to Hosting Features > Domains > DNS Records and confirm you see a new TXT record at default._domainkey.yourdomain.com containing a long v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=... value.
  • Send a test email to a Gmail address, open it, click the three-dot menu, and select Show original. Look for DKIM: PASS in the results.

Common Issues

  • DKIM shows as "neutral" or missing entirely: DNS changes can take up to 24 hours to propagate fully — wait and re-test before assuming something is wrong.
  • Mail sent through an external provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365) doesn't show DKIM: PASS: this is expected — you must configure DKIM inside that provider's own admin panel, since it is signing the mail, not our servers.
  • You see an extra TXT record at _domainkey.yourdomain.com (without "default"): this is a normal placeholder record automatically created by the platform and does not need any action.

Need Help?

If you'd like us to double-check your DKIM setup, or you're using an external mail provider and aren't sure how to proceed, open a support ticket and we'll be glad to help.

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