Domains and addresses
Orbit Mail runs on domains you own. Everything about them, the domain, its DNS records, who has which address, lives in Mission Control, and Orbit Mail picks up a change within about a minute.
Add a domain
- In Mission Control, open Mail, then Domains, and add the domain. You need to be an owner or admin of the account.
- The domain's page lists the records to publish at your DNS host, each with a copy button.
- Publish them and press Check records. The domain becomes active as soon as the ownership record is found; the others are checked and reported, but don't hold the domain back, so you can set up addresses before you move any mail.
The records
| Record | Name | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | _orbit-mail.example.com TXT | orbit-mail-verification=<token> |
| MX | example.com | 10 <relay hostname> |
| SPF | example.com TXT | v=spf1 a:<relay hostname> ~all |
| DKIM | <selector>._domainkey.example.com TXT | v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=<key> |
| DMARC | _dmarc.example.com TXT | v=DMARC1; p=<policy>; rua=mailto:<address> |
Copy the exact values from the domain's page; the relay hostname, DKIM selector and key come from Orbit's relay, or from yours. A domain can have only one SPF record, so if other services send as your domain, add their include: to the same record. Moving from another provider? The order that keeps mail arriving.
Orbit's relay or yours
Every domain uses Orbit's relay unless you choose otherwise. To run your own, choose it on the domain's page and enter its hostname (and the DKIM key it signs with); the MX and SPF records switch to your server. The encryption is the same either way. Self-host the relay
People, mailboxes and aliases
Mail is set up per person, under Mail, then Users:
- Mailboxes. A person can have several, each its own inbox in Orbit Mail. One is their primary, and its address is their email in every Orbit app.
- Aliases are more addresses, on any of your domains, that deliver into a mailbox. Make primary swaps an alias with the mailbox's address, and the mail stays where it is.
- Usernames. An owner or admin can move someone's sign-in name onto your domain, even if they joined with a Gmail address. It takes effect the next time they sign in, when they type their password once; the password itself doesn't change.
- Display names are one per person, and show on every mailbox they own and in every Orbit app.
Shared mailboxes
For addresses nobody signs in to, such as support@ or billing@, in a business account. Under Mail, then Shared mailboxes, add one and its members. Every member can read and file its mail; give Send as to those who should reply from its address. It appears in each member's mailbox list in Orbit Mail. Mail is sealed to every member's key as it arrives, so someone added later reads the mail from then on.
Removing a domain
Removing a domain needs its name typed to confirm. Its mailboxes are removed with it and its aliases deleted. A domain whose records stop resolving isn't removed: its mail stays.