IONOS by 1&1 step-by-step domain authentication

This article is meant for those who already successfully registered a domain with IONOS by 1&1.

1. Head to the Account settings page and click the Domains tab.

2. Under Sending domains, click Add domain.

3. Enter an email address that includes your paid domain, which will be used to send campaigns. Click Save.

4. Check your inbox for the verification email and follow the steps to verify the email address. 

5. Once the domain has been added, click on the Authenticate button. A window will appear containing Name and Value fields your DKIM and SPF records. Copy these fields and keep this page open.

1. A popup will appear, prompting you to start the authentication process. Click Continue.

This tool will scan your domain, and detect which provider is the host. 

2. Once the provider has been detected, follow the instructions to connect to your account. You will need to use your login credentials to log into your hosting provider.

Or, you can choose Show added DNS records to manually view and add the records. Keep in mind, if you use a social login (such as Gmail) to login into your hosting provider, you will need to choose the manual authentication option, as this type of login is not supported.

3. Next, follow the steps to authorize MailerLite to configure your DNS and add the necessary records.

4. Once the DNS configuration is successful, you will be redirected back to MailerLite. Refresh the page to see the updated status of your domain.

The domain may show as authenticated right away, or it can take up to 24 hours. In this case, you will see Pending next to your domain. 

If you would like to access the DNS records and authenticate manually, switch to the Manual tab.

1. Log in to your IONOS account and select the option Domains & SSL.

2. Search for your domain and under Actions click on DNS.

1. Click Add record.

2. Select the option CNAME.

If you are using the Classic MailerLite, instructions for adding the DKIM record can be found here.

3. In the Host Name section, enter the value that is above the record value. It will look like litesrv._domainkey.yourdomain.com - however the exact value can be found in your MailerLite account under Account Settings > Domains > Authenticate or by simply clicking here.

4. In the Points to section, add the value located in the text box which can be copied directly from MailerLite.

5. Click Save.

1. Click again on Add record.

2. Select the option SPF(TXT).

3. In the Host name field, enter @.

4. In the Value field, paste the SPF value that is shown in your MailerLite account.

5. Click Save.

🛠️ Need help? For solutions to common issues, check our guide Troubleshooting: Domain authentication.

This article is meant for those who already successfully registered a domain with IONOS by 1&1.

1. Head to the Account settings page and click the Domains tab. Or simply click here.

2. Under Sending domains, click Add domain.

3. Enter the email address you wish to use to send emails from and click Send verification email.

4. Once you receive the confirmation email, click on the Confirm my email address link.

5. You will see a success message confirming the domain verification.

1. Log in to your IONOS account and select the option Domains & SSL.

2. Search for your domain and under Actions click on DNS.

1. Click Add record.

2. Select the option TXT.

3. In the Host Name section, enter the Name value from Mailerlite. It will look something like ml._domainkey.yourdomain.com - however the exact value can be found in your MailerLite account under Domains > Sending Domains or by simply clicking here.

1. In the Value section, add the value showing in Mailerlite which can be copied and pasted directly.

2. Click Save.

1. Click again on Add record

2. Select the option SPF(TXT)

3. In the Host name field, enter @

4. In the Value field, paste the SPF value that is shown in your Mailerlite account.

5. Click Save.

Important: It can take the servers up to 24 hours to completely update this information, and it is common to see errors appear before the records are accepted. Most of the time, however, the DKIM record is approved and updated in a matter of minutes. If the records both have not been approved after 24 hours, check the following:

DKIM record is not approved

If the DKIM record fails:

• Check the Host field value: The Host field may only accept either litesrv._domainkey (without your domain) or litesrv._domainkey.yourdomain.com, so try both.

• Check the record type: The DKIM record should be CNAME type.

SPF record is not approved

There are 3 reasons why an SPF record may not be approved:

SPF records don’t match

• Check the Host field. 

• Check if the Value field on your DNS page is exactly the same as the one on your MailerLite Domains page. They have to be identical as they are case-sensitive. The record won’t be approved otherwise. 

You can use this site to compare both texts.

SPF Name/Host record field must be left empty

Some hosting providers have settings that don’t allow the domain as the Name or Host field for any record. 

Use ‘@’ as the Name or Host field for the TXT record or leave it empty. 

If you see that there is a common Name or Host field being used for the rest of the records in the DNS page of your domain, try using that one.

More than one SPF record was found

It’s only possible to have one SPF record on your DNS zone. If you have more than one, they need to be merged.

In the image below, there are two different TXT records for SPF. Both of these need to be merged into one single record.

Fortunately, MailerLite does this for you after you click once on the green Check DNS records button. This allows the site to check and update the SPF record’s Value with the merged version after clicking on it. The updated SPF value will be available on the same pop-up page.

At first, you will notice that the SPF value record will look something like this:

v=spf1 a mx include:_spf.mlsend.com ?all

After clicking on the green Check DNS records button and receiving the error message that more than 1 SPF record has been found, refresh the page, click on the Authenticate button, will likely see that there is a new merged value for the SPF record. 

You can confirm this by examining it. The merge was successful if the text includes more than one include.

An example of a merged SPF record from MailerLite and Outlook:

v=spf1 a mx include:_spf.mlsend.com include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

For additional troubleshooting steps, see our guide on how to verify, authenticate and align your domain.

If you have any questions, contact our friendly support team and we will gladly assist you.