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Proofpoint, Inc.

Cut Over Mail Flow Like A Pro

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This guide provides tips, tricks and links to key documentation explaining the steps that should be taken while cutting mail flow over to Proofpoint Essentials.

Prerequisite Steps
Prepare for your cutover by first following the tips in Set-up for Success: What to Do Prior to Mail Flow Cutover

 

Tip #1: Bookmark this Link!  

  • The following Proofpoint Essentials Data Center Information article is a quick reference tool that you will refer to often during mail flow cutover. Bookmark it and keep it open in another tab to expedite the process!

  • Proofpoint Essentials divides our customers among several instances to balance traffic and ensure high reliability. As an MSP you may have accounts on 1 or more of these instances.

  • To find out the instance on which you are currently logged in, read the first 3 characters in the URL after https://. Our US customers are typically on one of the following: US1, US2, US3, US4 and US5. Our European customers are typically on EU1. The service is the same regardless of the instance on which your account is hosted.  

Step #1: point the MX Record to Proofpoint Essentials  

Proofpoint Essentials works by redirecting email traffic via an MX Record entry. The following explains which MX destination you should include in the entry: 

Step #2: Check that your MX Record entry has propagated out to the internet 

Use any third party sites to verify your that MX Record has updated properly. A few sites we use include: 

  1. https://www.mxtoolbox.com 

  1. https://www.whatsmydns.net  

  • Change the drop down option to MX and put in your domain 

  • The added benefit of whatmydns.net is the fact that it queries multiple DNS servers all over the globe. 

  • This helps to confirm that your MX record has properly propagated out across the globe

 

Step #3: Test inbound mail flow 

Once both You have sufficiently verified that a good MX record propagation (we suggest checking two sites to be sure) it’s now time to test that inbound mail flow will route as intended. A few tips: 

  1. Test from Multiple Providers (ie Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, iCloud etc) 

  1. Send an inbound test message from as many of the above as you have access into. 

  • When sending an inbound message specify in the subject Test followed by the time you send the test message 

  • This allows you to see how quickly messages are being processed 

  1. What to do if your test emails aren’t coming through 

  • Search the logs for any of the email addresses you used in your testing 

  • Look for message statuses of Blocked or Deferred 

  • Look into the message details for additional information: Log Details