Mail delivery failure due to email not being authenticated with at least one of SPF or DKIM

[DuncanM1]

Usually I have no issues with sending an email on my Apple Mail using [MOD EDIT: Personal details] however today I got this message from the postmaster@virginmedia.com:

"

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.

You sent the following message, but this message could not be delivered to all recipients:

======================================================================
Subject: Fwd: Nordic Walk Tuesday 30th May
--Apple-Mail=_5B147A70-5E60-4B2D-9E46-D10AC0F04BA4 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8  Hi Norman,  The message below from me to you failed with an error message that I = will have to look into (regarding authenticating with at least one of = SPF or
======================================================================

The following addresses failed:


[MOD EDIT: Personal details]
   host gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com [142.250.102.27]
   SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data:
   550-5.7.26 This mail is unauthenticated, which poses a security risk to the
   550-5.7.26 sender and Gmail users, and has been blocked. The sender must
   550-5.7.26 authenticate with at least one of SPF or DKIM. For this message,
   550-5.7.26 DKIM checks did not pass and SPF check for [gmail.com] did not pass
   550-5.7.26 with ip: [212.54.57.97]. The sender should visit
   550-5.7.26  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126#authentication for
   550 5.7.26 instructions on setting up authentication. c1-20020aa7df01000000b005149e94233csi1136040edy.130 - gsmtp
Reporting-MTA: dns; smtpq2.tb.ukmail.iss.as9143.net

Action: failed
Final-Recipient: [MOD EDIT: Personal details]
Status: 5.0.0
Remote-MTA: dns; gmail-smtp-in.l.google.com
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 550-5.7.26 This mail is unauthenticated, which poses a security risk to the
550-5.7.26 sender and Gmail users, and has been blocked. The sender must
550-5.7.26 authenticate with at least one of SPF or DKIM. For this message,
550-5.7.26 DKIM checks did not pass and SPF check for [gmail.com] did not pass
550-5.7.26 with ip: [212.54.57.97]. The sender should visit
550-5.7.26  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126#authentication for
550 5.7.26 instructions on setting up authentication. c1-20020aa7df01000000b005149e94233csi1136040edy.130 - gsmtp

From: [MOD EDIT: Personal details]

Subject: Fwd: Nordic Walk Tuesday 30th May

Date: 29 May 2023 at 11:58:09 BST

To: [MOD EDIT: Personal details]

"

I have looked into this and it seems to be well above the level I should need to get involved with and also requires admin level access to add an TXT SPF record to the (virginmedia?) DNS??? Or DKIM to??? I'm confused because I couldn't see a clear workflow. https://support.google.com/a/answer/10685031?sjid=8199761082590943220-EU and https://support.google.com/a/answer/10684623 

Apple Mail server settings are for the outgoing mail account to be virginmedia for gmail and icloud. This all seems to work ok. I resent the message using [MOD EDIT: Personal details] and have not received a bounce message.

So what's gone wrong in this instance? Does some additional authentication need to be added at the virginmedia server end? It wasn't clear if something needed to happen at the gmail end - the discussion seemed to be enterprise level and regarding sending large emailshots to customers (https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126#).

[Graham_A]

Have a look at this thread:

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Email/Sending-email-using-your-own-domain/td-p/3716147

[ravenstar68 · Accepted solution]

Looking at the bounce message, it looks as if you are trying to send mail for your gmail address via virgin media's smtp servers.

If that's the case - don't.

If you are using a domain you don't control such as gmail.com or icloud.com you MUST set up your email client as instructed by the relevant email provider.

If you are using a domain that you own then the link provided by @Graham_A provides some info on sending using your own domain, but it does not appear relevant given the domain shown in the bounce message.

Edit - If you are setting up a gmail account then Apple mail usually is able to set this up for you.  You might need to go into the settings for the specific account and make sure that each account ONLY sends using ithe correct SMTP server.

[Graham_A]

@ravenstar68 I first read the opening post before the moderator redacted the personal information which is why I thought that a personal domain was being used based on the unredacted email address.

[ravenstar68]

I do wish the moderators would leave the domain in when redacting an address.

The line I was looking at was this:

DKIM checks did not pass and SPF check for [gmail.com] did not pass

Note that the domain in the SPF check is usually that of the sending domain.

Tim

[DuncanM1]

Thanks @ravenstar68 I've changed the gmail and icloud email to use their own respective smtp servers. I don't know how it got assigned to virginmedia's smtp servers.

[Travis_M]

Hi @DuncanM1 

Thanks for your response

Great to hear you've been able to sort this now, I hope you have a great day and please do be sure to contact us if you ever require any further assistance.

Regards