SPF Records and Sending Email from Bullhorn

Overview

The information below is applicable to Bullhorn ATS and Bullhorn Back Office.

Bullhorn has the ability to send email on your behalf. Some email providers will look for a Sender Policy Framework (SPF Record) to verify that the email they are receiving is an email sent by the actual sender and not a forgery sent by a spammer or otherwise unsavory character.

This article will cover the following topics:

FAQ

Where can I find the current SPF record?

You can find the current SPF record by downloading SPF record.txt.

Why does Bullhorn no longer provide IPs for SPF purposes?

We no longer provide the IPs for SPF records due to character limitations imposed on SPF records and because these hosts do not have static IPs. This allows clients to enter SPF records for other applications and saves them from having to update their SPF records every time a Bullhorn mail host's IP address changes

What are DKIM Records?

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email security standard designed to ensure that emails aren't altered in transit between the sending and recipient servers.

  • DKIM uses public-key cryptography to sign emails with a private key as it leaves a sending server.

What are DMARC Records?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) makes it easier for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to prevent malicious email practices, such as domain spoofing.

  • This allows for email senders to specify how to handle emails that aren’t authenticated using SPF of DKIM.

What do I need to do to update my records?

Updating email records is usually done through your domain host. You may need to contact your IT or domain host support for assistance in performing this update.

A general guide on how to perform these updates is listed below.

  • There are a wide variety of domain hosts and, as a result, these steps may not match your particular domain. Please contact your domain support for guidance on how to perform this update.

​How can I tell if my email records are up to date?

The best method is to contact your domain host and ask but you can also use SPF Record testing tools such as MXToolbox or SPF Surveyor to see if you have Bullhorn listed in your records. The tools are provided by a third party and should be used in conjunction with assistance from your IT Support.

Updating Your DMARC Records

The steps below are general, and may not apply to your specific domain host. If you need further clarity or assistance in the steps below, please contact your domain registrar support.

  1. Log into the administrative section of your domain.
  2. Locate the DNS Records update section in the admin tool.
    • If your configuration already has a value for _dmarc.yourdomain.com (where “yourdomain.com” represents your specific domain name), no additional changes are necessary.
    • If this value does not exist, create a new record of type TXT with the following values (replace “yourdomain.com” with your specific domain name:
      • Name: _dmarc.yourdomain.com
      • Contents: v=DMARC1; p=none;

Updating Your SPF Records

The below steps are general and may not match your specific domain host. If you need assistance in performing the below steps, you will need to contact your domain support.

  1. Log in to the administrative section of your domain.
  2. Locate the DNS Records update section in the admin tool.
  3. Create a TXT record containing the code in in this format: v=spf1 [YOUR EXISTING RECORDS HERE] include:_spf.bullhornmail.com ~all
  4. Save your changes.

If there is no existing TXT record then:

  1. Log in to the administrative section of your domain.
  2. Locate the DNS Records update section in the admin tool.
  3. Create a new TXT record in this format: v=spf1 include:_spf.bullhornmail.com ~all
  4. Save changes.

Enabling DKIM on Mass Mails

The below steps are general and may not match your specific domain host. If you need assistance in performing the below steps, you will need to contact your domain support.

In order to enable this, you’ll need to be using Bullhorn’s SPF record listed in this file.

Create a CNAME record

  1. To create a CNAME record, log in to your DNS Hosting Provider and locate the CNAME section in the admin tool.
    • Each hosting provider has a different interface, but this is typically found under DNS. Example: Click Manage > Click DNS > Add CNAME record.

  2. Format the CNAME record as follows, replacing mydomainname with your domain name:
    • Host: bh._domainkey.mydomainname.com
    • Points to: bh._domainkey.bullhornmail.com

  3. Contact Bullhorn Support and let us know you are ready to enable DKIM on mass mails to be DMARC compliant and we’ll complete the process on our end.