How to add google apps MX records in cPanel

What is MX record

A mail exchanger record (MX record) is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System ( DNS) that specifies a mail server [hana-code-insert name=’large rectangle’ /]designated for accepting and sending email messages on behalf of a designated domain and a preference value used to prioritize mail delivery if multiple mail servers are available. The set of MX records of a domain name specifies how email should be routed with SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

Changing MX records in the DNS server is necessary to point all the mails to the designated servers. If using google applications either standard edition or premier addition and using google to host the emails, change of MX records is required to be set to MX records of google. In this article we will discuss about simple steps to change google apps MX records in CPanel hosting domain control panel

cPanel is a Unix based web hosting control panel that provides a graphical interface and automation tools designed to simplify the process of hosting a web site. cPanel is one of the most popular domain management tool used in Linux server website hosting worldwide.

Simple steps to modify google apps MX records in cPanel

• Log in to the cPanel administrative console. To log in, go to http://your-domain-name:2083, replacing your-domain-name with the full name of your domain or go to http://your-domain-name/cPanel
• From the Mail section of the cPanel main page select the last icon named MX Entry.
• In the Email Routing box, select Remote Mail Exchanger and click Change.
• Add an MX record for the primary email server in the Destination text box.
• The primary email server for Google Apps is the first server in the table of Google Apps email servers. Enter the fully qualified server name, such as ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM.
• Set the priority for the MX record.
• MX records with a lower number have higher priority than MX records with a higher number. To use the new email server as the primary server, give it the lowest possible priority number 0
• Click Add New Record to save this setting
• To add MX records for the additional servers, repeat the above-mentioned steps for those servers.
• The MX records required for google apps is give at this link http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=174125
• Give all backup servers a lower priority than the primary email server.
• Delete any existing MX records, or lower their priority. Lowering of priority will be beneficial as it can be used later in case of any problem. Later, once you have tested your service and confirmed mail flow, you can delete these records to ensure that mail flows through the new mail server(s).
• To delete an MX record or change its priority, click the Delete or Edit link in the row of the MX records table.

By following the above simple steps you can configure google apps MX records in cPanel with ease