How do I set up DNS for inbound emails?

May 14, 2016 2.5k views
DigitalOcean Email DNS Node.js MEAN Ubuntu
planetceres
By:
planetceres

I would like to parse inbound emails in a Node.js app on an Ubuntu 14.04.4 x64 Droplet, so I'm trying to create an email address for my app's domain that can post to a webhook. How do I create an email address like name@example.com (or name@subdomain.example.com)?

For parsing, I am using Mailin.io, and following Mailin's documentation I have changed my Domain records on Digital Ocean as follows:

MX    10           subdomain.example.com
A     subdomain    [ip address of my droplet]

I have the webhook set up at http://www.example.com/webhook, and if I post using curl, I get the expected response, but I can't figure out how to post to the webhook via email.

Am I going about this the right way?

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1 Answer
PatrickDO August 11, 2016

Hi @planetceres,

Great question! Before we proceed, perhaps give this a look over:

That said, it's something we have a ton of tutorials on, for example:

Before you go ahead and do that, consider perhaps hosting email at an email provider, and using your droplet to poll the account (through imap, pop3, or an api) instead, it may turn out to be less heartache for you in the long run. Hope this helps, and let us know if you have any more questions!

Why You May Not Want To Run Your Own Mail Server
by Mitchell Anicas
When setting up a web site or application under your own domain, it is likely that you will also want a mail server to handle the domain's incoming and outgoing email. While it is possible to run your own mail server, it is often not the best option for a variety of reasons. This guide will cover many of the reasons that you may not want to run your own mail server, and offer a few alternatives.
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