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Ethio telecom

Set up a .et domain registered with Ethio telecom for uSend, in one click through Cloudflare or by adding the records in the Hosting Portal.

Most .et domains are registered with Ethio telecom, and their DNS stays there unless you move it: the nameservers are then ns1.telecom.net.et and ns2.telecom.net.et. You manage the domain in the Ethio telecom Hosting Portal at myportal.ethiotelecom.et. Menu labels change over time; if yours differ, look for the domain's Nameservers page and the DNS menu.

There are two ways to set the domain up for uSend:

  • Move the DNS to Cloudflare (recommended). Cloudflare's DNS is free, and uSend's Auto configure then adds every record in one click. The domain stays registered with Ethio telecom; only the nameservers change.
  • Keep the DNS at Ethio telecom and add the records yourself in the Hosting Portal.

Before you start

  1. Add the domain in uSend (Domains, or POST /domains). uSend shows the exact records for it, and the values are unique to your domain, so copy them from there.
  2. Write down the records the domain already has (website, email), so they keep working wherever the DNS ends up.
  1. Create a free account at Cloudflare and add your domain. Cloudflare scans the records it already has; check that your website and email records are in the list before you go on.
  2. Cloudflare shows two nameservers for the domain, such as albert.ns.cloudflare.com and addyson.ns.cloudflare.com. Yours may differ; use the ones it shows you.
  3. In the Ethio telecom Hosting Portal, open Domains, My Domains, choose the domain and open Nameservers in the Manage menu.
  4. Choose Use custom nameservers (enter below), put Cloudflare's two nameservers in Nameserver 1 and Nameserver 2, leave the others empty and press Change Nameservers.
  5. Wait until Cloudflare says the domain is active. The portal warns that changes can take up to 24 hours; it is often much faster.
  6. In uSend, open the domain and press Auto configure. Cloudflare asks you to approve uSend's records, adds them and sends you back, and uSend starts verifying.

Option 2: add the records in the Hosting Portal

Open DNS in the portal's top menu, choose the domain and add each record below with its type, name and value. Names are relative to your domain: enter usk3m9q2xa._domainkey, not the full name, and @ for the domain itself.

The records

uSend shows this set of records. Names are relative to your domain, acme.et in the example.

RecordNameTypeValue
DKIMusk3m9q2xa._domainkeyTXTv=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=MIIB... (long, unique to your domain)
Return path and SPF (uSend's relay)sendCNAMEsend.umta.et
Return path and SPF (Amazon SES)send-sesCNAMEsend-ses.umta.et
DMARC (recommended)_dmarcTXTv=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected];
Receiving (only if you enabled it)@MXthe host uSend shows, priority 10

There are two return-path CNAMEs, one for each route uSend sends mail through: its own relay (send) and Amazon SES (send-ses). Add both, even though your organization uses one at a time: uSend chooses the route by plan, so an upgrade or a downgrade then never pauses your mail. The domain's page always shows the exact names and values. The MX and SPF records for the return path live behind that CNAME, so you do not add a separate MX or SPF record for sending, and your own SPF record at the root does not need to change. See Custom return path to choose another label, and DMARC before you tighten the policy.

Warning

Only add the receiving MX record if you turned on receiving. An MX at the root sends all mail for that name to uSend. Use a dedicated subdomain if the domain already receives mail elsewhere.

Ethio telecom-specific notes

  • In the domain's Nameservers page, Use default nameservers puts the DNS back at Ethio telecom. Records you added at Cloudflare stop being used then, so add them again in the portal's DNS page.
  • The domain's page in uSend offers Download records (a zone file or CSV) for hosts without one-click setup, and every value there has a copy button.
  • If your domain already has a DMARC record, keep it: you only need one, and uSend accepts any record that starts with v=DMARC1.

Verify

Back in uSend, press Verify on the domain (or POST /domains/{id}/verify). uSend checks with public DNS resolvers, so it sees what other mail servers see. Each record gets its own status, and uSend keeps re-checking for 24 hours; after a nameserver change, allow for the time the move takes.

If a record stays pending or failed, see Domain not verifying. Background: Verify a domain.