How Do I?

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How do I change my DNS MX records?

MX (Mail Exchanger) Settings

As a domain administrator, you are responsible for ensuring that the Mail Exchanger records for your domain (yourdomain.com in the following example) are configured as follows:

yourdomain.com. 600 IN MX 10 vmx.yourdomain.com.redcondor.net.
yourdomain.com. 600 IN MX 20 amx. yourdomain.com.redcondor.net.
yourdomain.com. 600 IN MX 50 bmx. yourdomain.com.redcondor.net.
yourdomain.com. 600 IN MX 100 smx. yourdomain.com.redcondor.net.

When you add a new domain, your primary mail exchanger is automatically added to the list of mail gateways for that domain. This list is used to deliver mail to your servers after it has been scanned for spam and viruses. If you change your mail server name, or if you wish to configure multiple mail servers, you will need to edit the entries on the domain Settings page in the Red Condor Administrator Web Dashboard.

What do I do if my email server is behind a firewall?

Configuring your firewall will help prevent you from receiving spam sent that may be sent directly to your email servers by spammers who are trying to get spam through by bypassing MX records.

If you are running your own mail server and all of its domains are being protected by Red Condor, we recommend blocking all SMTP (port 25) connections except for your internal PCs, and Red Condor’s IP addresses which are listed below.

Red Condor’s IP address ranges:

  • 64.84.16.160/28 (subnet netmask: 255.255.255.240)
  • 65.91.53.0/24 (subnet netmask: 255.255.255.0)
  • 208.42.176.112/28 (subnet netmask: 255.255.255.240)
  • 208.80.200.0/21 (subnet mask: 255.255.248.0)

Note: If you don't have a firewall, some mail servers have firewall-like options built in. If the service isn’t working, you may need to unblock port 25 on your mail server specifically for the addresses above.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to play with your firewall rules, you may be able to configure your mail server to ignore messages that don't contain "redcondor.com" in the headers.

Configuring a MAG-Series Network Appliance for Use behind a Firewall

The following table shows the firewall access requirements for the TCP and UDP ports for the MAG appliance behind the firewall:

Port Protocol Description
N/A ICMP echo request/reply  
22 TCP Remote diagnostics and technical support
25 TCP SMTP server
80 TCP Dashboard and other services

Note: All outbound TCP and UDP ports must be allowed.

After traffic is cut over to the appliance, Red Condor recommends that a firewall rule or Access Control List (ACL) be configured such that the incoming TCP/IP port 25 traffic only be accepted from the appliance IP address and the Red Condor data center IP address ranges. All other IP addresses should be blocked to prevent back-door spam campaigns.

How do I get reports about system activity?
Red Condor Reports

Red Condor’s reporting and statistical information falls into four major categories:

  • Summary Reports
  • Recent Activity Reports
  • Detailed Reports
  • Quarantine Reports (includes quarantined email archive)
Summary Reports

Summary reports offer a view of incoming email for the entire domain. Reports can be run to view filtering activity as far back as 13 weeks. Through the Red Condor Web dashboard, any user can set the specific date “From” and “To” date range and can generate an HTML-based report.

Recent Activity Reports

Administrators can generate Recent Activity Reports to obtain a detailed view of recent mail processed by Red Condor. Reports can be created for the entire mail domain, mailboxes, or sets of mailboxes in the domain. The supported time intervals are:

  • Last 5 Minutes
  • Last 15 Minutes
  • Last Hour
  • Last 24 hours
  • Today (current calendar day)
  • Yesterday (previous calendar day)
Detailed Reports

Detailed reports use the same format as Recent Activity Reports. A system administrator can view detailed email processing records for the last 1 to 10 days. A report can be generated for the entire domain or for specific mailboxes in the filtered domain. Administrators can have a report automatically generated and delivered daily, weekly or monthly delivery.

Quarantine Reports

A quarantine is a copy of specific filtered email message accessible through a link in the Spam Digest or a report. Quarantine Reports are available for up to 35 days and can be viewed for the entire mail domain or a specific set of users. Administrators can have a report automatically generated and delivered daily, weekly or monthly delivery.

Report Types

The Red Condor system has the following reporting types:

  • Message Handling Summary: A pie chart summary of messages passed through the system.
  • Message Categories Summary: A table summary of messages by category (junk, spam, virus, etc).
  • Virus Attack Detail: A report of messages viewed to contain viruses.
  • Virus Attack Summary (by recipient): A report of messages viewed to contain viruses by recipient.
  • Virus Attack Summary (by virus): A report of messages viewed to contain viruses by virus type.