Enabling Domain Keys In cPanel

cPanel by default provides the ability to enabled Domain Keys instead of the Exim MTA (Mail Transport). However to setup a Domain Key you must log into the cPanel server via SSH / Shell as there is not option to enable the Domain Key inside of the WHM or cPanel.

Creating The Domain Key For A Domain

1. You will need to log into your cPanel enabled server using SSH / Shell. If you are on a Windows workstation you will need to download Putty or if you are using a MacOSX based workstation you can use the built in Telnet application. If you have not used an SSH interface before you can review our support article on how to access your server using SSH by going to http://www.hosting.com/support/vps/linux/ssh.


2. Next you will need to run the following command against your domain. You will need to change the "username" the name that cPanel has assigned to your domain.

/usr/local/cpanel/bin/domain_keys_installer username

3. The command you ran in step 2 will have created a file called "domain.db" and will be located at "/var/named".  Within the file will contain your Domain Key for your domain. Next you will need to reload the "Bind" service by typing the following command. Besure to enter your domain at the end of the command;

rndc reload domain

4. Next you will need to restart Exim, your email server by typing;

service exim restart

5. With exim restarted your domain will now support a Domain Key. You can test this by sending an email to yourself and viewing the email header. Within that header you will see a DomainKey-Signature.