So, if you’ve found this guide then you probably already know what AmazonSES and SmartHosts are. In this guide I’ll demonstrate how to specifiy certain domains to be relayed through an AmazonSES SmartHost.
cPanels Blog here explains very well what a SmartHost is. We are going to be following the content of this guide somewhat below with a few extra steps to allow us to specify the domains.
Note: This requires root access to WHM to complete.
Configuring the AmazonSES SmartHost in WHM.
We’ll be jumping right into the WHM/Exim Configuration here, this guide assumes you have already set-up your AmazonSES account, verified your domain and added an “identity” for sending test emails to.
Prepare your AmazonSES SMTP Details. You will need:
SMTP Host (server name): Usually ends amazonaws.com
In this example I will be using “email-smtp.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com” however you MUST use the one specified in your account.
SMTP Username and SMTP Password
In WHM -> Exim Configuration Manager
Login to WHM, go to Exim Configuration Manager, select the Advanced Tab and find the AUTH section similar to the image below.
Copy in the contents of the box below, but change the USERNAME and PASSWORD to your SMTP Username and Password provided in the Amazon SES Management Console.
## AmazonSES ses_login: driver = plaintext public_name = LOGIN client_send = : USERNAME : PASSWORD ## End AmazonSES
Next up we want to add the ROUTERSTART section. Copy in the below but replace YOUR_SERVER_IP with your actual server IP address.
# Added for Amazon SES
smarthost_dkim:
driver = manualroute
domains = !"+local_domains +smart_hosts"
condition = "${if eq{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}partial-lsearch{/etc/staticroutes}{$value}}}{}{false}{true}}"
ignore_target_hosts = 0.0.0.0 : 127.0.0.0/8 : YOUR_SERVER_IP
headers_add = "${perl{mailtrapheaders}}"
require_files = "+/var/cpanel/domain_keys/private/${sender_address_domain}"
transport = remote_smtp_smart_dkim
route_list = !+local_domains "${lookup{$sender_address_domain}partial-lsearch{/etc/staticroutes}}"
smarthost_regular:
driver = manualroute
domains = !"+local_domains +smart_hosts"
condition = "${if eq{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}partial-lsearch{/etc/staticroutes}{$value}}}{}{false}{true}}"
ignore_target_hosts = 0.0.0.0 : 127.0.0.0/8 : YOUR_SERVER_IP
headers_add = "${perl{mailtrapheaders}}"
transport = remote_smtp_smart_regular
route_list = !+local_domains "${lookup{$sender_address_domain}partial-lsearch{/etc/staticroutes}}"
###
Note: If your server has multiple IP addresses then you want to add each IP address to this line which would then look like this (obviously replacing 1.1.1.1 and 1.1.1.2 here with your public IP addresses)
ignore_target_hosts = 0.0.0.0 : 127.0.0.0/8 : 1.1.1.1 : 1.1.1.2
Next up we have the TRANSPORTSTART Section box to fill with the below, nothing needs changing in the code below so copy it straight in
# Added for Amazon SES
remote_smtp_smart_dkim:
driver = smtp
hosts_require_auth = *
hosts_require_tls = *
interface = ${if exists {/etc/mailips}{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lsearch*{/etc/mailips}{$value}{}}}{}}
helo_data = ${if exists {/etc/mailhelo}{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lsearch*{/etc/mailhelo}{$value}{$primary_hostname}}}{$primary_hostname}}
dkim_domain = $sender_address_domain
dkim_selector = default
dkim_private_key = "/var/cpanel/domain_keys/private/${dkim_domain}"
dkim_canon = relaxed
remote_smtp_smart_regular:
driver = smtp
hosts_require_tls = *
hosts_require_auth = *
interface = ${if exists {/etc/mailips}{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lsearch*{/etc/mailips}{$value}{}}}{}}
helo_data = ${if exists {/etc/mailhelo}{${lookup{$sender_address_domain}lsearch*{/etc/mailhelo}{$value}{$primary_hostname}}}{$primary_hostname}}
###
And that’s it for the WHM side of things so go ahead and save the configuration.
AmazonSES SmartHost File Modifications in SSH / Terminal
We need to edit a few files so go ahead and open up an SSH session or you can use the Terminal inside WHM.
Let’s start with /etc/exim.conf.local
Find the @CONFIG@ line and add the below inside it.
# Added for Amazon SES hostlist smart_hosts = lsearch;/etc/smarthosts ###
Save and exit.
Here’s my example (note the @AUTH@ part should already be populated with the changes made earlier, we are only added the above hostlist line underneath @CONFIG@)
Next up is the /etc/smarthosts file, this won’t exist already so you need to create the file. This is the file which specifies which domains on your server will be relaying through the AmazonSES SmartHost. Don’t forget that you must create the domain the Amazon SES Management Console and verify the domain using CNAME records first!
Copy the following into the file but replace domain1.com and domain2.com with the actual domains on your server.
Replace Amazon_SES_Server with the SMTP Host shown to you in the Amazon SES Management Console.
# Added for Amazon SES domain1.com: Amazon_SES_Server domain2.com: Amazon_SES_Server ###
Finally we want to create /etc/staticroutes – this will contain the same contents as your /etc/smarthosts file. The easiest way to do this is just copy the file with:
cp /etc/smarthosts /etc/staticroutes
That’s it! We just need to rebuild the exim configuration to perform a quick syntax check and activate the changes.
/scripts/buildeximconfTo confirm, what we’ve just configured is to have emails sent from the domains specified in /etc/smarthosts and /etc/staticroutes to be relayed through AmazonSES. All other domains not specified will continue to be sent directly from your server.
At this point I’d recommend heading into cPanel -> Webmail for one of the domains and sending a test email to an outside recipient (or the identity you’ve set-up in AmazonSES!) to check delivery works okay.
Additional notes: I have discovered that upon performing these changes when you go back to Exim Configuration Manager you might see the following warning:
I set this to contain just “amazonses.com” and the warning disappeared. I then removed it and saved the configuration again and the warning was still gone. *Shrugs*.
Remember to add the following to the SPF record of any domains that will be relaying through the AmazonSES SmartHost.
include:amazonses.com For more WHM related guides please see here
Adapted from the guide kindly provided here.