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dotMARC v0.8.2: MTA-STS MX hosts from DNS again, a calmer certificate wait, and help beside every setting

· 2 min read
Mikey O'Toole
Creator of dotMARC

A small release after v0.8.1, from turning on MTA-STS hosting for real domains.

MTA-STS MX hosts come from DNS again​

When the old Manage MTA-STS page became a tab on each domain, its button for looking up a domain's MX hosts didn't come with it. So a domain switched on from Advanced could end up with no MX hosts, which means the policy dotMARC served listed no mail servers at all, and senders that check MTA-STS could refuse to deliver.

  • Filled in from DNS. When the MX hosts field is empty, it's filled in from the domain's MX records as soon as the MTA-STS tab opens, ready for you to check and save. Look up from DNS is back beside the field to fetch them again.
  • Never on without MX hosts. dotMARC refuses to save MTA-STS as on with no MX hosts, and a bulk import skips such a row with a note instead.
  • Easy to spot. A domain that's already on with no MX hosts says so on its MTA-STS tab, with the hosts filled in from DNS and the Advanced section opened.

Check your domains after upgrading: open the MTA-STS tab of each domain with hosting on. Any that shows the warning needs its filled-in MX hosts saved.

Waiting for a certificate isn't a failure​

On Azure, a new domain's TLS certificate can take a few minutes to issue. dotMARC used to show that wait as Failed with Azure's raw error, even though it carried on and finished by itself. It now shows Waiting for certificate, with a note that Azure is still issuing it and dotMARC retries automatically. A certificate Azure can't issue still shows as Failed, with Azure's reason.

Help beside every setting​

The settings pages now have a small help icon beside each field, explaining what it does and what to put there: alert settings and the HaloPSA connection, DNS push (including the exact callback URL each provider needs), audit log retention, and MTA-STS. Hover over it, or tap or tab to it.

Upgrading​

There are no database migrations and no new settings. Redeploy, then check your MTA-STS domains as above.

Everything else​

As always, see the full changelog for everything that shipped between these two tags.