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Send Email From an Account's Dedicated IP Address

This guide shows how to make one hosting account send its email from its own IP address. It needs root access, so it is for VPS and dedicated server owners using WHM and cPanel.

Email2 min read17 steps4 screenshots

What does this mean?

An IP address is a number that identifies a computer on the internet, like a house number. A server may have many IP addresses. Normally, all accounts send mail from the main one.

If one account sends spam, the main IP can get a bad name, and everyone's mail suffers. A dedicated IP for an account keeps its mail reputation separate. Reputation is how much other mail servers trust an IP.

This guide needs root access. Root is the all-powerful admin user on your server.

Warning: A wrong mail setting can stop email from sending. Take a backup of the Exim configuration before changes.

Before you start

  • The server must have extra IP addresses. Ask Hostvento support how to get them for your server.
  • The account must use a dedicated IP in WHM.

Steps in WHM

  1. Log in to WHM as root.
  2. Open Account Functions, then Change Site's IP Address. In some versions, it is under Site Software or IP Functions.
  3. Pick the account.
  4. Choose the dedicated IP from the list.
  5. Click Change.
  6. Open Service Configuration, then Exim Configuration Manager.
    Search Exim Confi Manager
    Click Exim Manager
    Click on Domain and IP's
  7. Open the Basic Editor.
  8. Find Send outgoing mail from the IP that matches the domain name in the email. It may be named Reference /etc/mailips for outgoing email.
  9. Set it to On.
  10. Scroll down and click Save.

Exim is the program that sends mail on cPanel servers.

Using the mailips file

You can also set the IP by hand. The file /etc/mailips lists which IP each domain uses.

  1. Open a terminal over SSH as root.
  2. Edit the file.
nano /etc/mailips

This opens the file in a text editor.

  1. Add a line with the domain, a colon and the IP.
example.com: 203.0.113.10

This tells Exim to send mail for example.com from that IP.

  1. Save the file and exit the editor.

Do these after the change

  1. Ask Hostvento support to set a PTR (reverse DNS) record for the new IP.
  2. Add the IP to your SPF record. SPF is a DNS line that lists servers allowed to send mail for your domain.
  3. Send a test email to a Gmail address. Check the headers for PASS on SPF.
Tip: Raise sending slowly on a new IP. Large bursts from a fresh IP can be marked as spam. Open a support ticket if you get stuck.

Quick recap

  • A dedicated IP keeps one account's mail reputation separate.
    Keep On
  • Assign the IP in WHM, then enable per-domain IP use in Exim.
  • Update PTR and SPF records.
  • Test with a real email.