Topic Last Modified: 2009-10-02
An accepted domain is any SMTP namespace for which an Outlook Live organization sends or receives e-mail.
Before you can create an accepted domain, you first have to enroll what is called a primary or tenant domain with Outlook Live.
Then you're ready to add an accepted domain. Here's how:
-
Make sure that the domain that you want to enroll as an accepted domain isn't already enrolled in another Microsoft Live program. If the domain is enrolled in another Microsoft Live program, you have to cancel that service before you continue. To cancel the service, see Cancel Your Outlook Live Service.
-
Now start the enrollment process for the accepted domain. Sign in to the Live@edu Service Management Portal with the Windows Live ID that is the administrator for the primary tenant Outlook Live domain that you have already enrolled.
-
Click Domains. On the Domains page, click Windows Live Admin Center.
-
On the Create a Windows Live experience for your domain page, make the following selections:
-
In the Provide your domain name section, enter the domain name that will be the accepted domain that you want to use with Outlook Live.
-
In the Choose mail service for your domain section, select Set up Outlook Live mail for my domain.
-
When you are finished, click Continue.
Important If the Assign a domain administrator page appears after you click Continue, click Cancel and go back to Step 1 and verify that the domain isn't already enrolled in another Microsoft Live program.
-
On the Review settings and accept agreement page, verify the following settings:
-
Verify that the yellow information bar says that you are registering an accepted domain in your primary Outlook Live domain.
-
Verify that the name in the Domain field is your accepted domain name.
-
Verify that the Windows Live ID in the Administrator field is the administrator for the primary Outlook Live domain that you used in Step 2.
-
Verify that Mail service is set to Outlook Live.
Important If the Mail service or Administrator settings are incorrect, click Cancel and go back to Step 2.
If the domain you are enrolling is enrolled in another Microsoft Live program with a different Windows Live ID, you will get a warning that says that you must prove ownership. This behavior is by design, even if you have canceled your Microsoft Live service according to Step 1.
-
When you are ready to continue, click I Accept.
-
In Windows Live Admin Center, the Domain settings page for the accepted domain opens. The status message says that your service is Pending DNS configuration.
-
On the Domain Settings page, copy the value of MX server from the MX Record Configuration section and use it create a new MX record at your DNS hosting service. The value of MX server starts with a set of numbers called the MX token and ends with the suffix mail.outlook.com as, for example, 2134073478.mail.outlook.com.
Important If you are adding an accepted domain that is currently in use by another e-mail service in your organization, changing the MX record to create the accepted domain will interrupt existing mail flow. Instead, use a CNAME record to prove ownership of the accepted domain. To learn how, see Prove Domain Ownership.
-
After you create the MX record or CNAME record at your DNS hosting service, return to Windows Live Admin Center to check the status of your service for the accepted domain on the Domain settings page.
To check for status updates on the Domain settings page, click Refresh.
When the MX record or CNAME record is detected by Windows Live Admin Center, the status will change from Pending DNS configuration to Active.
-
When the information bar on the Domain Settings page indicates that your service is Active, the Domain settings page will show the domain as an accepted domain of the primary domain.
Important You must wait at least 24 hours before you provision users or configure co-branding for this domain. If you try to provision more than 500 users or if you try to configure co-branding for this domain before waiting 24 hours, you will get errors. After 24 hours, the accepted domain will be available for selection in New Mailbox and Mailbox Details in the Web management interface for Outlook Live. It will also be selected as the domain for proxy addresses on existing mailboxes.