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Custom Email Domain－DNS Supplier Setup Steps

Written by Claire
Updated today

To enable the Custom Email Domain feature in Cake for Employers, you must complete DNS configuration and verification. Once you enter your domain into the Cake platform, the system automatically generates a list of DNS records. Simply provide these records to your IT team to add to your DNS supplier—there is no need to log in to Mailgun.

This article provides setup steps for different DNS suppliers and troubleshooting for common errors:

  • Cloudflare DNS Setup Steps

  • GoDaddy DNS Setup Steps

  • AWS Route 53 DNS Setup Steps

  • Why DNS records may fail verification

    • Possible causes of verification failure

    • How to seek assistance

  • Additional references

    • Custom Email Domain－Detailed Instructions on Verifying Items

    • How to Enable a Custom Email Domain in Cake for Employers

Cloudflare DNS Setup Steps

  1. Log in to Cloudflare → Select your Domain → DNS on the left menu → Records → Add record

  2. Use the DNS records generated by the Cake platform (examples below are for reference only). After adding the records, return to the Cake platform to complete verification.

  • DKIM (CNAME) — Add two records

    • Name: pdk1._domainkey → Target: value provided by Cake platform

    • Name: pdk2._domainkey → Target: value provided by Cake platform
      ​

  • SPF (TXT)

    • Type: TXT

    • Name: (use the value provided by Cake, e.g., @ or other)

    • Value: v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all

    • TTL: Recommended 300 seconds
      ​

  • MX

    • Priority 10 → mxa.mailgun.org

    • Priority 10 → mxb.mailgun.org

    • If your domain is already using Gmail/Exchange for email reception, skip this step.
      ​

  • Tracking CNAME

    • Name: email (use actual value from Cake platform)

    • Target: mailgun.org

    • Proxy status must be set to DNS only (grey cloud). Do not use Proxied (orange cloud), otherwise Mailgun cannot issue/renew TLS certificates for tracking links.

GoDaddy DNS Setup Steps

  1. Log in to GoDaddy → My Products → Select your Domain → Manage DNS

  2. On the DNS Management page → Under Records → Click ADD

  3. Use the DNS records generated by the Cake platform (examples below are for reference only). After adding the records, return to the Cake platform to complete verification.

  • DKIM (CNAME) — Add two records

    • Host: pdk1._domainkey → Points to: value provided by Cake platform

    • Host: pdk2._domainkey → Points to: value provided by Cake platform
      ​

  • SPF (TXT)

    • Type: TXT

    • Host: (use the value provided by Cake, e.g., @ or other)

    • TXT Value: v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all

    • TTL: Recommended 300 seconds

  • MX

    • Priority 10 → mxa.mailgun.org

    • Priority 10 → mxb.mailgun.org

    • If your domain is already using Gmail/Exchange for email reception, skip this step.
      ​

  • Tracking CNAME

    • Host: email (use actual value from Cake platform)

    • Points to: mailgun.org

In GoDaddy, the Host field only requires the subdomain (e.g., pdk1._domainkey). The system automatically appends the root domain.

AWS Route 53 DNS Setup Steps

  1. Log in to AWS Console → Search for Route 53 → Hosted zones → Select your Domain → Create record

  2. Use the DNS records generated by the Cake platform (examples below are for reference only). After adding the records, return to the Cake platform to complete verification.

  • DKIM (CNAME) — Add two records

    • Name: pdk1._domainkey → Value: value provided by Cake platform

    • Name: pdk2._domainkey → Value: value provided by Cake platform
      ​

  • SPF (TXT)

    • Record type: TXT

    • Record name: (use the value provided by Cake, e.g., @ or other)

    • Value: "v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all" (retain quotation marks)

    • TTL: Recommended 300 seconds
      ​

  • MX

    • Priority 10 → mxa.mailgun.org

    • Priority 10 → mxb.mailgun.org

    • If your domain is already using Gmail/Exchange for email reception, skip this step.
      ​

  • Tracking CNAME

    • Name: email (use actual value from Cake platform)

    • Value: mailgun.org

Why DNS records may fail verification

Possible causes of verification failure

  • Incorrect record format
    Ensure all records exactly match the values provided by the Cake platform, including Name/Host and Value/Points to. Leading/trailing spaces, line breaks, or a trailing . may cause failures.
    ​

  • Propagation delay
    DNS changes may take time to propagate. In most cases, it completes within minutes to hours, but in some cases, it can take 24–48 hours.
    ​

  • TTL settings
    If TTL is set too high, propagation may be delayed. Setting TTL to 300 seconds is recommended to speed up propagation.

How to seek assistance

If you encounter issues you cannot resolve during DNS setup, you may refer to the official documentation:

Or contact us by email with the following details so our engineering team can assist further:

  • DNS supplier used

  • Type of record(s) attempted

  • Screenshot of the error message

  • Domain name

Additional references

For more information, please refer to these related knowledge base articles:

If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to the Cake Customer Team.

Related Articles
How to Customize My Resume's Domain Name on Cake (formerly CakeResume)?
Custom Email Domain－Detailed Instructions on Verifying Items
How to Enable a Custom Email Domain in Cake for Employers
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