Does SSMTP cause spam issues?

Question

I am currently using SSMTP to send email notifications from my Icinga server. I am using my web host's STMP server to send the mail, with working authentication details [ eg [email protected] ]

When a mail is sent by Icinga (or just via SSMTP on the console) the message is delivered as FROM: [email protected] [ eg [email protected] ] At first, I wanted to change this, but have decided it doesn't really matter (it is just me who receives the messages, and my address is on the same domain name), barring spam problems. I am worried that somehow my domain name will be marked as spam for false addressing (or something like that).

So it brings me to the question: Will the difference in username (between sent and the AuthUser) have any impact whatsoever on spam?

If not, will there be a change of answer if I start delivering to other addresses [ eg gmail ]?

Answer 1

If I understand your question correctly, you have a separate host which is sending mail (via SSMTP) and you are worried that this might affect the spam rating of mails from your domain.

Most things in emails are easily forged. Programs sending mail rely on this quite frequently, so the mismatch between sender name and authenticated user is quite frequent. The receiving mail server will most likely just ignore this.

There are two technologies, SPF and DKIM, which help to verify that information in a mail is authentic. DKIM is a bit more difficult to set up (and probably overkill), but SPF is just a simple TXT record in your domain's DNS. Using SPF, you can specify which hosts are allowed to send mail from your domain. Include the Icinga server in the list of allowed servers, and your should be fine.

Note that this is more of a precaution than a requirement. Spam detection is difficult, and the details rely on the setup of your mail provider. I really doubt that those mails could affect your domains reputation negatively. It's hard to tell though without knowing your exact setup.