Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013/2016 is a common Windows email server.

DKIM is a method for

associating a domain name to an email message, thereby allowing email sender claims some
responsibility for the email. In this topic, I will introduce how to add DKIM signature to outgoing emails
in Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013. I will also introduce DKIM selector and sender rule usage.
How DKIM works?
DKIM combines of a public key cryptography and a DNS to provide credible domain-level authentication
for email.
When an email claims to originate from a certain domain, DKIM provides a mechanism by which the
recipient system can credibly determine that the email did in fact originate from a person or system
authorized to send email for that domain.
Therefore, to sign an email with DKIM in Exchange Server, you MUST have a private key/public key pair
for email signing. The work flow is illustrated as follows:

Because DKIM signer uses private key to sign the email, recipient system uses public key to verify the
signature, therefore, if signer doesn't expose the private key to third-party, the DKIM signature cannot
be faked.

Install DKIM in Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013

To enable DKIM signature in Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013, you should download the DKIM Installer
and install it on your machine at first.
Double click installer file and the installation will be executed automatically. Installer requires Exchange
server to be installed. If no Exchange server detected in your operation system, Setup will be aborted.

After the installation is complete, click "DKIM Plugin Manager" from "Windows Start menu->All
Programs->EA DKIM for IIS SMTP and Exchange Server" to begin the setup.

After the installation is complete, I also strongly suggest that you check "Microsoft Exchange
Transport Service" and "Microsoft Exchange Mail Submission Service" in Control Panel->
Administrative Tools->Services, and make sure those services are running, if the service is not running,
please start it

Exchange Server on multiple servers.

Exchange Server Role
If you installed Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013 on multiple servers, you don't have to install DKIM
plugin on every server.
If there is Exchange Edge Transport Server Role installed, you just need to install DKIM plugin on this
server.
If there is no Exchange Edge Transport Server Role installed, you just need to install DKIM plugin on
every Exchange Hub Transport Server Role.

Create DKIM for Domain

Click "Domainkeys/DKIM" in Manager and click "New" to create a new domain DKIM signature. DKIM
signature is based on the domain of sender email address. It is nothing about the Exchange server name.
For example, if you want to sign the email from *@emailarchitect.net, please input emailarchitect.net to
Sender Domain.

You can simply input your sender domain, use default settings for other parameters, finally click "Save"
to create your DKIM signature.
Here is the detailed information about DKIM parameters:
DomainKeys/DKIM Parameters:
Sender Domain:
DomainKeys/DKIM signature is based on the domain of sender email address. It is nothing about your
server name. For example, if you want to sign the email from *@emailarchitect.net, please input
emailarchitect.net to Sender Domain.
Selector:
To support multiple concurrent public keys per sending domain, the DNS namespace is further
subdivided with "selectors". Selectors are arbitrary names below the "_domainkey." namespace. To
learn more detail, please refer to Selector section. For a new domain, you can simply use the default
value "s1024".
Active:
If you have this option unchecked, DomainKeys/DKIM for this domain will be disabled.

Signature:
Default value is: Both DKIM and DomainKeys. You can also choose "DKIM Only" or "DomainKeys Only".
We strongly recommend that you select "Both DKIM and DomainKeys".
Canonicalization Algorithm:
nofws/relaxed is recommended and it has better compatibility.
DKIM Signature Algorithm:
On Windows 2000/2003/XP, rsa-sha1 is the only option. On windows vista/7/2008 or later version, you
can choose "rsa-sha1" or "rsa-sha256". "rsa-sha1" gives better performance while "rsa-sha256" is more
secure. "rsa-sha1" is recommended.
Certificate File Name/Password/Type:
If you don't have a certificate (private/public key pair) for your domain, DKIM manager will create a
certificate for your domain automatically; if you have an existed certificate, please import it from your
local disk and input your certificate protection password.
If you choose "you don't have a certificate...", DKIM manager will try to create a certificate from your
local machine automatically. If the operation fails, DKIM manager will download a certificate from our
server remotely.
If you have another server using our DKIM software to sign the same domain and it uses the same
selector, you need to copy the certificate from that server and use the same certificate. Please refer to:
Deploy DomainKeys/DKIM on multiple servers with same domain.
If you have another server not using our DKIM software to sign the same domain, please select "I don't
have a certificate ...", and use a different selector. To learn more detail, please refer to Selector section.
Signed Headers:
Specify what message headers should be signed. "sender" header and "from" header are a MUST. Using
default setting is recommended.

Verify DKIM Installation

After you created DKIM for your domain, you can have a test with this online tools:
First of all, open http://www.appmaildev.com/en/dkim
Click "Next Step", you will get a test email address like this:

Finally you can send an email to this email address from your Exchange server, please make sure your
sender address is belong to this domain, otherwise, DKIM signature won't be signed. A DKIM report will
be sent to your sender email address in a short time.
Notice: This test email address will be expired after 3 hours, so I suggest that you refresh the tool page
and get a new test email address before you send test email every time.
You will receive a report in your sender mailbox like this:

Because you didn't deploy DKIM public key to DNS server, so you will get an error about "no key". But if
there is a header named "DKIM-Signature" in the report, that means DKIM signature is added to your
email.
Now we need to deploy DKIM public key to your domain DNS server.
As I introduced "how DKIM works", the recipient mail system need to query public key to verify DKIM
signature. So we need to deploy DKIM public key to domain DNS server, then recipient system can query
it by DNS server. Now we get back to DKIM manager and select your domain and click "Export Public
Key":
Deploy Public Key by DKIM Manager
If your domain is hosted by Windows DNS Server in local LAN. After you added a domain in DKIM Plugin
Manager, you can select the domain and click "Deploy Key", input your DNS server address and choose
the DNS zone, the public key will be deployed to DNS server automatically.

Deploy DKIM Public Key Manually

If your domain is not hosted by Windows DNS server in local LAN, or it is failed by "Deploy Key" in DKIM
manager, you can select the domain and click "Export Public Key". A dialog box will pop up and display a
Public Key and a TXT record for deployment in your DNS server.

Here is record detailed information:

TXT Record:
The full name of your public key record.
Public Key:
The value in the record.

Test Mode
"t=y;" in public key record means Test mode, you can remove "t=y;" from your public key record after
your DKIM/DomainKeys test is finished.
Domain Policy Record (Optional):
Domain Policy Record is always deployed to _domainkey.yourdomain. In policy record value, o =
Outbound Signing policy ("-" means that this domain signs all email; "~" is the default value and means
that this domain may sign some email with DomainKeys). If you do not set policy record, the o=~; is used
by default.

Deploy DKIM Public Key TXT record in Windows DNS Server

Step 1: Select and open a domain (e.g. emailarchitect.net) which you want to add a public key record to.
Right-click the record list and select "Other New Records..." from the menu.
Step 2: Select the Text (TXT) record type and click the "Create Record..." button.
Step 3: Copy the value (t=y; k=rsa; p=...) from Public Key field and paste it to the "Text" text box and
input "s1024._domainkey" (depends on the information in the dialog box, the syntax is
[selector]._domainkey) in Record Name. Click the OK button.

(Windows 2000 DNS Server*)

If you're using Windows 2000 DNS server, you should create "_domainkey" domain under "your
domain" at the beginning, and then create "s1024" TXT record under "_domainkey" sub-domain. The
reason is that creating "s1024._domainkey" TXT record directly is not permitted in Windows 2000 DNS
server.

Add DKIM Policy record in Windows DNS Server (Optional*)

Step 1: Select and open a domain (e.g. emailarchitect.net) which you want to add a public key record to.
Right-click the record list and select "Other New Records..." from the menu.

Step 2: Select the Text (TXT) record type and click the "Create Record..." button.
Step 3: Copy the value (t=y; o=~;) from Policy field and paste it to the "Text" text box and input
"_domainkey" in Record Name. Click the OK button.

*This record is optional, you don't have to add it. If you do not set policy record, the o=~; is used by
default.

Deploy DKIM Public Key TXT in Network Solutions DNS server or Bind DNS server
If your domain is hosted by NetworkSolutions, you can deploy your public key like this:
Step 1: Select your domain
Step 2: Select the "Edit TXT Record.
Step 3: Copy the value (t=y; k=rsa; p=...) from Public Key field and paste it to the "Text" text box and
input "s1024._domainkey" (depends on the information in the dialog box, the syntax is
[selector]._domainkey) in Host. Click the "Continue" button.
Step 4 (optional*): Copy the value (t=y; o=~;) from Policy field and paste it to the "Text" text box and
input "_domainkey" in Host. Click the OK button.

Deploy DKIM Public Key TXT in other DNS server

If your domain is hosted by other ISP, as most ISP provide DNS Web administration like "network
solutions" do, you can refer to "Deploy Public Key TXT in Network Solutions DNS server" section and
deploy your public key in your ISP DNS Web administrative tool.
If you are not DNS server administrator, or your domain is hosted by other DNS server, please send the
information in dialog box->DNS Public Deployment to your domain DNS server administrator for
assistant.

Test DKIM
Now you can have a test with this online tools again:
First of all, open http://www.appmaildev.com/en/dkim
Click "Next Step", you will get a test email address.
Finally you can send an email to this email address from Exchange Server, please make sure your sender
address is belong to this domain, otherwise, DKIM signature won't be signed. A DKIM report will be sent
to your sender email address in a short time.
Notice: This test email address will be expired after 3 hours, so I suggest that you refresh the tool page
and get a new test email address before you send test email every time.
You will receive a report in your sender mailbox like this:

If you get "DKIM Result: pass" in report email, that means your DKIM signature is verified successfully. If
there is any error, please have a look at following section

DKIM Troubleshooting
If your email doesn't have DKIM-Signature header after you set the DKIM, you should check the
followings:
Check your email sender, please make sure your from address is *@yourdomain, and you have
set the domain in DKIM. As DKIM signature is based on the email sender, if the sender domain

is not set in DKIM Manager, the email won't be signed.

Check your log file for any error message.
If there is error logged, please contact support@emailarchitect.net for assistance.
If there is no error in the log file, you need to verify the DKIM installation.
Installation Permission
When you install DKIM on Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013, please make sure you are using
"Domain Administrator" user to run the installer.
Verify Exchange 2007/2010/2013 Installation
If you installed EA DomainKeys on Exchange 2007/2010/2013, please open Exchange
Management Shell.
Code:
Input:
get-transportagent
press enter.

Please check if there is "EA DomainKeys Agent" installed in the output.

If there is no EA DomainKeys Agent, you can re-run the installer directly (do not uninstall) to fix

this problem. You can also contact support@emailarchitect.net for assistance.

Wrong Body Hash
It is likely that the MTA changed email content (disclaimer software or anti-virus software).
Please go to DKIM setting, check "Sign a part of message" and set "Maximum length of message
body to sign" to zero, then try it again.
Failed to Verify DKIM Signature (bad signature)
If your email has DKIM-Signature header, but it couldn't be verified by this online tool, you
should go to DKIM setting and test your public key again to make sure your public key is ok. If
your public key is ok, please contact support@emailarchitect.net for assistance.
Now Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013 can add DKIM signature to outgoing emails from
your domain. If you want to send email from other domain, you can simply add the domain
from DKIM manager.

DKIM Selector
To support multiple concurrent public keys per sending domain, the DNS namespace is further
subdivided with "selectors". Selectors are arbitrary names below the "_domainkey." namespace.
For example, selectors may indicate the names of your server locations (e.g., "mta1", "mta2",
and "mta2"), the signing date (e.g., "january2005", "february2005", etc.), or even the individual
user.
The most important thing is: selector indicates your DKIM public key location. For example: if
your domain selector is: "s1024", your public key record will be
"s1024._domainkey.yourdomain"; if your domain selector is: "mta1", your public key record will
be "mta1._domainkey.yourdomain".
DKIM Selector Usage
If you have only one server and you only set the DKIM/DomainKeys on this server, you can give
your selector any name. For example: your domain name is: "emailarchitect.net" and your
selector is: "s1024", you should deploy your public key to
"s1024._domainkey.emailarchitect.net". After the receiver received your email, the receiver can
query the public key from "s1024._domainkey.emailarchitect.net" to verify your
DomainKeys/DKIM signature.
If you have only one Exchange server, you can skip the followng sections.

Using a single DKIM selector with the same domain on multiple Exchange Servers
If all of your servers are running with EA DKIM, you should deploy the certificate as follows: First of all,
install EA DKIM on the first server, and create the certificate for the domain. Then install EA DKIM on
other servers, and copy the *.pfx certificate you created on the first server to other servers under EA
DKIM installation path\certs. Finally, when you create the DomainKeys/DKIM on other server, please
have "I have a key pair certificate ..." selected, and import the *.pfx file from your local disk and input
the "TMP001" (default password) as the password. All of your servers will have the same certificate
(private/public key pair) for your domain. Please also make sure you use the same selector "s1024"
(default name).

Since the private/public key pair is stored in the certificate, if you use the same selector/certificate for
the same domain on multiple servers, all servers will use the same key pair for this domain. You just
need to deploy the public key to "selector._domainkey.emailarchitect.net", every email from multiple
servers can be verified by this public key.
Using multiple DKIM selectors with the same domain on multiple Exchange servers
If you don't want to copy the certificate to all servers or you have another server signing the DKIM with
the key pair certificate not supported by EA DomainKeys, you can use different selector for different

server.

For example, there have two server named server1 and server2, On the first server (server1), "svr1"
is used as the selector. On the second serve (server2), "svr2" is used as the selector. The two servers use
different key pairs (certificate).
Two public key records should be deployed: deploy the first server public key to
svr1._domainkey.yourdomain; deploy the second server public key to svr2._domainkey.yourdomain
When an email is sent from the first server, the email will be signed by the key pair (certificate) on this
server and the receiver will query the public key from svr1._domainkey.yourdomain to validate the
DKIM signature.
When an email is sent from the second server, the email will be signed by the key pair (certificate) on
this server and the receiver will query the public key from svr2._domainkey.yourdomain to validate the
DKIM signature.
This is how selector provide a solution for using different key-pair/certificates with the same domain
on multiple servers.
This solution doesn't require you to copy the certificate to all servers, nor it require all of your servers
to run EA DKIM. You just need to create different selector for different servers, and deploy multiple
DKIM public key based on selector.
Finally, I will introduce how to sign DKIM onbehalf customer domain.
Using DKIM Sender Rule
Sometimes you need to send an email with sender address not hosted by your server. In this case, you
cannot set DKIM signature for such email, as you don't have permission to deploy the DKIM public key
to the domain not hosted by your DNS server.
The typical usage is email forwarding. For example, one remote email is delivered to your local user
mailbox, but your local user set email forwarding to another remote address. With sender rule, you can
re-sign DKIM by your domain and also change MAIL FROM to comply with SPF record.
If you don't send email from outside email address, or you don't need to sign the DKIM for those emails,
you can simply ignore this topic.
How to use Sender Rule
Here is the scenario. You own a domain "emailarchitect.net" and you have DKIM/DomainKeys for
"emailarchitect.net" set on your server. There is no problem when you send emails with sender
"*@emailarchitect.net", the email will be signed correctly. At the same time, your customer requested
you to send emails with sender "*@adminsystem.com" and sign the DKIM/DomainKeys signature for
outgoing emails. As "adminsystem.com" is your customer domain and you don't have permission to
deploy the public key to "adminsystem.com" DNS server, you have to use sender rule.

To solve the problem, you can add a sender rule like the above screenshot. This rule means "If from
addess is *@adminsystem.com, then add a sender header (Sender: testuser@emailarchitect.net) to the
message". And the email will be signed by "emailarchitect.net" based on the sender header.
With the above sender rule, the email will be signed by DomainKeys/DKIM signature with domain
"emailarchitect.net". And the recipient email client will display "From: testuser@emailarchitect.net on
behalf of *@adminsystem.com".
Use Reply-To header instead of Sender header
If you also check "Use Reply-To header instead of Sender header", And the recipient email client will
display:
From: testuser@emailarchitect.net, Reply-To: *@adminsystem.com (original sender address)
We strongly suggest that you use this option for anti-spam policy.
DKIM Priority
DKIM setting has higher priority than sender rule, that means if DKIM setting is found for the email, this
email will not be changed by sender rule.
For example, if you set "emailarchitect.net" in DKIM setting, and add a rule like this: "if From contains
*@emailarchitect.net", then ...". Sender rule won't change the email sender from *@emailarchitect.net,
the email will be simply signed by DKIM with "emailarchitect.net".

Note : Exchange Server on multiple servers.

Exchange Server Role

If you installed Exchange Server 2007/2010/2013 on multiple servers, you don't have to install
DKIM plugin on every server.
If there is Exchange Edge Transport Server Role installed, you just need to install DKIM
plugin on this server.
If there is no Exchange Edge Transport Server Role installed, you just need to install DKIM
plugin on every Exchange Hub Transport Server Role.