How to: Google Apps domain verification and email configuration

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Blair M
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If you are using Google Apps, you will need to verify your domain with Google before you can use any of the Google Apps services. The automatic verification process does not work with Hover so here is how you would verify manually.

You can verify a couple of different ways: using a TXT record or using a CNAME record.
You also need to add Google's MX records, and edit the "mail" CNAME record.

Note: Changes to your DNS records can take up to 24 hours to propagate throughout the Internet.


Click one of the links below to go directly to that section.

Verifying your domain using a TXT record

 

1. Click Start Setup, and then Verify Domain. 

 

 

 

2. The automatic login to Hover does not work, so select No.  This will take you through the manual verification process. 

 

 

 

3. Select Other from the drop down menu and then click Begin Verification. 

 

 

 

4. Select Add a TXT record. 

 

 

 

5. Highlight and copy the Google string of text. You can paste this into a notepad or word document, or leave it copied to your clipboard until you need it in the next few steps.

 

 

Sign into your Hover account and add the TXT record

 

6. Sign into your account at https://hover.com/signin


7. Select the domain you are using with Google Apps from the list of domains, or if you only have one domain, you will already be on the next step.

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8. Make sure you are using the Hover nameservers:
ns1.hover.com
ns2.hover.com 

Edits to the DNS in your Hover account will not apply to your domain if you are not using our DNS servers. If you are using another company's nameservers, such as your website hosting provider, then you must go to the hosting provider to enter your Google Apps DNS Records.

Alternatively, if you are not using the existing nameservers for anything (perhaps these are just your old domain provider's servers, if you transferred to Hover recently), you can use the Edit option to update these to Hover. Nameserver changes can take up to 24-48 hours to fully propagate.

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9. Click on DNS, and select Add A Record.

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Enter the TXT values as follows:

  • Choose the Record Type TXT
  • In the Hostname field enter @
  • In the Value field, enter that long string of text copied from your Google Admin Console (copied from step 5).
  • Click Add Record.

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10. Go back to your Google Admin Console and click Verify.

NOTE: you may need to wait 15 mins before clicking Verify will recognize the TXT record.

 

 

This completes the Domain Verification process.


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Verifying your domain using a CNAME record

1. Click Start Setup, and then Verify Domain. 

 

 

 

2. The automatic login to Hover does not work, so select No.  This will take you through the manual verification process.

 

 

 

3. Select Other from the drop down menu and then click Begin Verification.

 

 

 

4. Although it says Add a TXT record, click that option.  It will take you to the following page that provides other options.

 

 

 

5. Down below, under "Having Trouble?", select the alternate method Add a CNAME record.

 

 

 

6. You are provided with two strings of text: Host and Target.  Copy these into a notepad or word document to be used in the next few steps.

 

 

Sign into your Hover account and add the CNAME record

 

7. Sign into your account at https://hover.com/signin


8. Select the domain you are using with Google Apps from the list of domains, or if you only have one domain, you will already be on the next step.

save image

 
9. Make sure you are using the Hover nameservers:
ns1.hover.com
ns2.hover.com 

Edits to the DNS in your Hover account will not apply to your domain if you are not using our DNS servers. If you are using another company's nameservers, such as your website hosting provider, then you must go to the hosting provider to enter your Google Apps DNS Records.

Alternatively, if you are not using the existing nameservers for anything (perhaps these are just your old domain provider's servers, if you transferred to Hover recently), you can use the Edit option to update these to Hover. Nameserver changes can take up to 24-48 hours to fully propagate.

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10. Click on DNS, and select Add A Record.
 
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Enter the CNAME values as follows:
  • Choose the Record Type CNAME
  • In the Hostname field, enter the Host value from Step 6
  • In the Target Host field, enter the Target value from Step 6.
  • Click Add Record.

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11. Go back to the Google Admin Console and click Verify.

 

This completes the Domain Verification process.


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Setting up Google Apps for mail

Adding the Goggle Apps mail records (MX) and CNAME record

To use Google Apps for your email, you need to add a CNAME record and five MX records.

The CNAME record allows you to go to mail.yourdomain.com to access your email, and the MX records are what tell the internet where to deliver your email.

Setting the CNAME record

  • There should be an existing CNAME record for "mail" that points to "mail.hover.com.cust.hostedemail.com".  You can edit this and change it to the new Google Apps CNAME record.
  • Hover your cursor over the DNS record and click on Edit DNS
  • Enter ghs.googlehosted.com
  • Click Save or press Enter
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MX Records

There will be an MX record already @ 10 mx.hover.com.cust.hostedemail.com. This can be deleted.

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Here are the 5 Google Apps MX records that must be added. You can copy and paste.

The hostname to the left of the record type (MX) is always @.

Hostname - Priority - Value/Hostname

@ - 1 - ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
@ - 5 - ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
@ - 5 - ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
@ - 10 - ALT3.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM
@ - 10 - ALT4.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM

For example:

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When you are done, the records will look something like the image below.

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Additional information

You can find additional information by clicking on one of these links:

  • Click here to review instructions from Google for setting up a custom web address in your Google Apps account.
  • For information on different domain verification options, click here.
  • Click here for a CNAME verification tutorial from Google.
  • Click here for a TXT verification tutorial from Google.
Have more questions? Submit a request

64 Comments

Date Votes
  • 0
    Avatar
    Iffath Lotallah

    The instructions under TXT verification are incorrect because they don't match the image which is correct.

  • 0
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    Tyson Acker

    Thanks for the feedback! The article has been corrected.

  • 0
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    Julian Tapales

    I've been trying to figure this out for a while, great explanation thank you

  • 0
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    Colin Devroe

    How long should this process take? I realize Google says 48hours but what are Hover's policies?

  • 0
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    Julian Tapales

    It went through instantly for me, I would say give it two days then check again if it hasn't worked.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Blair Mueller

    Hi Colin - If your name servers were not recently changed in the past 48 hours to our default servers, then it should be within 5-15 mins for Google to verify the TXT record.  Julian is right, it's usually instant.  Make sure you're using ns1.hover.com and ns2.hover.com.   You can check this under the "domain details" tab.

    If you're still having trouble, let me know what your domain is and I'll take a look at it for you.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jonathan Flower

    Did google update their DNS settings for their hosted services?  Their documentation here suggests we use ghs.googlehosted.com instead of ghs.google.com.  ghs.google.com is still set for some of my cname records and seems to be working fine.  But in the future, should we start using the ghs.googlehosted.com?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jonathan Flower

    Here is the link to Googles documentation: http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=112038&topic=1687211&ctx=topic

  • 0
    Avatar
    Blair Mueller

    Hi Jonathan - it does look like Google has changed their CNAME destination to ghs.googlehosted.com.  If ghs.google.com is still working they are probably forwarding those to the new ones on the Google servers, or they are just still valid CNAME records to use.  I don't know of any immediate reasons or concerns to discontinue use of ghs.google.com.   

  • 0
    Avatar
    Tyson Acker

    Hi Jonathan -It does appear that Google is switching to using ghs.googlehosted.com and we've updated our tutorial. Both hostnames point to the same addresses and I suspect Google will keep both of them working to support domains using ghs.google.com.

    Here are name server look ups showing the same results for each hostname:

     

    nslookup ghs.google.com

    Non-authoritative answer:

    Name:    ghs.l.google.com

    Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4001:c02::79

              74.125.142.121

    Aliases:  ghs.google.com

    nslookup ghs.googlehosted.com

    Non-authoritative answer:

    Name:    ghs.googlehosted.com

    Addresses:  2607:f8b0:4001:c02::79

              74.125.142.121

     

    This could be related to Google ending new sign ups for free Google Apps accounts as part of their changes to Google Apps for businesses. You can read the news here:   http://googleenterprise.blogspot.ca/2012/12/changes-to-google-apps-for-businesses.html

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jonathan Flower

    ok Great!  thanks for the quick and informative response!  

  • 0
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    Alex Coles

    Is this process used so I can access my Mail+ using gmail?

  • 0
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    Andrew Costen

    No, this is for people pointing their domain name at their Google Apps mailbox, something different from accessing a Hover mailbox on GMail.

    If you do need to access Hover mail on GMail, you'd have to go into the GMail settings and select Accounts and Import and then look for the option to import mail from other accounts using POP3.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Bill Oertel

    I've gone through this process twice now - once with Google's recommended settings, once with the settings from this page - and with no luck.  Google Apps keeps telling me that the "MX records setup validation failed."

    Any ideas as to what I could be missing?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Andrew Costen

    Bill, I'm going to send you an email shortly to dig into this with you. Let me know if you don't receive it in the next hour.

  • 0
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    Heather Burke

    Hi, I'm trying to use google apps for email.  I have changed the cname and added the details for the 5 mx records as directed above.  It would not let me edit the hover MX record, nor will it let me delete it (it does have a check mark in the default box)  Any suggestions?  Thanks

  • 0
    Avatar
    Andrew Costen

    Do you mean you can't edit the MX Records in the Hover control panel? I just tested your account and I was able to edit the DNS settings (don't worry, I didn't change anything), so let me know if you're still having trouble.

  • 0
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    Andrew Costen

    Ah, I think I misunderstood. I just deleted the Hover MX record for you. Let me know if you're still having any difficulties though.

  • 0
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    Colin McDonald

    For the TXT site verification, you no longer add just the verification code (e.g. 3jhro2hfse....).  There is now a prefix of 'google-site-verification=' meaning your TXT record would read 'google-site-verification=3jhro2hfse...'.

             

  • 0
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    Tom Vernon-Kell

    Is it possible to use Google Apps if your email uses a hover-owned surname domain?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Andrew Costen

    Tom, no, that would not be possible, at least not with that address.

  • 0
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    Jonathan Wilson

    Do I have to pay for Hover email in order to use Google Apps outside of hover? I already have Google Apps.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Blair Mueller

    Hi Jonathan, 

    If you have Google Apps outside of Hover, you do not need to pay us for anything!  Just be sure to keep your Google Apps DNS records up to date and you will be fine.

    Buying a mailbox from us would mean we would be supplying you with email services.  You don't need that if you are currently using Google Apps for your email needs.

    Let us know if you have any questions.

  • 0
    Avatar
    Jonathan Wilson

    Thank you so much for the quick reply. I love Hover! You guys rock. :)

  • 0
    Avatar
    Blair Mueller

    You're welcome!  Any time. Have a great night.

  • 0
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    Vincent Green

    Not sure if it was time or the fact that I changed all the MX records to non-CAPS but once I changed them to non-CAPS my mail started to work. One of my other domains is in non-CAPS

    1 aspmx.l.google.com instead of ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM

    Was it just time? or did the non-CAPS matter?

  • 0
    Avatar
    Chi Nguyen

    Hey Vincent,

    Capitalization for the MX records will not affect your Google Apps email working - sometimes propagation time can be a bit longer than usual. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Vincent Green

    In the end we succeeded. It just took a little patience to t]let it propagate.

    Always appreciate the good work from Hover!

  • 0
    Avatar
    Carsten Schwesig

    I made all the changes, but Google Apps doesn't receive mail and still lists the current MX record as "mail.mydomain.com" at priority 0. I haven't come across any priority zero MX settings, any ideas where I might  be able to remove this setting? 

  • 0
    Avatar
    Brennan Valenzuela

    Hey Carsten, if you're looking to edit the DNS settings in your Hover account, you can click on the Domains tab -> select the domain in question -> click on the DNS tab. With the DNS page loaded, you'll be able to edit, create, or delete your MX records. Double check that you have 5 different (unique) MX records in your set up. 

    Has your domain also been verified by Google?

     

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