Hi Terry,

We may need to get this one to support.  It does look like an issue with the DNS records settings.  Once we get the details in a Service Request, we can help you get them straightened out.

Cheers,
David  

Different username here - sorry community portal wouldn't let me log in as the same user again!

When you run through the domain set up there is no option to only change MX records.  In the wizard there is only the option to move the Name Server (NS) records - see below.  This would be fine if I was ready to use SharePoint Online as my primary website but I do not wish to do this yet.
For the moment I've had to fail back to my original mail servers until this is resolved....I was getting bounced email to my domain because the MicrosoftOnline email servers did not appreciate the relay!

BTW - how do I log a support request outside of this forum?  Is there nothing official available during the beta.

Any help appreciated.

Terry

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The name server records for your account are not configured properly.

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Changes to DNS can take time to complete. If you have correctly set your name server records to the values shown below you may need to wait for the changes to take effect. If you haven't set them yet, or if the change was incorrect, see the section below for more information.

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Currently points to

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Should point to

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Name server 1

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ns157.hostgator.com

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ns1.bdm.microsoftonline.com

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Name server 2

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ns158.hostgator.com

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ns2.bdm.microsoftonline.com

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Any ideas?

Hostgator should have the ability to modify/create individual DNS records. I haven't used their interface, but other providerrs I've used personally and for clients allow this. If you can't set this up with hostgator, I've had great success with zoneedit hosting just DNS for customers. Then you can create whatever records you want and aren't reliant on your hosting provider if you decide to change.

Thanks but that is not the problem.  I am able to change the DNS records at Hostgator.  What I want to be able to do is change the MX record only.  When I did this the Microsoft email servers denied the relay.

Terry,

Please use the link below to contact support.  Normally, you would go to the admin view in MOP (aka Portal) and click the support link to see the available methods of contact.  The access choices are different for the various plans, regions, and languages.

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Same problem here,  only the other way around-cannot redirect domain to 365 site with email hosted elsewhere. Changed nameservers and all was working fine but when I change the mx record, it breaks the redirect to the site and I get a blank screen. More flexibility is needed.  

Roger that - that was the answer I was looking for.  I will try this with a test domain and post back success.

For feedback for the beta, this approach is not a preferred method of migration for me (and probably others).  I could achieve a relatively seamless migration by moving just the mx record and creating any other service records for Office 365 manually.  Having to transfer NS records guarantees that all elements of my migration will incur outages for mail, websites, multiple DNS aliases, etc.... :-(  Not cool.  Really not cool.  My suggestion is that Microsoft gives customers the choice of either the 'wizard approach' of transferring the NS records OR the ability to manually create the required Office 365 DNS records outside of the Microsoft name servers.  At a minimum customers need an ability to pre-populate the relevant DNS zone on the Microsoft NS servers prior to the migration to ensure service continuity.

Hi Terry,

I appreciate the feedback and will keep it close at hand when designing domains features for upcoming releases. In the meantime, here's how I recommend setting up your domain with Office 365 if you'll be migrating mail from another provider.

1. Add and verify your domain in Office 365 (but don't switch your NS records yet).
2. Create users/mailboxes on that domain. Make sure to use the same email alias that you have in place for these users in your exiting mail service.
3. Switch your nameserver records to Office 365

Mail will continue to route to your existing provider up to and including step 2 above. Once the NS records are changed mail will start routing to Exchange Online. Note that because your previous MX record may be cached in various non-authoritative DNS servers or other mail servers on the web, there may be a period of time where  you are receiving mail at your previous mail provider AND Exchange Online. However as DNS caches expire and those systems make a new request for the MX record for your domain, they'll get the O365 addresses.

With the above approach you shouldn't lose any email when migrating to O365.

- Mike

Just to be clear by "With Office 365 Professional " -do you mean 365 Small Business?

And I'm assuming a separate MX record can't be created after verification. If it can, please tell me how.  

Yes, I meant Office 365 Small Business. Sorry about that. I focus on the features... not the branding :-)

I thought perhaps you were focusing on the customers!

Absolutely! It's all about the customers.

When I read this topic my heart sank.  Changing my DNS is not something I want to do to move to Office 365.  Going along with it though I took a stab at moving one of my unused domains over to test it out in the spirit of the beta.

I tried to create a custom A record and I can't seem to add one to my current host.

Like this:

example.com -> 1.2.3.4

It says you can't enter periods if you type in example.com.  I tried one with it blank assuming it's just looking for a third level domain, that didn't work.  Neither did *.  I run my site without the www, I need it without a third level domain.  I also need wildcard subdomains working.

 

Am I doing something wrong or is this a big deal breaker?