How to configure Exchange 2007/2010
for use with SpamCat

Related Articles:
How to configure Exchange 2003 for use with SpamCat

Introduction:
In order for SpamCat to function at it's most accurate level, it is necessary for you to configure your mail server(s) to send all of their outgoing messages through SpamCat. SpamCat uses a suite of heuristic and artificial intelligence engines to filter your organization's incoming email messages, and SpamCat learns from the outbound messages sent by your users so it can accurately score new inbound messages when they arrive.

To prevent abuse by unauthorized users, SpamCat requires SMTP Authentication for all outbound messages relayed through it. Therefore, you must configure your Exchange Server to perform SMTP Authentication on the outbound messages it relays to SpamCat from your organization.

NOTE: These instructions were written specifically based off Exchange 2010, however Exchange 2007 uses fundamentally the same configuration steps, so the following instructions can be easily adapted for use with Exchange 2007.

Step 1:
Using Exchange Management Console navigate to 'Organization Configuration' > 'Hub Transport' container. Select the 'Send Connectors' tab.
-- If your organization uses an Edge Transport server, you'll need to go there to configure these settings.
-- If you already have a Send Connector, select it and choose 'Properties'
-- If you don't already have a Send Connector and don't use an Edge Transport server, click the 'New Send Connector...' link to create a Send Connector.

Step 2:
Select the 'General' tab at the top of the Send Connector settings window
-- Assign a name to your connector, we recommend something like "SpamCat Outbound Delivery"
-- Enable the checkbox for "Maximum Message Size (KB):", and enter the value "25600", which is the current maximum allowed message size for SpamCat.

Step 3:
Select the 'Address Space' tab at the top of the Send Connector settings window
-- Make sure there is a rule with Type = "SMTP", Address = "*", Cost = "1"
-- This tells the connector that it will handing email routing for all outgoing internet destination email addresses.

Step 4:
Select the 'Network' tab at the top of the Send Connector settings window
-- Select 'Route mail through the following smart hosts'
-- Click the 'Add' button and define FQDN setting of smtp-out.spamcat.net
-- Click the 'Change' button under 'Smart Host Authentication:' to open the 'Configure Smart Host Authentication Settings' window.

Within the 'Configure Smart Host Authentication Settings' window:
-- Select 'Basic Authentication' Exchange uses the term Basic Authentication, whereas it really is SMTP AUTH to the rest of the internet community. The Username is not case sensitive, but it will always appear in an email-style format of "YOURDOMAIN.TLD@client.spamcat.net".
-- Make sure the option 'Basic Authentication over TLS' is NOT checked
-- In 'User Name', enter your YOURDOMAIN.TLD@client.spamcat.net SpamCat SMTP Authentication username as provided by SpamCat.
-- Enter the 'Password' provided by SpamCat for your outbound SMTP authentication account. The password IS case sensitive, so be certain to enter it exactly as it was provided to you.
-- Click OK to close the Configure Smart Host Authentication Settings window.

NOTE: The SpamCat SMTP Relay Username does NOT correspond to a real email mailbox. Therefore, ALL messages sent to that "address" will always be rejected by the SpamCat servers. Do NOT attempt to use the username alias as a "postmaster" account alias. The SMTP Relay Username is exclusively for performing authentication by your server(s) to send outbound messages through the SpamCat system.

Step 5:
Select the 'Source Server' tab at the top of the Send Connector settings window
-- Click the 'Add' button, and then select your local Exchange server(s) to add them to this connector, so they will route their outbound email through this connector.

Step 6:
Finally, click the 'OK' button to close the Send Connector settings window
-- The new Send Connector should now be listed. Make sure that its status is set to 'Enabled'.
-- Perform some mail sending tests to some external email addresses and verify that the Message Headers show that the message did indeed route properly through SpamCat.

Step 7:
Most modern spam filters use a filtering method known as the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) to determine that email messages are sent from authorized mail servers. Now that all email messages for your organization will be delivered from the SpamCat servers, you should add the following record to all Public DNS zones that are protected under your SpamCat account:
@   TXT    "v=spf1 a mx include:spamcat.net ~all"

Conclusion:
Your Exchange Server should now be properly configured to use SpamCat for all of its outbound messages. If you have any questions or need more help setting this up please feel free to contact our support department.