Route the outbound mail of your DirectAdmin servers to the MailGuard smarthost, so it is delivered DKIM-signed from reputation-managed IP pools. Your incoming mail is cleaned of spam and viruses too.
Like cPanel, DirectAdmin also uses Exim underneath and carries the single-IP reputation risk on shared servers. A compromised account or bulk sending can get the server's outbound IP blacklisted. When you set MailGuard as the smarthost, outbound mail is signed, inspected and delivered from clean IP pools.
/etc/exim.conf or via a custom include.For detailed, copy-paste configuration, see the docs. To test your domain, use the SPF/DKIM/DMARC tool and the mail test.
| MailGuard | Directly from the server | Doing nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DKIM signature on outbound mail | Automatic (MailGuard signs) | You have to set it up yourself | None |
| IP reputation management | Fixed, monitored pool per domain | Single IP — everyone shares the same risk | None |
| Inbound spam / virus filter | Yes (MX redirection) | Depends on the server | None |
| Risk of being blacklisted | Minimal (isolated pool) | High | High |
| Delivery visibility / logs | Real-time panel + API | Limited | None |
We were able to integrate easily without changing our mail infrastructure. The process was quite smooth.
Because the integration steps were clear, our technical team completed it quickly.
We integrated MailGuard into our existing infrastructure easily. We did not experience any downtime.
After setup it kept running stably without requiring any maintenance.
Its protection of IP reputation in particular gave us a big advantage. We're happy with the delivery rates.
A significant portion of malicious email traffic is blocked before it ever reaches the user.
Let's go over your current setup, volume and delivery issues, and draw up a migration plan tailored to you.
Get a QuoteDirectAdmin is a lightweight, fast hosting control panel; on the email side it uses the Exim MTA. Just as in other shared hosting environments, delivery depends largely on the server's outbound IP reputation and the accuracy of the DNS records.
When you set MailGuard as the smarthost, DirectAdmin's Exim forwards outbound mail to MailGuard instead of directly to the internet. MailGuard signs every message with DKIM, runs it through content and rate inspection, and delivers it from a reputation-monitored IP with the correct PTR/HELO. This way one customer's behavior doesn't affect the entire server, and the blacklist risk is minimized.
On the inbound side, MX redirection filters out spam, phishing and viruses; only clean mail reaches your DirectAdmin server. Without touching your existing accounts and mailboxes, you gain enterprise-grade delivery and security.