I have M365 Family and a domain name not on GoDaddy

So as expected, my original account (Test Microsoft365) was blocked.

So be careful what you write here.

For me personally this is a clear signal NOT to use Microsoft365. I am done with testing Microsoft 365 Family. I am glad that I have tried the product and I have clear arguments why I personally will never use it.

I think it goes both ways, Microsoft certainly doesn't care about such users trying to work around its set terms and conditions, whatever they may be.

So goodbye and thanks for the fish.

Did this break once the original "test12345.family" domain expired?

Is it necessary to register a domain at GoDaddy at all, if you already have one and are able to make DNS changes yourself?

The emails on our account are something like...

        \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\* 

        \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\* 

If I send an email from one of those, is there a way to search the email header and find the MX server? It shows something like...

        Received: from NEX42-TE8-obe.outbound.protection.outlook.com - doesn't resolve  

or

        Received: from SN8PR07MB4990.namprd07.prod.outlook.com - does resolve  

It looks like the CNAME for domainconnect.gd.domaincontrol.com doesn't actually resolve to anything. Can you even use an underscore in a CNAME ( _domainconnect.gd.domaincontrol.com )?

I could just setup forwarders for...

        \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\* to forward to \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\*

        \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\* to forward to \*\*\* Email address is removed for privacy \*\*\*   

...which would essentially accomplish the same thing except that people might see those aliased emails when they reply. It also leaves another forwarding service in the middle of the email flow which is not desirable as it's another potential point of failure/troubleshooting.

I get trying to make it easy for most, but it just seems odd that they don't allow people to figure this out manually if they want to.

EDIT - I posted fake emails, but whatever.

Hello puppydawgy

Hi, I'm Karl and will be happy to help you today.

Unfortunately, the domain needs to be registered with GoDaddy to be added to MS 365 as a personal domain. That is not optional.

@TestMicrosoft365 - I'm in the trial period. I've successfully set up, removed, and again set up my domain name, a couple of times now. The domain name is registered and DNS configured with namecheap.

I've consolidated these instructions into a page on my blog: https://209ed.blogspot.com/2022/04/configuring-dns-for-non-godaddy-domain.html

Hello @TestMicrosoft365,

Good question, I was stating a personal observation when following David's instruction.

As I have mentioned in a comment yesterday, I have successfully used the mxRecordValue taken from the URL and placed it into my MX and TXT records which resulted in Outlook (365 Family) detecting the domain. What this means is that you don't need to purchase a temporary domain name from GoDaddy as David indicated in his original instruction, you can save yourself a few bucks and bypass that redundant step.

I am currently using Google Workspace Domains (who in turn uses Domains By Proxy LLC) for my domain name. Using the DNS record settings provided in David's instruction, this works fine for Microsoft 365 Family's personalized (domain) email address setup. Propagation of DNS changes did not take long. Once I created my email alias with my domain name within Outlook, I did test emails to and from outlook and a personal Gmail address, and it worked fine.

Further observations that might be helpful with troubleshooting:

(step g.)

The "_domainconnect.gd.domaincontrol.com" CNAME entry enables Outlook to see your non-GoDaddy domain as one managed by GoDaddy. DomainConnect(.org) is an 'industry standard' for automating setup of email/web provider settings. It's not something that is used exclusively by Microsoft and GoDaddy. Obviously, in this instance the DomainConnect process is not going to utilized at all as you will be entering all of the required information manually into your domain provider's DNS record.

Notes:

• You will likely have an existing entry that you should modify rather than creating a competing entry.
• When you get prompted to Sign-in to GoDaddy just close that browser window, as you've already setup all necessary DNS record entries (as per David's instruction/table).

(step j.)

The "123456789.pamx1.hotmail.com" MX record enables Outlook to see that the domain as being validated and setup; Outlook then allows you to add your new personalized domain email alias.

Note:

• A completing MX entry from another email provider (in my case GoogleMail) with the same or greater priority setting will prevent Outlook from allowing you to the next step of setting up your email alias: you will see the message "Your domain [domain.name] is still being configured. This can take up to 24hrs". Setting the priority to "0" should place this MX record at the top of list for resolution, then Outlook should see the domain as being setup. If this is your permanent setup, MX entries for the old email provider should be removed at some point (always a good idea to make backup copies of these DNS records before making any changes).

The other TXT and CNAME entries David mentioned in his instruction are required too but the above two are likely the ones that might cause issue in setup failure.

--Derek