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How to determine an email sending platform from email headers or server information?

Summary

Understanding the origins of an email, including the sending platform and underlying server infrastructure, is crucial for diagnosing deliverability issues, identifying potential spam, or simply understanding a client's setup. Email headers contain a wealth of metadata that, when properly analyzed, can reveal the journey of an email and the systems it traversed. This analysis often involves looking for specific patterns, unique identifiers, or server responses that point to particular email sending platforms or self-hosted mail transfer agents (MTAs).

What email marketers say

Email marketers often encounter situations where they need to identify the email sending platform used by a client, competitor, or even their own organization if documentation is lacking. This frequently arises when troubleshooting unexpected deliverability problems or assessing the quality of a sending infrastructure. Their approach typically involves examining email headers for tell-tale signs, understanding common ESP (email service provider) practices, and sometimes resorting to direct inquiry.

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that to truly understand a client's email platform, analyzing the full email headers is crucial. Partial headers generally provide insufficient information for accurate identification. This is a common starting point for troubleshooting deliverability.

22 Dec 2018 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains that when troubleshooting email issues, the first thing they look for is the Received headers. These headers provide a sequential record of every server that handled the email, offering clues about the path taken and potentially the sending system.

15 Mar 2023 - Reddit

What the experts say

Email deliverability experts emphasize that a deep dive into email headers is non-negotiable for accurately determining the sending platform. They highlight the importance of understanding the SMTP conversation and server identification protocols. Experts often leverage command-line tools and diagnostic utilities to extract precise information that goes beyond what a typical email client reveals, providing a more robust assessment of the underlying infrastructure.

Expert view

Deliverability expert from Email Geeks indicates that there are often subtle clues hidden within email headers that can reveal the sending platform. While PowerMTA is a common deployment, its List-Unsubscribe header format can be highly customized, making direct identification based on this field alone challenging.

22 Dec 2018 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Email deliverability expert from Spamresource.com states that the most reliable method for identifying the true origin of an email is to analyze the Received headers from the bottom up. Each Received header documents a hop, and the first Received header at the very bottom often points to the originating server.

03 Feb 2024 - Spamresource.com

What the documentation says

Technical documentation (e.g., RFCs, official MTA guides) provides the foundational understanding of how email headers are structured and what information they convey. This knowledge is paramount for anyone seeking to precisely determine an email's origin or the software used to send it. Documentation outlines the purpose of various header fields and the standard practices mail servers follow when processing and adding headers.

Technical article

RFC 5322 (Internet Message Format) specifies the general format of email messages, including the header fields. It dictates that mail transfer agents (MTAs) must preserve all existing header fields and add new Received fields at the top of the message as it passes through each hop. This standard ensures a traceable path for every email.

01 Oct 2008 - RFC 5322

Technical article

The Postfix MTA documentation outlines how Postfix identifies itself in the Received header, typically including the string ESMTP Postfix. This consistent labeling allows for straightforward identification of servers running Postfix.

10 Apr 2023 - Postfix Documentation

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