Setting up a new subdomain
Must-read
This page provides information on how to set up new subdomains using Full subdomain delegation or CNAMEs. Global concepts on these two methods are presented in this section: Subdomains branding.
Related topic:
Instance selection
Subdomain configuration is available for production instances only.
If the instance that you select in the wizard has no previously setup subdomains, the first configured subdomain will become the primary subdomain for that instance and you will not be able to change it in the future. As a result, reverse DNS records will be created for other subdomains using this primary subdomain. Reply-to, and bounce addresses for other subdomains will be generated from the primary subdomain.
Delegate subdomains’ SSL certificates to Adobe
When setting up a new subdomain, you can have the SSL certificate managed by Adobe. This is strongly recommended, as Adobe will automatically create the certificate and renew it every year before the certificate expires.
If you are using CNAMEs to set up a subdomain delegation, Adobe will provide certificate records to use into your domain hosting solution to generate your certificate.
Nameservers configuration
When configuring nameservers, make sure you never delegate your root subdomain to Adobe. Otherwise, the domain will be able to work with Adobe only. Any other use will be impossible, like for example sending internal emails to your organization’s employees.
Moreover, do not create a separate zone file for this new subdomain.
Full subdomain delegation
To fully delegate a subdomain to Adobe Campaign, follow the steps below.
-
In the Subdomains & Certificates card, select the desired production instance, then click Setup new subdomain.
-
Click Next to confirm the full delegation method.
-
Create the desired subdomain and nameservers in the hosting solution used by your organization. To do this, copy-paste the Adobe Nameserver information displayed in the wizard. For more on how to create a subdomain in a hosting solution, refer to the tutorial video.
note note NOTE For Adobe Campaign Standard, subdomains delegated will allow you to send both Marketing and Transactional communications. 
-
Once the subdomain is created with the corresponding Adobe nameserver information, click Next.
-
If you selected a Campaign v7/v8 instance, select the desired use case for the subdomain: Marketing communications or Transactional & operational communications. Global concepts on subdomains’ use cases are presented in this section.
-
Enter the subdomain that you created into your hosting solution, then click Submit.
Make sure you fill in the full name of the subdomain to delegate. For example, to delegate the “usoffers.email.weretail.com” subdomain, type “usoffers.email.weretail.com”.
-
To delegate the generation of the subdomain’s SSL certificate to Adobe, enable the Opt for Adobe managed SSL for sub-domains option. Learn more on SSL certificates delegation
Once the subdomain is submitted, various checks and configuration steps will be performed by the Control Panel. For more on this, see Subdomain checks and configuration.
Subdomain configuration using CNAMEs
To configure a subdomain using CNAMEs, follow the steps below.
-
In the Subdomains & Certificates card, select the desired production instance, then click Setup new subdomain.
-
Select the CNAME method, then click Next.
-
If you selected a Campaign v7/v8 instance, select the desired use case for the subdomain: Marketing communications or Transactional & operational communications. Global concepts on subdomains’ use cases are presented in this section.
-
Enter the subdomain that you created into your hosting solution.
To delegate the generation of the subdomain’s SSL certificate to Adobe, enable the Opt for Adobe managed SSL for sub-domains option. Learn more on SSL certificates delegation
note note NOTE Make sure you fill in the full name of the subdomain to setup. For example, to configure the “usoffers.email.weretail.com” subdomain, type “usoffers.email.weretail.com”. -
The list of records to be placed in your DNS servers displays. Copy these records, either one by one, or by downloading a CSV file, then navigate to your domain hosting solution to generate the matching DNS records.
-
Make sure that all the DNS records from previous steps have been generated into your domain hosting solution. If everything is configured properly, select the first statement then click Next to confirm.
If you want to create the records and submit the subdomain configuration later on, select the second statement. You will then be able to resume the subdomain configuration directly from the subdomain management screen Processing area. Note that DNS records to be placed on your server will be kept by Control Panel 30 days. Beyond that period, you will have to configure the subdomain from scratch.
note note NOTE If you chose not to delegate the SSL certificate to Adobe, this is the last step of the subdomain configuration. Click the Submit button. 
-
If you chose to delegate the subdomains’ certificate to Adobe, certificate records are automatically generated. Copy these records, either one by one, or by downloading a CSV file, then navigate to your domain hosting solution to generate the matching certificate.
-
Make sure that all the certificate records have been generated into your domain hosting solution. If everything is configured properly, select the first statement then click Submit to confirm.
Once the subdomain is submitted, various checks and configuration steps will be performed by the Control Panel. For more on this, see Subdomain checks and configuration.
Subdomain checks and configuration
-
Once a subdomain has been submitted, the Control Panel will check that it correctly point to Adobe NS records and that the Start of Authority (SOA) record does not exist for this subdomain.
note note NOTE Note that while subdomain configuration runs, other Control Panel requests will be entered into a queue and performed only after the subdomain configuration completes, to prevent any performance issues. -
If the checks are successful, the Control Panel will start setting up the subdomain with DNS records, additional URLs, inboxes etc.
You can get more details on the configuration progress by clicking the subdomain configuration Details button.
-
Eventually, the Deliverability team will be notified about the new subdomain, in order to audit it. The audit process can take up to 10 business days after the subdomain has been configured.
note important IMPORTANT The deliverability checks that are performed include feedback loops and spam complaint loops testing. We therefore do not recommend using the subdomain before the audit has been completed, as it could result in bad subdomain reputation. However, note that you can perform operations related to SSL certificates on your subdomain, even if the deliverability audit is still processing. -
At the end of the process, the subdomains will be configured to work with your Adobe Campaign instance and the elements below will be created:
- The subdomain with the following DNS records: SOA, MX, CNAME(s), DKIM, SPF, TXT,
- Additional subdomains to host mirror, resource, tracking pages and domain key,
- Inboxes: Sender, Error, Reply-to.
By default, the “Reply-to” inbox from the Control Panel is configured to clear emails and is not reviewable. If you want to monitor your “Reply-to” inbox for your marketing campaigns, do not use this address.
You can get more details on the subdomain by clicking the Subdomain details and Sender info buttons.
Troubleshooting
- In some cases, subdomain configuration goes through, but the subdomain may not be successfully verified. The subdomain will stay into the Configured list with a job log providing information on the error. Contact Customer Care if you have trouble resolving the issue.
- If the subdomain is being shown as “Unverified” after being configured, launch a new subdomain verification (… / Verify subdomain). If it still shows the same status, the reason could be that there is some customisation done on recipients schema, which cannot be verified using standard processes. Please try sending out a campaign with that subdomain.
- If the subdomain configuration is taking too long (more than 10 business days) at deliverability audit step, please reach out to Customer Care.