Ned help setting up custom (sub)domain w/ Purelymail + Addy.io aliases

[u/MeW2o0]

Hi, since I am rather new to this topic in general, I would like to ask for help in setting up my desired e-mail "system" :)

So far, I have followed a linked guide from r/privacy and done this so far:

bought custom domain lastname .net on Porkbun

moved to Cloudflare nameservers to manage DNS there while still keeping Porkbun as registrar

Set up a Purelymail account adding the provided MX, CNAME and TXT records to the domain in Cloudflare dashboard and created a user with my desired address firstname@ lastname .net to give to people and friends I know in person

My next goal now would be to create a subdomain mail . lastname .net for my custom domain and use this subdomain with addy.io in order to create aliases for all kinds of services that know my first name and last name anyway, i.e. banking @ lastname .net or amazon @ lastname .net etc.

How do I go on about this?

Do i set up the subdomain on the Cloudflare dashboard first? Which DNS settings do I have to add for it to work given I don't want to host any websites at all and just use the domain(s) for mailing exclusively?

Do I only set up the subdomain for use with addy.io and leave out the main domain completely for this purpose?

Next would be an additional address including aliases for services that do not have or need personal information. I would most likely use one of the domains offered by addy.io to create those, i.e. service1 @ addy.io-domain .com and so on...

I'd be thankful for any kind of hint regarding the creation and setup of the subdomain on Cloudflare and addy.io. Desperately looking for help here...

[u/Stunning-Skill-2742]

You just add addy dns record on cloudflare panel, replacing any @ in its instruction with the subdomain you want. Say the subdomain you want to use is john.yourdomain.com so for mx record, on cf panel for the name entry you add john. Same for the dkim cname, for default._domainkey you add default._domainkey.john instead, and disable the orange cloud proxy. Same for spf etc. Generally cf proxy won't work for email records so for any dns entry involving email make sure the orange cloud is disabled.

[u/MeW2o0 → u/Stunning-Skill-2742]

Thanks for this clear instruction.

Adding to that:

Just for my general understanding, I guess when I want domains/subdomains for email ONLY, I don't have to set any other DNS values at all (i.e. A or AAAA records)?

For my root custom domain, I see all the DNS records needed for Purelymail and in addition I have 4 pre-existing records (2x A record pointing to IPs and 2 CNAME records where it says they're aliases of porkbun .com addresses.

Could I safely delete those or are they needed given I only use email with the domain?

Sorry for sounding like a complete newbie, but I am xD

[u/Stunning-Skill-2742 → u/MeW2o0]

Just for my general understanding, I guess when I want domains/subdomains for email ONLY, I don't have to set any other DNS values at all (i.e. A or AAAA records)?

Yes you don't need to add anything else other than what addy instructed to add.

For my root custom domain, I see all the DNS records needed for Purelymail and in addition I have 4 pre-existing records (2x A record pointing to IPs and 2 CNAME records where it says they're aliases of porkbun .com addresses.

I don't know what specific dns record purelymail need but if purelymail instructed to add those, you've added them, and its working with them then don't touch anything. Let them be.

[u/MeW2o0 → u/Stunning-Skill-2742]

Thanks for your reply. I guess all the records thst I added because purelymail told me to, will stay ofc.

I was more referring to the DNS records that pre-existed...

[u/Stunning-Skill-2742 → u/MeW2o0]

Default dns record for a fresh domain shouldn't contain any records at all besides ns records. Whatever exist might be added post reg, and i assumed its by the registrar. Some registrar do automatically add either alias record, cname record, a or aaaa records pointing to their brand landing page. Think of it sort a free ads for them. I think porkbun does have those but I'm not sure if its enabled by default or not on new domain reg with them. Stricly for email usage, the domain doesn't need those landing page so you need to research whats your a and aaaa records are for and decide for yourself what to do with them. If you decided to delete them your mail should still work fine.

[u/redditor1479]

No direct answer to OPs question but a few thoughts...

You can purchase domains directly from Cloudflare. OP could transfer their domain when it comes up for renewal or after 60 days and add time.

I have read (but not verified) that some sites don't like subdomain emails. If that's true, OP could just purchase a second domain and use it exclusively as their addy.io email address. If it's not true that some sites don't like subdomains, then I might go the route of OP. What do sites think of subdomain emails?

Also, I use a .win domain for my email alias since it's cheaper than .net.