Mail flow, message trace and bounce messages

Skills you'll practise

• Explain the path a message takes and where it can stop.
• Read message trace statuses and choose the next step for each.
• Interpret common bounce (NDR) codes and tell permanent from temporary failures.
• Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and header results for obvious problems.
• Tell inbox rules, mail flow rules and permissions apart when investigating.

Course outline

1. 1.Mail flow, message trace and bounce messagesVideo · 4 min
2. 2.Where a message can stopLesson · 8 min
3. 3.Bounce codes in plain wordsLesson · 8 min
4. 4.SPF, DKIM and DMARC for the service deskLesson · 8 min
5. 5.Mail flow, message trace and bounce messages: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 27 questions
6. 6.Final exam8 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• Microsoft Learn: Message trace in the Exchange admin center
• Microsoft Learn: Email non-delivery reports and SMTP errors in Exchange Online
• Microsoft Learn: Email authentication: SPF, DKIM and DMARC
• RFC 7208 Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
• RFC 7489 DMARC