E-Mail Best Practices

Oracle requires that all e-mail sent through its servers follows Oracle E-Mail Guidelines as well as any applicable laws. Following the e-mail guidelines does not guarantee that your e-mail will be delivered; however it should decrease the chances of your e-mail being misidentified and blocked as unsolicited e-mail or spam.

• Technical Requirements
  • E-mail sent to Oracle must adhere to the CAN-SPAM regulations and where appropriate Article 13 of the European Union Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications 2002/58/EC.
  • All e-mail must be RFC compliant(Refer to RFC 5321 & RFC 5322).
  • The Internet Society's Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) publishes technical documents detailing internet standards for the transmission of internet mail. For more information on these technical guidelines, please view the following:
    • Anti-Spam Recommendations for SMTP MTAs (BCP 30), The Internet Society
    • SMTP Service Extension for Command Pipelining (STD 60), The Internet Society
  • Mail servers should have valid reverse DNS records. See the following Wikipedia entry for further information. Sending address should be valid with reverse lookup, resolvable in DNS, and able to accept bounce-backs.
  • Mail servers should not act as open relays/proxies and they should be secured to prevent unauthorized or anonymous use.
  • Avoid sending from dynamic IP spaces or where the identity of the host changes frequently as Oracle.com may not be able to accept these connections.
• Policy Requirements
  • Do not attempt to discover e-mail accounts by sending messages to the Oracle mail server(E-Mail Address Harvesting). Servers making this attempt will be blocked by Oracle.
  • Non-authorized use of an Oracle.com e-mail address by a non-Oracle-owned IP address space is not permitted.
  • Oracle imposes a maximum mail size limitation of 15MB when receiving mail from the internet or delivering mail from Oracle.com. This includes the message text, headers, attachments and any embedded images. Please also be aware that in addition to the maximum mail size there is an additional restriction that applies when container or compressed files attached to the mail are uncompressed.
  • Oracle strips executable attachments (including compressed attachments) from e-mail in line with industry standards. For further information and to view a complete list, see Blocked Attachments
  • Oracle makes use of rate control technology to slow down the acceptance of high flows of e-mail. This may delay receipt of e-mail and may result in the IP reputation of the sender being downgraded.
• Authentication
  • Oracle employs industry standard anti-virus technologies to protect the Oracle.com domain from malware, phishing and targeted attacks.
  • Oracle publishes an SPF record listing the IP addresses that are authorized to send e-mail. We recommend you publish an SPF record and ensure your sending domains are listed in your record.
  • We recommend that you sign your E-Mail using DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). Oracle employs DKIM for outgoing mail to enable receivers to validate the content of our e-mail.
  • Oracle employs DMARC to ensure that mail is properly authenticated against SPF and DKIM. The DMARC framework defines our actions in the event that mail fails our SPF and DKIM checks.
• Reputation
  • Oracle recommends that anyone sending e-mail to Oracle.com should actively manage the reputation of outbound IPs.
  • Segregate IPs according to function thereby ensuring that bulk e-mail is not sent from the same IPs as user or transactional e-mail.
  • Recipient validation should be carried out to ensure that hard or soft bounces are investigated and inactive recipients removed.
  • Employ opt-in/out subscription.
  • Outgoing hosts should employ rate control technology.
  • Oracle recommends the use of SPF management. Ensure that your SPF record is up to date with any new sending IPs.
  • Ensure links within e-mail are to domains and not IP addresses.
  • Ensure that "from" and "to" addresses are the same. Sending address should be valid with reverse lookup, fully resolvable in DNS, and able to accept bounce-backs.
  • Avoid sending e-mail containing a single graphic or image. Likewise avoid sending HTML forms, JavaScript, or embedded objects (Flash, ActiveX).

FAQs

• I sent an e-mail to Oracle.com but received an error message—what should I do now?

  Alert your IT department, provide them with the error message you have received and request that they review our E-Mail Good Practices and E-Mail Error Messages. In many cases this will provide an explanation for why the e-mail was not delivered. If further assistance is required refer to How to Report an Issue for more information on engaging with the Postmaster team at Oracle.com and alert your contact at Oracle.com so they can log an internal service request.

• I sent an e-mail to Oracle.com but it hasn't been received and I didn't receive an error message. What should I do now?

  Check with the recipient by alternative means to ensure the mailbox is not temporarily unavailable. Alert your IT department and request that they review our E-Mail Good Practices and E-Mail Error Messages. If further assistance is required your IT department should refer to How to Report an Issue and alert your contact at Oracle.com so they can log an internal service request.

• Can Oracle whitelist my IP addresses?

  Whitelisting reduces Oracle’s ability to leverage our message protection services, so we do not accept whitelisting requests from external companies. Any issues are instead investigated to find a resolution and whitelisting is only ever carried out in exceptional circumstances. Oracle.com evaluates all inbound e-mail for malicious content. If you have adhered to industry and Oracle guidelines you maximize the chances of your e-mail being delivered. Review E-Mail Good Practices and E-Mail Error Messages. Oracle cannot speak to Proofpoint on behalf of any external company, so any errors received from Proofpoint will need to be followed up directly with them. If further assistance is required, please refer your IT department to How to Report an Issue and alert your contact at Oracle.com so they can log an internal service request.

• My e-mail message is blocked—what should I do?

  Review E-Mail Good Practices and E-Mail Error Messages and speak to your IT department. Any errors received from Proofpoint need to be followed up directly with them, as Oracle cannot speak to Proofpoint on behalf of any external company. If further assistance is required your IT department should refer to How to Report an Issue and alert your contact at Oracle.com so they can log a service request.

• What is the maximum size e-mail message that Oracle.com will receive?

  15MB is the maximum size of e-mail message that Oracle.com will accept from the Internet or deliver from Oracle.com. This includes the message text, headers, attachments and any embedded images. In addition to this there is another restriction in place which applies when any container or compressed files attached to an email are uncompressed. For further information and to contact Oracle Postmaster refer to E-Mail Good Practices and How to Report an Issue. Please also alert your contact at Oracle.com as they may be able to discuss an alternative means of information transfer with you.

• What are Oracle's outgoing SMTP IP addresses?

  Primary Oracle Corporate / Oracle Public Cloud E-Mail Relays.

• I just registered a new sending IP but Oracle is blocking—what should I do?

  Refer to the IP reputation section of E-Mail Good Practices. Any errors received from Proofpoint need to be followed up directly with them since Oracle cannot speak to Proofpoint on behalf of any external company. If further assistance is required, please refer to How to Report an Issue and alert your contact at Oracle.com so they can log a service request.

• I use TLS authentication—can Oracle accept my e-mail messages?

  Oracle uses opportunistic TLS. If forced TLS is a requirement, please speak directly to your contact at Oracle.

• What actions can I take to improve delivery to Oracle.com?

  Review and adhere to E-Mail Good Practices.

• The FAQs have not answered my question - what do I do now?

  Please refer to How to Report an Issue and alert your contact at Oracle.com.

IPV4Host—Primary Oracle Corporate / Oracle Public Cloud E-Mail Relays

Oracle has e-mail relays in multiple locations for redundancy. The list below includes the primary corporate e-mail relays.

• Inbound Servers

  aserp2020.oracle.com - 141.146.126.73

  aserp2030.oracle.com - 141.146.126.74

  aserp2040.oracle.com - 141.146.126.75

  aserp2050.oracle.com - 141.146.126.76

  userp2020.oracle.com - 156.151.31.84

  userp2030.oracle.com - 156.151.31.89

  userp2040.oracle.com - 156.151.31.90

  userp2050.oracle.com - 156.151.31.91

• Outbound Servers

  aserp2120.oracle.com - 141.146.126.78

  aserp2130.oracle.com - 141.146.126.79

  userp2120.oracle.com - 156.151.31.85

  userp2130.oracle.com - 156.151.31.86

Blocked Attachments

Oracle blocks attachments using two different sets of criteria:

• specific extension name
• MIME type

Therefore renaming a blocked attachment extension will not allow delivery. Please discuss an alternative method of data transfer with your contact at Oracle.com.

• The table below lists blocked attachments:

  386	crt	lnk	sct
  3gr	dbx	mdb	shb
  add	dll	mde	shs
  ade	exe	mim	url
  asp	fon	msc	uu
  b64	hlp	msi	vb
  bas	hqx	msp	vbe
  bat	hta	mst	vbs
  bhx	inf	ocx	vxd
  chm	ins	pcd	wsc
  cmd	jsp	pif	wsf
  com	js	reg	wsh
  cpl	jse	scr	xxe

How to Report an Issue

• Process to Follow When Reporting an Issue
  • Please complete all fields on the following web form.
  • This form will be used to raise an internal case with the Postmaster team at Oracle.
  • Once the case has been logged and investigated you will be contacted by a member of the Postmaster team.
• Customers Sending System Alerts to Oracle Service Teams or Individuals
  • Ensure a valid external address from your domain is used.
  • Ensure the address has reverse lookup.
  • Ensure the address is resolvable in DNS.
  • Ensure the address is able to accept bounce-backs.

  These measures will ensure that incoming messages adhere to Oracle anti-spoofing policy.

• For Oracle Employees
  Guidance for Oracle Employees Only