So you’ve just installed Exchange 2013 and you can’t send emails to other domains? No problem. Similar to Exchange 2010, Exchange 2013 is installed without a default send connector enabled. In order to send emails to other Exchange servers or external domains, you’ll need to set it up. Follow the steps below to setup a send connector that will enable email to be sent to all external domains.

1. Login to the Exchange Control Panel: https://FQDN/ecp (or localhost, or IP address) internally or using the external IP or Domain externally. (Security tip: don’t use the default “administrator” account in production…I only did this for testing)

2. Go to Mail Flow and Send Connectors. Click the + (plus) button to add a new external send connector.

3.  Give it a name, such as “External Email Connector” and select Type: Internet. Click Next.

4. Select “MX record associated with recipient domain” for sending email, unless your ISP or Host requires the use of Smart Hosts. Click Next.

5. Press the + (plus) button to add a new Address Space.

6. Under Type enter SMTP and under Cost enter 1. Under FQDN enter *. This ensures you can send email to all Internet domains. If you want to restrict which domains you can send email to, create a new Address Space for each domain, putting the domain name in the FQDN field. This is a useful feature for companies that require high security and control of emails being sent out (Government, Financial, Insurance). Click Next.

7.  Click Next.

8. Press the + (plus) button to add a new Source Server (if you are running only one exchange server, this will be the current/transport server).

9. All exchange servers in the organization will be listed. Highlight the one you wish to use for transport, and click Add. Click OK.

10. Click Finish.

11. Now we need to set the FQDN for the server sending external emails. Highlight the External Email Connector you just created. Click the Edit button above.

12. Click on Scoping, scroll to the bottom and enter the FQDN of your server. This will likely be domainname.com or match your MX record (email.domainname.com). Click Save. This is an important step as it will decrease the likelihood your organization’s email being flagged as spam, by properly identifying your server to others. Exchange 2013 is now setup to send external emails properly.

So you can’t send email from a fresh install of Exchange 2010? Unlike Exchange 2003, Exchange 2010 cannot send emails to external domains out-of-the-box. This feature needs to be enabled through the use of an external send connector. By default, no send connectors are configured when an Exchange 2010 system is setup with a hub transport or edge transport role (typical installation). At first it seems odd for an Exchange server to not allow external email sending by default, but this is commonplace in insurance and financial institutions where complete control over external communications is necessary. I’ll walk you through the steps to create an internet-facing send connector which will allow you to send email to any external domain.

1. Open up the Exchange Management Console. Double-click on Organization Configuration and click on Hub Transport. Click on the “Send Connector” tab. Either right-click on the whitespace or select “New Send Connector” under the Actions task list.

2. Enter a name for the send connector. Under intended use, select “Internet” in order to send to external domains. Click Next.

3. Under Address Space click “Add…” and select “SMTP Address Space…” Click Next.

4. Under SMTP Address Space -> Address, put a * (asterisk) in order to send to all external domains. This is where you may wish to customize the address space by only allowing external emails to specific vendors or customers. Click OK, then click Next.

5. If you are using a smart host to route your emails (sometimes required by an ISP), configure it here. Otherwise, check “use domain name system” to route emails (typical). Click Next.

6. For a single-server installation of Exchange 2010, the source server will be the only one in the list. If you have multiple servers with a hub transport role installed in your organization, you can select a specific server to use. Click Next.

7. This is a summary page of the send connector. Click Next.

8. After the send connector has been configured, this page will appear. The syntax shown is also the powershell equivalent to what was run. Click Next.

9. Once the send connector has been created, you’ll need to configure one last item. Right-click on the connector and select “Properties.”

10. In order to get past some of the more strict spam filters, you need to configure the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN). This is typically the internet-facing address of your email server. Click OK. You’re ready to send email to external domains!