How can I move to workmail without loosing connection to my current mail provider in the mean time?

Question

I am in the process of moving my domain from another provider to AWS. I am using Route 53 and am planning to use workmail for this domain for my emails. To connect workmail to my domain an create a user with my prefered and current mail address, I need to publish the AWS MX files to Route 53, with that I loose the ability to receive mails with my current provider and it might take up to 72 hours for the new MX file to be detected my workmail (if everything works as planned). Is there a solution to do this with less risk and less downtime?
Thanks for your help!

Answer

DNS works on an "eventually consistent" model. When you change the MX record, some mail servers will pick up the change immediately; others will take longer depending on the TTL that you have assigned to the MX record. In the transition period, mail might be delivered to either destination.

To minimise downtime, set the TTL on the MX record to a low number (say, 30 seconds or 2 minutes - whatever is good for you). Make sure that you do this ahead of your change and at a time which is longer than the current TTL. If your TTL is one day right now, make this change more than one day in advanced to give DNS time to propagate.

After you've moved to WorkMail you can increase the TTL again.

Answer

For future readers, please note that WorkMail covers the cost for the migration tools provided by Transend and Audriga. More info here: [https://aws.amazon.com/workmail/features/](https://aws.amazon.com/workmail/features/)

These companies can also assist with migration consultation to help you navigate the kind of logistics raised by this question. Please reach out to Transend or Audriga for more information about their services, pricing, etc.

How can I move to workmail without loosing connection to my current mail provider in the mean time?

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