# Confusion about the email server before installing discourse
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644
**Category:** Self-hosting
**Created:** [20 Febrero, 2017 00:27 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644 "2017-02-20T00:27:57Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mercadocapote](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mercadocapote)
#### Post date: [20 Febrero, 2017 00:27 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644/1 "2017-02-20T00:27:58Z")
Hello Discourse Community,
I have been trying to set up discourse and so far I have been unable to do so. I am not a computer person. I tried using _Mailgun_ AND _Sparkpost_. I have been unable to verify my sending domains. Are there links and instructions i could follow as my search in the forums has been inconclusive. I install discourse properly all the way but I wasn’t able to send my first email to confirm my admin email. I have deleted the droplet and started again several times.
My domain is in _Google Domains_, and I do not currently have a host but wanted to use _Digital Ocean_. I think that once I get the email server up and running I can absolutely install it as its not a big deal to me. I am just unable to get the email server up and running. In order to access the Google Admin account I need to use _G-Suite_? I tried using _G-Suite_ as it gives me an email but I am unsure if this is what I needed to do. I suspect the problem lies with properly connecting the Google Domains DNS to the Sparkpost/Mailgun server. Furthermore I couldnt confirm my sending domain so it has to be this right?
At this point I am unsure what needs to be done since I have done some many different things. Can someone ELi5 this whole process? I have undone everything thus far to be able to start again from scratch to make sure that i do not miss any steps.
😃 thank you for your time to help out a noob.
---
### Author:  [@ljpp](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ljpp)
#### Post date: [20 Febrero, 2017 06:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644/2 "2017-02-20T06:04:30Z")
I did not quite follow what the actual issue is, but MailGun is easier to setup out of these two. They also have pretty good documentation. You need to add a couple of entries to your DNS records and they have to tool to verify that you got it right.
[https://help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/202052074-How-do-I-verify-my-domain-](https://help.mailgun.com/hc/en-us/articles/202052074-How-do-I-verify-my-domain-)
---
### Author:  [@mercadocapote](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mercadocapote)
#### Post date: [21 Febrero, 2017 17:52 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644/3 "2017-02-21T17:52:28Z")
Hello ljpp
Thank you for your response. I have managed to have my domain verified through Mailgun. I cant send or receive emails yet though, I am wondering if I misunderstood the instructions. I do not have a host or anything up on my website yet. Do I need to have an email server on my domain/site? So if I am doing it through digital ocean I need to set up an email server first connect it to mailgun, so it can send/receive stuff and THEN i can proceed to install discourse. is this correct? thanks!
---
### Author:  [@ljpp](https://meta.discourse.org/u/ljpp)
#### Post date: [21 Febrero, 2017 18:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644/4 "2017-02-21T18:24:05Z")
MailGun is a mail server. You create a domain there, and use the username & password in the Discourse setup procedure.
You do not need to install a mail server on your host. Just follow the Discourse installation instructions to the letter.
---
### Author:  [@mercadocapote](https://meta.discourse.org/u/mercadocapote)
#### Post date: [21 Febrero, 2017 18:24 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/confusion-about-the-email-server-before-installing-discourse/57644/5 "2017-02-21T18:24:49Z")
thank you for your help