AWS SES SMTP & Sandbox Removal

I need my Amazon SES account fully ready for live transactional emailing. The account is still in the sandbox, so the first milestone is to secure production access and lift all related sending limits.

Alongside that, I have not yet verified the domain I will be sending from. I will add the required TXT, MX and CNAME records on my registrar once you provide them, but I want you to walk me through the exact steps inside the AWS console so everything aligns with SPF, DKIM and DMARC best-practice.

Once the domain is verified and production access granted, please create the SMTP credentials, test them with a simple curl or swaks command, and share the connection details (host, port, username, password) so I can drop them straight into my application.

Deliverable checklist
• Domain verified and showing “verified” + DKIM “successful” in SES
• Sandbox restriction removed and production sending quota visible
• Working SMTP credentials demonstrated by a successful test send to an external inbox
• Short hand-off note summarising the steps you took and any follow-up recommendations

Tools you will definitely be touching: AWS SES console, IAM for SMTP credentials, Route 53 or external DNS zone files for record updates.

This is strictly for transactional traffic, not marketing blasts, so accuracy and compliance are essential.