Unable to send mail from forum.

[landyvlad]

In mail settings I have SMTP and have verified the SMTP server and SMTP port are correct (as per hopst advice)

SMTP username [email protected]
SMTP password - I have confirmed is correct, by using the password to log into webmail for that account.

When I go to the 'test' page and enter subject and body and press the button it sometimes sits there as if I haven't pressed it, nothing happens.
Eventually it is saying failed/check error log.

I am getting this error:

VladTepes
 (my IP)
 8f21dc9797e9590d6b5539d9f77e6888
 https://gsx1400owners.org/forum/index.php?action=admin;area=mailqueue;sa=test;save  Backtrace information

Type of error: General
Error messageSelect
Unable to obtain mail server response codes

I would very much appreciate if someone is able to assist me with this.

[Arantor]

That would imply the server settings are wrong. Bare SMTP won't ever be the same as a webmail login - usually you need the server IP/domain for where to relay mail, and its port (often 25, 465 or 587) and depending on that you might need to put ssl:// in front of the server domain.

[landyvlad]

OK I tried a different port as suggested by host and am at least getting a 'test email sent' result in the forum now.

Q: Where is this email sent to? The same place as the 'from' details?  (Because I haven't actually received it there.)

Is there any way I can send a specific message FROM THE FORUM to a specified email address? (as a test)?
(edit did this 2nd thing by sending an email newsletter to admins)

[Arantor]

I believe it's sent to the email listed as the webmaster email address.

[landyvlad]

as in the smtp username here? (attached) or something else?

[Arantor]

Something else - check, I think, in server settings.

[Steve]

Just confirming what Arantor believed. The webmaster address is indeed in the server settings section under the 'General' tab.

[landyvlad]

Ah ok thank you.

It is set to [email protected] which is correct so still for some reason forum-generated emails aren't coming through.

[Arantor]

Do normal emails to this email address work?

Are there SPF rules for the domain? DKIM? DMARC?

[landyvlad]

Do normal emails to this email address work?

Yep.

Are there SPF rules for the domain? DKIM? DMARC?

Umm, that makes no sense at all to me so I guess... no.
My host certainly didn't make mention of anything along those lines.

[KittyGalore]

as in the smtp username here? (attached) or something else?

You haven't put ssl:// before mail in the SMTP server column Arantor mentioned it to you a day or two ago.

[iqbalimaduddin]

Do normal emails to this email address work?

Yep.

Are there SPF rules for the domain? DKIM? DMARC?

Umm, that makes no sense at all to me so I guess... no.
My host certainly didn't make mention of anything along those lines.

I've stumbled upon this problem too before this. And in this forum someone advise me to check DKIM and DMARC in Cpanel. Realising the problem might actually coming from missing of verification both DKIM and DMARC, i contact my hoster, asking them to verify these two, so that the forum at last works just fine.

[Arantor]

SPF is the most crucial, with DKIM a nice to have. You only really need DMARC if you're sending in real bulk.

[landyvlad]

as in the smtp username here? (attached) or something else?

You haven't put ssl:// before mail in the SMTP server column Arantor mentioned it to you a day or two ago.

I tried both with no change.

[landyvlad]

OK so I am VERY confused.
I just sent a 'test email' from the forum and it has gone to my PERSONAL email address.

That is NOT the one in the 'from' (i.e. SMTP details) and it is NOT the one in server settings.

Oh wait it appears it must be using the email that's attached to my admin account profile.
I did not expect that! So presumably if any other admin does such a test it would go to their own accounts email.

@lurkalot  ?

[shawnb61]

Yes, it sends it to the logged in user's email.

Sending it to itself wouldn't be much of a test, imo - youre testing connectivity.

Another way to test is to use the user-entered email option in the newsletters area.

Once you've received the email, view it in raw/original format, to read the headers & confirm there are no email authentication errors.

It should look something like the attached.

Some more reading on SPF, DKIM, & DMARC:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126?hl=en#zippy=%2Crequirements-for-sending-or-more-messages-per-day%2Crequirements-for-all-senders

DMARC prevents others from pretending to be you:
https://thehackernews.com/2021/09/how-does-dmarc-prevent-phishing.html

[Arantor]

The webmaster email address doesn't have to be (and almost certainly shouldn't be) the mail from address, though.

But I suppose using the current logged in email does make sense.

[marcosbr]

Thank you Arantor. I put ssl:// and it resolved my email.
 You cannot view this attachment.

[Douglas]

SPF is the most crucial, with DKIM a nice to have. You only really need DMARC if you're sending in real bulk.

Just to clarify things a bit more... with some providers (Yahoo, Gmail), DKIM and DMARC are now required.

That being said, I would highly recommend you offload your forum's email sending capabilities (if you're doing less than 100 emails a day, it's free) to SendGrid. https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=4357 is the package/Mod specifically for SMF.

FYI, we use SendGrid for Hogville and Fearless. Smartest decision I've ever made in making that change. It handles the SPF, DKIM and DMARC stuff automatically, as long as you have your SendGrid CNAME and DMARC stuff set correctly.

[Arantor]

The DMARC requirement for Google and Yahoo is for bulk sending - if you're sending upwards of 5000 emails per day to either of them.

This is the policy as of February 2024. I didn't bother getting into it because few people here are in the business of sending that many at a time.

As for bulk senders, I have long had good experience with Mailgun but I'm not in the business of sending 15 million emails a month any more (I used to be), these days I get by on the PAYG plan just fine (and with no DMARC because honestly I don't actually want to wade through the reporting)