I get the following error whenever a user tries to request a password reset email:
The e-mail could not be sent.
Possible reason: your host may have disabled the mail() function.
As per recommendations I’ve read across the web, I tried several SMTP plugins. None worked. Finally, I got some debug information from one. First, the SMTP settings I used (for gmail)
server: smtp.gmail.com
port: 587
Security: TLS
Require Auth: Yes
User: <myuser>@gmail.com
Pass: mypass
Here was the result:
The result was:
bool(false)
The full debugging output is shown below:
object(PHPMailer)#365 (65) {
["Priority"]=>
int(3)
["CharSet"]=>
string(5) "UTF-8"
["ContentType"]=>
string(10) "text/plain"
["Encoding"]=>
string(4) "8bit"
["ErrorInfo"]=>
string(95) "The following From address failed: <myuser>@gmail.com : Called Mail() without being connected"
["From"]=>
string(20) "<myuser>@gmail.com"
["FromName"]=>
string(10) "Tim Shutes"
["Sender"]=>
string(0) ""
["ReturnPath"]=>
string(0) ""
["Subject"]=>
string(50) "WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to <myuser>@gmail.com"
["Body"]=>
string(68) "This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin."
["AltBody"]=>
string(0) ""
["MIMEBody:protected"]=>
string(69) "This is a test email generated by the WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin.
"
["MIMEHeader:protected"]=>
string(453) "Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2013 20:33:18 +0000
Return-Path: <myuser>@gmail.com
To: <myuser>@gmail.com
From: Tim Shutes
Subject: WP Mail SMTP: Test mail to <myuser>@gmail.com
Message-ID:
X-Priority: 3
X-Mailer: PHPMailer 5.2.4 (http://code.google.com/a/apache-extras.org/p/phpmailer/)
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
"
["mailHeader:protected"]=>
string(0) ""
["WordWrap"]=>
int(0)
["Mailer"]=>
string(4) "smtp"
["Sendmail"]=>
string(18) "/usr/sbin/sendmail"
["UseSendmailOptions"]=>
bool(true)
["PluginDir"]=>
string(0) ""
["ConfirmReadingTo"]=>
string(0) ""
["Hostname"]=>
string(0) ""
["MessageID"]=>
string(0) ""
["MessageDate"]=>
string(0) ""
["Host"]=>
string(14) "smtp.gmail.com"
["Port"]=>
string(2) "25"
["Helo"]=>
string(0) ""
["SMTPSecure"]=>
string(3) "ssl"
["SMTPAuth"]=>
bool(true)
["Username"]=>
string(20) "<myuser>@gmail.com"
["Password"]=>
string(9) "<mypass>"
["AuthType"]=>
string(0) ""
["Realm"]=>
string(0) ""
["Workstation"]=>
string(0) ""
["Timeout"]=>
int(10)
["SMTPDebug"]=>
int(2)
["Debugoutput"]=>
string(4) "echo"
["SMTPKeepAlive"]=>
bool(false)
["SingleTo"]=>
bool(false)
["SingleToArray"]=>
array(0) {
}
["LE"]=>
string(1) "
"
["DKIM_selector"]=>
string(0) ""
["DKIM_identity"]=>
string(0) ""
["DKIM_passphrase"]=>
string(0) ""
["DKIM_domain"]=>
string(0) ""
["DKIM_private"]=>
string(0) ""
["action_function"]=>
string(0) ""
["Version"]=>
string(5) "5.2.4"
["XMailer"]=>
string(0) ""
["smtp:protected"]=>
object(SMTP)#364 (11) {
["SMTP_PORT"]=>
int(25)
["CRLF"]=>
string(2) "
"
["do_debug"]=>
int(2)
["Debugoutput"]=>
string(4) "echo"
["do_verp"]=>
bool(false)
["Timeout"]=>
int(10)
["Timelimit"]=>
int(30)
["Version"]=>
string(5) "5.2.4"
["smtp_conn:private"]=>
bool(false)
["error:private"]=>
array(1) {
["error"]=>
string(37) "Called Mail() without being connected"
}
["helo_rply:private"]=>
NULL
}
["to:protected"]=>
array(1) {
[0]=>
array(2) {
[0]=>
string(23) "<myuser>@gmail.com"
[1]=>
string(0) ""
}
}
["cc:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["bcc:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["ReplyTo:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["all_recipients:protected"]=>
array(1) {
["<myuser>@gmail.com"]=>
bool(true)
}
["attachment:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["CustomHeader:protected"]=>
array(0) {
}
["message_type:protected"]=>
string(5) "plain"
["boundary:protected"]=>
array(3) {
[1]=>
string(35) "b1_b0121eb40a93fb27be20cbb901b9250f"
[2]=>
string(35) "b2_b0121eb40a93fb27be20cbb901b9250f"
[3]=>
string(35) "b3_b0121eb40a93fb27be20cbb901b9250f"
}
["language:protected"]=>
array(18) {
["authenticate"]=>
string(35) "SMTP Error: Could not authenticate."
["connect_host"]=>
string(43) "SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host."
["data_not_accepted"]=>
string(30) "SMTP Error: Data not accepted."
["empty_message"]=>
string(18) "Message body empty"
["encoding"]=>
string(18) "Unknown encoding: "
["execute"]=>
string(19) "Could not execute: "
["file_access"]=>
string(23) "Could not access file: "
["file_open"]=>
string(33) "File Error: Could not open file: "
["from_failed"]=>
string(35) "The following From address failed: "
["instantiate"]=>
string(36) "Could not instantiate mail function."
["invalid_address"]=>
string(15) "Invalid address"
["mailer_not_supported"]=>
string(25) " mailer is not supported."
["provide_address"]=>
string(54) "You must provide at least one recipient email address."
["recipients_failed"]=>
string(45) "SMTP Error: The following recipients failed: "
["signing"]=>
string(15) "Signing Error: "
["smtp_connect_failed"]=>
string(22) "SMTP Connect() failed."
["smtp_error"]=>
string(19) "SMTP server error: "
["variable_set"]=>
string(30) "Cannot set or reset variable: "
}
["error_count:protected"]=>
int(2)
["sign_cert_file:protected"]=>
string(0) ""
["sign_key_file:protected"]=>
string(0) ""
["sign_key_pass:protected"]=>
string(0) ""
["exceptions:protected"]=>
bool(false)
}
The SMTP debugging output is shown below:
SMTP -> ERROR: Failed to connect to server: Permission denied (13)
The following From address failed: <myuser>@gmail.com : Called Mail() without being connected
This behavior is ONLY present on the remote site. The password recovery emails work just fine on the local build. Additionally, my understanding is, if this was just a webhost issue, that the SMTP plugins would have worked, which they didn’t.
Can anyone point me in the right direction here? You can see the behavior here: abundancellc.com/wp-admin – try to request password reset and type in “testuser” as the user.
Incidentally, I had no problem setting up “testuser” but I never got an email with my password – even though I requested one. What’s going on? If it’s the rackspace servers, why won’t the SMTP plugins work?
3 Answers
Sounds like a server configuration problem, not a WordPress thing. You said you were using Rackspace? I don’t have personal experience with Rackspace but it appears that they have some known issues with the default PHP mail() function. See:
- http://feedback.rackspace.com/forums/71021-product-feedback/suggestions/1873281-fully-support-php-mail-function-
- http://www.joshuawinn.com/huge-email-delays-on-rackspace-cloud-sites-dont-use-php-mail/
The primary issue is that sending straight through mail() doesn’t authenticate the sender, using open relays, which is something that could be abused and seems that Rackspace delays or doesn’t support well. That’s what it’s not working as you’d normally expect.
Great first step in trying to use an SMTP plugin, as that is the commonly accepted workaround. If PHPMailer is giving you problems, it may be an issue with the original configuration. You can also try port 465 using SSL instead of TLS, which is often the biggest issue. Also, are you using any extra security mechanisms from Google, such as two-factor auth or application-specific passwords? That’s another thing to watch out for.
If you have any other details or evidence do share.