"SMTP connect() failed" on InfinityFree but not on XAMPP Localhost

Soumil · August 5, 2021, 3:20am

username: epiz_29328120

Website with the issue: stepsfordancing.com

In the register section, when submitting some information, Chrome gives me:

Full name is:
Email address is:
Phone number is:
How did you hear about this workshop is:
How many months are you signing for is: twomonths
Error while sending Email.object(PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer)#1 (74) { ["Priority"]=> NULL ["CharSet"]=> string(10) "iso-8859-1" ["ContentType"]=> string(21) "multipart/alternative" ["Encoding"]=> string(4) "8bit" ["ErrorInfo"]=> string(82) "SMTP connect() failed. https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting" ["From"]=> string(25) "[email protected]" ["FromName"]=> string(11) "DOLLY GOYAL" ["Sender"]=> string(25) "[email protected]" ["Subject"]=> string(28) "New Registration on Website!" ["Body"]=> string(159) "Full name is:
Email address is:
Phone number is:
How did you hear about this workshop is:
How many months are you signing for is: twomonths
" ["AltBody"]=> string(139) "Full name is: Email address is: Phone number is: How did you hear about this workshop is: How many months are you signing for is: twomonths" ["Ical"]=> string(0) "" ["MIMEBody":protected]=> string(593) "This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --b1_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Full name is: Email address is: Phone number is: How did you hear about this workshop is: How many months are you signing for is: twomonths --b1_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii Full name is:
Email address is:
Phone number is:
How did you hear about this workshop is:
How many months are you signing for is: twomonths
--b1_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU-- " ["MIMEHeader":protected]=> string(517) "Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2021 23:10:56 -0400 To: DOLLY GOYAL From: DOLLY GOYAL Reply-To: DOLLY GOYAL Subject: New Registration on Website! Message-ID: X-Mailer: PHPMailer 6.5.0 (https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="b1_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit " ["mailHeader":protected]=> string(0) "" ["WordWrap"]=> int(0) ["Mailer"]=> string(4) "smtp" ["Sendmail"]=> string(18) "/usr/sbin/sendmail" ["UseSendmailOptions"]=> bool(true) ["ConfirmReadingTo"]=> string(0) "" ["Hostname"]=> string(0) "" ["MessageID"]=> string(0) "" ["MessageDate"]=> string(0) "" ["Host"]=> string(14) "smtp.gmail.com" ["Port"]=> int(587) ["Helo"]=> string(0) "" ["SMTPSecure"]=> string(3) "tls" ["SMTPAutoTLS"]=> bool(true) ["SMTPAuth"]=> bool(true) ["SMTPOptions"]=> array(0) { } ["Username"]=> string(24) "[email protected]" ["Password"]=> string(13) "SoumilDhruv21" ["AuthType"]=> string(0) "" ["oauth":protected]=> NULL ["Timeout"]=> int(300) ["dsn"]=> string(0) "" ["SMTPDebug"]=> int(0) ["Debugoutput"]=> string(4) "html" ["SMTPKeepAlive"]=> bool(false) ["SingleTo"]=> bool(false) ["SingleToArray":protected]=> array(0) { } ["do_verp"]=> bool(false) ["AllowEmpty"]=> bool(false) ["DKIM_selector"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_identity"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_passphrase"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_domain"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_copyHeaderFields"]=> bool(true) ["DKIM_extraHeaders"]=> array(0) { } ["DKIM_private"]=> string(0) "" ["DKIM_private_string"]=> string(0) "" ["action_function"]=> string(0) "" ["XMailer"]=> string(0) "" ["smtp":protected]=> object(PHPMailer\PHPMailer\SMTP)#2 (12) { ["do_debug"]=> int(0) ["Debugoutput"]=> string(4) "html" ["do_verp"]=> bool(false) ["Timeout"]=> int(300) ["Timelimit"]=> int(300) ["smtp_transaction_id_patterns":protected]=> array(8) { ["exim"]=> string(20) "/[\d]{3} OK id=(.*)/" ["sendmail"]=> string(28) "/[\d]{3} 2.0.0 (.*) Message/" ["postfix"]=> string(34) "/[\d]{3} 2.0.0 Ok: queued as (.*)/" ["Microsoft_ESMTP"]=> string(56) "/[0-9]{3} 2.[\d].0 (.*)@(?:.*) Queued mail for delivery/" ["Amazon_SES"]=> string(17) "/[\d]{3} Ok (.*)/" ["SendGrid"]=> string(28) "/[\d]{3} Ok: queued as (.*)/" ["CampaignMonitor"]=> string(35) "/[\d]{3} 2.0.0 OK:([a-zA-Z\d]{48})/" ["Haraka"]=> string(33) "/[\d]{3} Message Queued \((.*)\)/" } ["last_smtp_transaction_id":protected]=> NULL ["smtp_conn":protected]=> NULL ["error":protected]=> array(4) { ["error"]=> string(0) "" ["detail"]=> string(0) "" ["smtp_code"]=> string(0) "" ["smtp_code_ex"]=> string(0) "" } ["helo_rply":protected]=> NULL ["server_caps":protected]=> NULL ["last_reply":protected]=> string(56) "221 2.0.0 closing connection n8sm7166174wms.11 - gsmtp " } ["to":protected]=> array(1) { [0]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(25) "[email protected]" [1]=> string(11) "DOLLY GOYAL" } } ["cc":protected]=> array(0) { } ["bcc":protected]=> array(0) { } ["ReplyTo":protected]=> array(1) { ["[email protected]"]=> array(2) { [0]=> string(25) "[email protected]" [1]=> string(11) "DOLLY GOYAL" } } ["all_recipients":protected]=> array(1) { ["[email protected]"]=> bool(true) } ["RecipientsQueue":protected]=> array(0) { } ["ReplyToQueue":protected]=> array(0) { } ["attachment":protected]=> array(0) { } ["CustomHeader":protected]=> array(0) { } ["lastMessageID":protected]=> string(67) "" ["message_type":protected]=> string(3) "alt" ["boundary":protected]=> array(3) { [1]=> string(44) "b1_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU" [2]=> string(44) "b2_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU" [3]=> string(44) "b3_K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU" } ["language":protected]=> array(26) { ["authenticate"]=> string(35) "SMTP Error: Could not authenticate." ["buggy_php"]=> string(250) "Your version of PHP is affected by a bug that may result in corrupted messages. To fix it, switch to sending using SMTP, disable the mail.add_x_header option in your php.ini, switch to MacOS or Linux, or upgrade your PHP to version 7.0.17+ or 7.1.3+." ["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: " ["extension_missing"]=> string(19) "Extension missing: " ["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(17) "Invalid address: " ["invalid_header"]=> string(28) "Invalid header name or value" ["invalid_hostentry"]=> string(19) "Invalid hostentry: " ["invalid_host"]=> string(14) "Invalid host: " ["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_code"]=> string(11) "SMTP code: " ["smtp_code_ex"]=> string(22) "Additional SMTP info: " ["smtp_connect_failed"]=> string(22) "SMTP connect() failed." ["smtp_detail"]=> string(8) "Detail: " ["smtp_error"]=> string(19) "SMTP server error: " ["variable_set"]=> string(30) "Cannot set or reset variable: " } ["error_count":protected]=> int(1) ["sign_cert_file":protected]=> string(0) "" ["sign_key_file":protected]=> string(0) "" ["sign_extracerts_file":protected]=> string(0) "" ["sign_key_pass":protected]=> string(0) "" ["exceptions":protected]=> bool(false) ["uniqueid":protected]=> string(41) "K07J7tOjPUKOKRrfqWQpBHGpiBrj5cNrME8wlPFPU" }

My PHP is:

<?php use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer; use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception; require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/Exception.php'; require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/PHPMailer.php'; require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/SMTP.php'; $mail = new PHPMailer(); $mail->IsSMTP(); $mail->SMTPDebug = 0; $mail->SMTPAuth = TRUE; $mail->SMTPSecure = "tls"; $mail->Port = 587; $mail->Host = "smtp.gmail.com"; $mail->Username = "**********"; $mail->Password = "*********"; $mail->IsHTML(true); $mail->AddAddress("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL"); $mail->SetFrom("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL"); $mail->AddReplyTo("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL"); $mail->Subject = "New Registration on Website!"; if (isset($_POST['submit'])) { $name = $_POST["name"]; $email = $_POST["email"]; $phonenumber = $_POST["phonenumber"]; $howdidyouhear = $_POST["howdidyouhear"]; $howmanymonths = $_POST["howmanymonths"]; $finalmessage = ""; $allanswers = array( "Full name" => $name, "Email address" => $email, "Phone number" => $phonenumber, "How did you hear about this workshop" => $howdidyouhear, "How many months are you signing for" => $howmanymonths,); foreach ($allanswers as $x => $value) { $finalmessage = $finalmessage . "$x is: $value
"; } echo "$finalmessage"; } $content = "$finalmessage"; $mail->MsgHTML($content); if(!$mail->Send()) { echo "Error while sending Email."; var_dump($mail); } else { echo "Email sent successfully"; } header("location: index.html") ?>

This code is sending emails perfectly in localhost, it gives the above error on the website. I have the latest PHP mailer, and my information (username and password) are censored here, but are correct. May I please know the way to solve this issue so that I can send emails in my website like I am able to in localhost? Thank you!

Soumil · August 5, 2021, 3:23am

I don’t know why, but my php code is a little unreadable, here is the properly formatted PHP:

    <?php

use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer;
use PHPMailer\PHPMailer\Exception;
require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/Exception.php';
require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/PHPMailer.php';
require 'PHPMailer-master/PHPMailer-master/src/SMTP.php';

$mail = new PHPMailer();
$mail->IsSMTP();

$mail->SMTPDebug  = 0;  
$mail->SMTPAuth   = TRUE;
$mail->SMTPSecure = "tls";
$mail->Port       = 587;
$mail->Host       = "smtp.gmail.com";
$mail->Username   = "[email protected]";
$mail->Password   = "XXXX";

$mail->IsHTML(true);
$mail->AddAddress("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL");
$mail->SetFrom("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL");
$mail->AddReplyTo("[email protected]", "DOLLY GOYAL");
//$mail->AddCC("[email protected]", "Soumil Goyal");
$mail->Subject = "New Registration on Website!";
if (isset($_POST['submit'])) {

    $name = $_POST["name"];
    $email = $_POST["email"];
    $phonenumber = $_POST["phonenumber"];
    $howdidyouhear = $_POST["howdidyouhear"];
    $howmanymonths = $_POST["howmanymonths"];

    $finalmessage = "";

    $allanswers = array(
          "Full name" => $name,
           "Email address" => $email,
            "Phone number" => $phonenumber,
            "How did you hear about this workshop" => $howdidyouhear,
            "How many months are you signing for" => $howmanymonths,);

    foreach ($allanswers as $x => $value) {
        $finalmessage = $finalmessage . "$x is: $value<br>";
    }    

    echo "$finalmessage";
}

$content = "$finalmessage";

$mail->MsgHTML($content); 
if(!$mail->Send()) {
    echo "Error while sending Email.";
    var_dump($mail);
} else {
    echo "Email sent successfully";
} 
header("location: index.html")
?>

Admin · August 5, 2021, 8:23am

Could you please enable SMTP debugging to get more information about why it fails? Debug level 2 is most useful.

Also, you may want to reset your password because you posted it in the forum the first time around. I removed it now but it has been visible for a few hours.

I also high recommend enabling two factor authentication in Google and login to SMTP with an App Specific Password. Google is very picky when it comes to Less Secure Apps without 2FA, which may also explain why it works fine on your local machine (for which Google knows that you signed in through the web interface from the same IP) and not on our server (which is somewhere else in the world).

Greenreader9 · August 5, 2021, 12:24pm

Try this.

Ensure that “Less Secure Apps” is enabled in your Google Account Settings.
Turn on 2Fa (Two Factor Authorization) on your Google account
Generate an App Password for your account (It’s under “Privacy”) and use that instead of your real password.
Apply the changes and upload to the server
Clear your cache and cookies and let me know if it works.

Soumil · August 5, 2021, 5:09pm

Hello! Thank you for your prompt responses!

Less secure apps was enabled in the Gmail settings.

I had not turned on 2-step verification, nor had I used an app password.

So, now I turned on the level 2 debugger, and I used 2-step verification with an app password, and the code works(replaced the actual Gmail account password with the app password)!
Of course, now that the code works, I have turned off the debugger, and the code is still sending emails.

Thank you very much InfinityFree Admin and Greenreader9 for your invaluable contributions! If you need any help (which I doubt you will from a beginner like me) let me know!

system · August 12, 2021, 5:10pm

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