SMTP Configuration Not Working

notnull

I am trying to run Flarum on OpenBSD with a functioning SMTP mail server. I know the SMTP server is working because I am able to connect to it with Thunderbird and send and receive emails.

My flarum email settings and Thunderbird email settings side-by-side: here

When I try to send an email I get the following error:

POST https://demo.r-tekne.net/api/mail/test

Swift_TransportException: Connection could not be established with host mail.roughnecktek.net :stream_socket_client(): php_network_getaddresses: getaddrinfo failed: no address associated with name in /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/StreamBuffer.php:269
Stack trace:
#0 [internal function]: Swift_Transport_StreamBuffer->{closure}(2, 'stream_socket_c...', '/htdocs/flarum/...', 272, Array)
#1 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/StreamBuffer.php(272): stream_socket_client('tcp://mail.roug...', 0, 'php_network_get...', 30, 4, Resource id #630)
#2 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/StreamBuffer.php(58): Swift_Transport_StreamBuffer->establishSocketConnection()
#3 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/AbstractSmtpTransport.php(143): Swift_Transport_StreamBuffer->initialize(Array)
#4 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Mailer.php(65): Swift_Transport_AbstractSmtpTransport->start()
#5 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/illuminate/mail/Mailer.php(488): Swift_Mailer->send(Object(Swift_Message), Array)
#6 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/illuminate/mail/Mailer.php(261): Illuminate\Mail\Mailer->sendSwiftMessage(Object(Swift_Message))
#7 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/illuminate/mail/Mailer.php(185): Illuminate\Mail\Mailer->send(NULL, Array, Object(Closure))
#8 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Api/Controller/SendTestMailController.php(46): Illuminate\Mail\Mailer->raw('Hey admin!\n\nThi...', Object(Closure))
#9 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/RouteHandlerFactory.php(38): Flarum\Api\Controller\SendTestMailController->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#10 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/DispatchRoute.php(65): Flarum\Http\RouteHandlerFactory->Flarum\Http\{closure}(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Array)
#11 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\DispatchRoute->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Closure))
#12 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/SetLocale.php(50): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#13 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\SetLocale->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#14 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/CheckCsrfToken.php(45): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#15 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\CheckCsrfToken->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#16 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/AuthenticateWithHeader.php(55): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#17 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\AuthenticateWithHeader->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#18 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/AuthenticateWithSession.php(32): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#19 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\AuthenticateWithSession->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#20 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/RememberFromCookie.php(51): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#21 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\RememberFromCookie->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#22 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/StartSession.php(61): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#23 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\StartSession->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#24 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Api/Middleware/FakeHttpMethods.php(29): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#25 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Api\Middleware\FakeHttpMethods->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#26 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/ParseJsonBody.php(28): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#27 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\ParseJsonBody->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#28 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Middleware/HandleErrors.php(57): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#29 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Flarum\Http\Middleware\HandleErrors->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#30 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/MiddlewarePipe.php(84): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#31 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/middlewares/request-handler/src/RequestHandler.php(84): Laminas\Stratigility\MiddlewarePipe->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#32 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Middlewares\RequestHandler->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#33 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/middlewares/base-path-router/src/BasePathRouter.php(97): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#34 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Middlewares\BasePathRouter->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#35 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Middleware/OriginalMessages.php(42): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#36 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Laminas\Stratigility\Middleware\OriginalMessages->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#37 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/middlewares/base-path/src/BasePath.php(53): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#38 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/Next.php(61): Middlewares\BasePath->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\Next))
#39 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/MiddlewarePipe.php(84): Laminas\Stratigility\Next->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#40 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-stratigility/src/MiddlewarePipe.php(73): Laminas\Stratigility\MiddlewarePipe->process(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest), Object(Laminas\Stratigility\EmptyPipelineHandler))
#41 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/laminas/laminas-httphandlerrunner/src/RequestHandlerRunner.php(96): Laminas\Stratigility\MiddlewarePipe->handle(Object(Laminas\Diactoros\ServerRequest))
#42 /htdocs/flarum/vendor/flarum/core/src/Http/Server.php(42): Laminas\HttpHandlerRunner\RequestHandlerRunner->run()
#43 /htdocs/flarum/public/index.php(26): Flarum\Http\Server->listen()
#44 {main}

clarkwinkelmann

notnull what kind of hosting are you using?

I know some hostings like DigitalOcean disable outbout SMTP protocol by default.

Have you successfully used a different outbound SMTP on that same server, or do you have other applications on that server already using SMTP successfully?

tankerkiller125

clarkwinkelmann Looking at the error in particular it looks like a DNS resolution error? I'm wondering if the server has a DNS cache, or if the DNS resolver it's connected to has a cache that hasn't refreshed yet.

notnull

clarkwinkelmann Hi, Thank you for your reply! I should have specified those details.

I am hosting through a data center co-op that doesn't restrict any ports, and the mail server was set up using OpenSMTPD and dovecot. I followed this procedure to set up my mail server.

I'm a little confused about your question about other applications on the server using SMTP. I have the email account configured through Thunderbird and am able to send and receive emails successfully. I am also able to send emails from the command line on the server using echo "Test body" | mail -s "Test email" mygmailaddress@gmail.com and this works fine. Is this somehow different than having another application use SMTP?

tankerkiller125

notnull Can you try running the dig mail.yourdomain.com command on your server and double check that it's returning the IP address of your mail server? (please don't post your IP or at least redact it when posting here)

notnull

tankerkiller125 Hi, thanks! Yes, the command dig mail.mydomain.com returns my IP, and also the command dig -t MX mydomain.com +short returns mail.mydomain.com.

[deleted]

Just tested this from the UK, and telnet mail.roughnecktek.net 587 responds with no issues, so it's not DNS. One surefire way to see if this is a PHP DNS lookup failure is to replace the hostname with it's IP address and then try it again.

Also, see if you can ping and telnet the host from the server running Flarum itself. If not, then it will be DNS 🙂

notnull

[deleted] Thanks for verifying! It was an issue specific to OpenBSD, see my comment above.

notnull

I have resolved the issue. It was because OpenBSD by default sets up all web applications chrooted to /var/www, and it appears Flarum uses /etc/resolv.conf to resolve domain names (totally reasonable!). This was fixed by copying /etc/resolv.conf to /var/www/etc/resolv.conf.

I am getting a new error now: Swift_TransportException: Connection could not be established with host mail.roughnecktek.net :stream_socket_client(): Failed to enable crypto in /htdocs/flarum/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/StreamBuffer.php:269

troubleshooting that now, it seems that Flarum is trying to use /dev/urandom for crypto functionality; however OpenBSD /var partition has the nodev flag set by default, for security, so there's no way to symlink /dev/random without compromising system security. There should be a way to work around this by using a library for random functionality rather than a system location, but I don't know the code deeply enough to make a suggestion for that.

Since I am hosting Flarum on the same system as I am hosting my email, I was able to overcome all of these issues by changing the host to 127.0.0.1, the port to 25, and leaving the encryption field blank.

Thanks everyone, and best of luck for this very promising project!

clarkwinkelmann

Glad you found a solution. Those issues seemed definitely more PHP-related and not Flarum-specific. Maybe you could find different PHP binaries which would offer appropriate crypto/dns capability for your operating system.

If your current PHP binaries come from some official OpenBSD packages I am surprised that those errors happen out of the box. Seems like whoever compiled those binaries didn't have full knowledge of the target operating system. I have zero knowledge of OpenBSD, but if such a thing happened on Ubuntu I would suspect someone messed up and pushed the wrong binaries to some official package repository.