CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

When I attempt to do a mailing and I send a test email (step 4 of 5), I get this error:
"Sorry. A non-recoverable error has occurred. Invalid response code received from SMTP (outbound mail) server while attempting to send email. This is often caused by a misconfiguration in the CiviCRM Outbound Email settings. Please verify the settings at Administer CiviCRM >> Global Settings >> Outbound Email (SMTP)."

However, when I check my SMTP settings (administer/Configure/Global Settings/Settings-Outbound Mail) by clicking on the "Save and Send Test Email" button, it works fine. I see "Your SMTP settings are correct. A test email has been sent to your email address," and then if I check the email it was sent to, I do indeed receive the email. Why am I having trouble with mailings?

All help appreciated!

Matt Martin
Community Bike Project Omaha

Ok, spent a bunch of time with Bluehost tech support, and they tell me that, as is evidenced by the fact that I can send out a test email through the Administer>>Configure>>Global Settings>>Outbound Email screen, that the problem is not with Bluehost (my hosting service), but with CiviCRM.

Why would it work when I send a test email through the Global Settings>>Outbound Email screen, but not when I try to send a test email in the Mailings>>New Mailing>>Test(step 4 of 5) screen? Isn't it using the same SMTP info?

Still confused...

Matt

Ok, just talked with Bluehost again. Apparently, even though I have entered a valid email address, password, SMTP server, and SMTP Port in both Joomla and CiviCRM (hence, why it works when I send a test email), the Bluehost tech looked up the error message generated when I try to send a test mailing in CiviMail and it fails--and to Bluehost, it looks like the email is coming from a completely different username.

I have setup info@communitybikeproject.org as the FROM email address, yet Bluehost sees the email as from b.79.3142.33725ac05f6ba4c8@communitybikeproject.org. Since that is not a valid username, Bluehost is rejecting the email.

Why is CiviCRM generating this username when I send out a test mailing, and how do I fix this?

Thanks much for all the help so far.

Matt

Ok, just talked with Bluehost again. Apparently, even though I have entered a valid email address, password, SMTP server, and SMTP Port in both Joomla and CiviCRM (hence, why it works when I send a test email), the Bluehost tech looked up the error message generated when I try to send a test mailing in CiviMail and it fails--and to Bluehost, it looks like the email is coming from a completely different username.

I have setup info@communitybikeproject.org as the FROM email address, yet Bluehost sees the email as from b.79.3142.33725ac05f6ba4c8@communitybikeproject.org. Since that is not a valid username, Bluehost is rejecting the email.

It means that you haven't properly configured the mail account. To be able to track who bounces, civimail uses a technique called VERP, where each sender email is unique.

You need to create a mailbox (different than info) and set up the bounce processing.

It was described on the previous version of the book, couldn't find it right now, I've asked the updated where they put it (check out the wiki, that's probably there too).

So, I have never had the "Track Replies" box checked at all...or any of the boxes on step 2 of the mailing wizard.

I did try setting up a new account: bounce@communitybikeproject.org and put that info in the Administer > CiviMail > Mail Accounts setup. However, I'm still getting the same error...Clearly, I still have something setup wrong...

Here's how Administer > CiviMail > Mail Accounts is set up:

Name: Default
Server: mail.communitybikeproject.org
Username: bounce@communitybikeproject.org
Password: xxxxxx
Localpart: bounce+
Email Domain: communitybikeproject.org
Return Path: (blank)
Protocol: LocalDir
Source: (blank)
Use SSL?: (unchecked)
Default Option?: (checked)

And my Configure > Global Settings > Outbound settings:

SMTP Server: mail.communitybikeproject.org
SMTP Port: 26
Authentication?: Yes
SMTP Username: info@communitybikeproject.org
SMTP Password: xxxxxxxxx

And my Joomla > Site > Global Configuration > Server > Mail Settings settings:

Mailer: SMTP Server
Mail from: info@communitybikeproject.org
From name: CBPO
Sendmail Path: /usr/sbin/sendmail
SMTP Authentication: Yes
SMTP Security: None
SMTP Port: 26
SMTP Username: info@communitybikeproject.org
SMTP Password: xxxxxxx
SMTP Host: mail.communitybikeproject.org


Now, I feel like I'm missing something simple...

Matt

Hi Xavier,

Not sure I understand the first question - I sent the test mailing from the same info@ address. Is this what you mean?

I tried sending email to info+test@ - it failed permanently with a 550 No Such User Here error.

I switched over to try using mail() and now get this error when I try to send a test message through CiviMail: "Sorry, a non-recoverable error has occurred. mail() returned failure."

(NB: When I send a test email through Administer > Configure > Global Settings > Outbound Email, it does work using mail().)

Matt

Rats. Can't get there from here!

Thanks for all the replies and insights - I appreciate the time and thoughts.

Matt