CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

We've got CiviCRM 4.4.4 installed and configured, hosted on Bluehost. SMTP works when sending an email directly to a contact, but when we try to send a CiviMail the originating email address is messed up - instead of civicrm@alcp.org.nz (the configured default From email and bounce address) we see it as the VERP suffix without the civicrm+ component.

Bluehost don't support VERP so we've got it disabled, but the VERP component is getting put in there anyway. Is this a known issue?

Here's the CiviCRM log when we try to send a CiviMail -
Mar 02 19:43:49  [info] $Fatal Error Details = Array
(
    [callback] => Array
        (
            [0] => CRM_Core_Error
            [1] => handle
        )

    [code] => 10005
    [message] => Failed to add recipient: user@example.org.nz [SMTP: Invalid response code received from SMTP server while sending email.  This is often caused by a misconfiguration in Outbound Email settings. Please verify the settings at Administer CiviCRM >> Global Settings >> Outbound Email (SMTP). (code: 550, response: Verification failed for <b.14.16.99358cbb8641ba29@alcp.org.nz>
No Such User Here"
Sender verify failed)]
    [mode] => 16
    [debug_info] =>
    [type] => PEAR_Error
    [user_info] =>
    [to_string] => [pear_error: message="Failed to add recipient: user@example.org.nz [SMTP: Invalid response code received from SMTP server while sending email.  This is often caused by a misconfiguration in Outbound Email settings. Please verify the settings at Administer CiviCRM >> Global Settings >> Outbound Email (SMTP). (code: 550, response: Verification failed for <b.14.16.99358cbb8641ba29@alcp.org.nz>
No Such User Here"
Sender verify failed)]" code=10005 mode=callback callback=CRM_Core_Error::handle prefix="" info=""]
)
We also tried sending via Sendmail. Not sure what the sendmail arguments should be (Bluehost is Exim?) but that didn't work either. Have confirmed the SMTP details work from another mail client etc ... the issue is that Bluehost reject the made-up originating email address.

Couple of suggestions in this thread - one indicates that Godaddy have a VERP setting somewhere. (EDIT: Oh yup, but you're using Bluehost, a Godaddy setting won't help you! Unless you can move your mail hosting to a host that supports VERP.)

http://forum.civicrm.org/index.php/topic,24242.0.html

If you can set that to '+' and then use civicrm+ as your localpart, you may find that works?

Or comment out the VERP code mentioned in the other thread as a last resort. Not recommended, but if it works ....

Xavier's right - working around VERP would risk getting your domain getting blacklisted, and that's not worth it.

A couple further suggestions -

1. If you configure your domain mail to accept a wildcard delivery on your domain (and direct that to your civicrm bounce mailbox), you might find that the SMTP relay stops blocking outbound mails from the dynamically generated address. Then you can turn VERP back on and hopefully it'll all work.

2. If that doesn't work, leave the wildcard set up (you'll still need it for VERP, unless your domain mail is moved away from Bluehost) and spend a few $ monthly on proper SMTP hosting. There are lots of options, from Sendgrid @ $10/mo to CiviSMTP which is tuned to the needs of organisations like yours (currently $50 setup + $15/mo).

Even if (1) works, recommend learning in advance what any ToS / usage limits on sending via Bluehost SMTP are (150 msg / hr?) - since presumably SMTP is part of a mass-hosted package, you don't want to find out the hard way that you've hit some limit and been shut down midway through a campaign / membership drive, or that only 150 of your 600 emails got delivered.

CiviMail is a good tool, but it needs to be backed by decent mail service.