using core php mail() to send via gmail SMTP

Question

Is it possible to send mail in core php via gmail smtp without using any external class?

Answer 1

There's a lot of miscommunication about this. It is 100% possible to send emails using gmail via PHP's simple "mail()" command. And it is 100% easy.

Install SSMTP:

sudo apt-get install ssmtp

Edit its settings file:

sudo nano /etc/ssmtp/ssmtp.conf

Inside, make it similar to this, but with your own credentials:

mailhub=smtp.gmail.com:587
AuthUser=youremail@gmail.com
AuthPass=password
UseSTARTTLS=YES

# You can only do this if you've verified your domain with Gmail.
# If you haven't, delete, or add a # before this
hostname=yourwebsite.com

FromLineOverride=YES

Lastly, open your php.ini, and search for sendmail_path and use this value:

sendmail_path = /usr/sbin/ssmtp -t

That's it! Test it out in your PHP, with the simple 1-line mail function:

mail('to@address.com', 'Subject', 'Message', 'From: Your name <youremail@gmail.com>');

Update on Gmail Security

Gmail now blocks this by default. You can still do this by visiting: http://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps

Turn this feature ON.