Email w/ Google Apps on GoDaddy

[pjhenry1216]

So, I setup Google Apps to handle the email for my shared linux hosting on GoDaddy. I can't seem to setup the email. I've even just created a separate gmail account (not part of google apps) and used the gmail option for outgoing email to no avail. I've put in the smtp information for both gmail AND google apps (i'd prefer google apps, but anything will do). I don't have any email setup within GoDaddy at all. It's all through Google nowadays. Any help would be appreciated.

I'm using SugarCRM Community Edition 6.3.0. I'm not entirely sure which version of Apache GoDaddy uses, but I'm using PHP 5.2.

Any and all help will be appreciated. I'm somewhat new at this, so try to keep it somewhat simple if possible, but honestly, even if I don't understand it, it at least gives me something to research.

Update for clarification: When I say I can't setup the email, I mean I can't setup the email in SugarCRM CE 6.3. Google Apps email has been working fine outside of SugarCRM. I just don't know if somehow GoDaddy requires use of its own smtp servers on internal hosting or something.

Update for new thoughts: Is it possible this isn't allowed on shared hosting and I need a dedicated virtual server (or more) to get this to work?

[CrownHills]

Ok, I have worked intermittently for days on this, including till after midnight last night, and just figured it out. Nobody on the net seems to get it.


Your shared web host (such as GoDaddy) has a firewall, which likely is going to block random outgoing e-mails so the host doesn't cause problems when some user starts trying to send spam from it. People got this, but they didn't get the solution. So here it is.


The shared web host may support outgoing email, you just have to use the accounts and email infrastructure set up on the shared host itself. So for a sugar on a shared host, completely ignore any SMTP you may have set up elsewhere, or any e-mail accounts elsewhere. You're going to use the email accounts you have available with that shared host.

B.t.w, this may not be necessary if you have more advanced modules installed in PHP, such as the IMAP modules. They may be able to bypass this with encrypted, authenticaed email. These modules are not installed in the base GoDaddy shared host package.

Your shared host is likely configured to use a particular SMTP server and port number. With GoDaddy, and hopefully others, their admin has been kind enough to set this up in the PHP configuration. Unfortunately, sugar overrides this info with what you set, so you just have to find out if it was originally set by their admin, and what it was, and set that to what sugar uses when sugar overrides it.

First of all, can you send e-mail from your host? The built in PHP function mail() can be used to test this. Keep this test simple - the built in mail() has all sorts of problems if you give it complicated parameters. Try creating a file phpmailtst.php containing just:
<?php
mail('youremail@youremailhost.com', 'Test Subject', 'Test message.');
?>
where your email info goes in the first parameter. If you browse to this page, it should send you the test message via email. If it doesn't, sorry I have no clue what to do next.

If it sends the email, then your host and your PHP can send email. So now you need to find out the SMTP parameters that PHP mail() used for this. Try creating a file phpinfoconfig.php containing just:
<?php
phpinfo(INFO_CONFIGURATION) ;
?>
If you browse to this page, two of the output parameters should be SMTP and smtp_port. Use these as the sugar SMTP server and sugar SMTP port, tell sugar not to use SMTP authorization or SMTP encryption such as SSL or TLS because the stock PHP mail() does not support these, and use some sending e-mail account that the web hosting server knows such as an email account set up on that same hosting service, and you should be good to go!

For me on GoDaddy, the SMTP server was relay-hosting.secureserver.net and port was 25.

Again, it is possible that none of the above applies if PHP has more advanced email packages, such as the IMAP module, installed. In my installation of sugar 6.3.1 on a basic GoDaddy shared host account, I received an explicit warning that the IMAP module was not installed. If you do not see that warning, perhaps none of the above applies to you.

[gates2u]

CrownHills - thank you.
What you've described (the problems with the firewall) also applies to Godaddy dedicated servers (virtual dedicated servers). I had been attempting to send outbound mail through as authenticated SMTP through a Godaddy email account on another Godaddy server. In fact it was a paid-for unlimited IMAP-configured email account.

I experienced exactly what you described - seemingly random denials and errors. About every 3rd email on average was killed if sending at a spacing of 1-2 minutes apart. This rendered my new installation unusable.

So, I looked at the PHP info, and set my email to UNAUTHENTICATED outgoing email on my local server (localhost, port 25) and all emails are going out just fine now.

Seems odd to back into what would appear to be a more abusive setup, but I guess godaddy insists on this to determine who is spamming. If that' the case, then they should stop selling extra relays on their other email accounts!!!

Thanks again CrownHills

[gregmaron]

You are a genius man. You highlight and solve a problem that would otherwise be incredibly difficult to track down. I am using Bluehost btw, so the same concepts of shared hosting apply.

This process really needs to highlighted in the KB.

[jagdecat]

Thank you for this. Please ask the admin to make your post sticky. It resolved a lot of issues today at our end and i'm sure the problems people are facing with email settings, it will resolve at least a hundred more.

Thank you for being simply amazing and working out what our problems were.

Ok, I have worked intermittently for days on this, including till after midnight last night, and just figured it out. Nobody on the net seems to get it.


Your shared web host (such as GoDaddy) has a firewall, which likely is going to block random outgoing e-mails so the host doesn't cause problems when some user starts trying to send spam from it. People got this, but they didn't get the solution. So here it is.


.....

Again, it is possible that none of the above applies if PHP has more advanced email packages, such as the IMAP module, installed. In my installation of sugar 6.3.1 on a basic GoDaddy shared host account, I received an explicit warning that the IMAP module was not installed. If you do not see that warning, perhaps none of the above applies to you.