[resolved] SMTP Sending Issues

jeffmeadows

Our OSTicket installation has been running like a top for several years. I have done relatively regular updates to the software. We are running it on a Hostgator shared server configuration (not ideal, but cheap). About 3 weeks ago, it suddenly stopped sending emails (except for the admin new ticket creation messages - those are still being delivered, but automated ticket responses, and agent replies are not being delivered.)

Here is our software version and server software:

We do have a bit of a unique situation for email delivery (because Hostgator does not allow access to external SMTP servers).

All checks pass and sending messages from the diagnostic tool within osTicket are delivered without issue.

I am stumped and would greatly appreciate any assistance/ideas that people might have.

Thanks,

ntozier

What do you have set at Admin -> Emails -> Settings for:

Default System Email?
Default Alert Email?
Default MTA?

jeffmeadows

Here are the current settings. I have switched back and forth between the current PHP default MTA and the SMTP server. In both cases, only the admin notification of a new ticket is delivered - all other notifications never get sent.

ntozier

If you want to use the SMTP settings that you set in osTicket then the Default MTA should be set to the SMTP server.

in the teachingsupport email screen shot you have the same email set for the authentication and for Use Separate Authentication. Unless you have a different username/password for sending and receiving you should be able to un check Use Separate Authentication.

Then try re entering the password in the top password field in the image. (the bottom one should disappear when you uncheck Use Separate Authentication.)

Lastly I note that you have Header Spoofing enabled. Some email providers don't like that, and I doubt that PHP Mail would allow that at all. Unless you know that you need that... you should uncheck it.

tip: if you have only one email address setup in osTicket to send/receive emails from then you do not need Header Spoofing enabled. If you have say two+ emails configured in osTicket and only have SMTP setup for one of those emails you might need to have it enabled to send emails from the ones that do not have SMTP setup in them.

jeffmeadows

Thank you for the quick response!

I have switched the MTA back to the SMTP server (messages still not being sent).

I have switched the Sending Email via SMTP setting back to not use Separate Authentication (messages still not being sent)

I know that the credentials are correct for the email login information (because emails are being fetched properly) - but I have updated that as well (messages are still not being sent).

I have turned off header spoofing as well (messages are still not being sent).

Either osTicket is not sending these messages (for some strange reason) - OR they are being blocked BEFORE they even reach my SMTP server (because I am not seeing them as SMTP traffic in the logs). My question is - does osTicket send some messages via PHP and some via SMTP (for example, are the admin notifications sent via PHP at the time of ticket generation and then auto replies sent via SMTP)? I need to diagnose why only the admin alerts are going out and nothing else.

I have also worked with our institutional email admin - the messages are not being blocked by our incoming mail server.

Running out of ideas unfortunately ;(

jeffmeadows

[update]

I just did a local install using the same SMTP settings and everything is working perfectly, so I am pretty sure it is something that Hostgator has done that is trapping these messages before they reach the SMTP server. I am continuing to work with them on this issue.

ntozier

I think that you will likely find that the problem that you are having is related to your statement of
"We do have a bit of a unique situation for email delivery (because Hostgator does not allow access to external SMTP servers)."

Do the admin emails still send when you have SMTP selected as MTA?
note: Having SMTP selected means that it will try to send the mail that way first. If it cannot then it will attempt to fail back to PHPMail.

Let's go to Admin panel -> Settings -> System
Locate Default Log Level and Purge Logs.
Set Default Log Level to DEBUG.
Set Purge Logs to any sane amount (we use After 3 months where I work).

Now go do some stuff that should generate some emails (open a new ticket, assign it to yourself, etc.) Check for emails and then we can go to Admin panel -> Dashboard -> System Logs.

jeffmeadows

@ntozier - thanks again for the quick responses.

Yes, admin messages seem to be delivered regardless of whether SMTP or PHPmail are set for the MTA (those are the only messages getting through).

I have the logs set to DEBUG (I was hoping that sending issues would show up there) - but all that I am seeing are Cron Job entries, some logins for agents, and ticket deletions (I deleted a couple of my test tickets this am).

I am working with Hostgator to try and identify what changed in their set-up approximately 3 weeks ago that might be blocking these messages.

ntozier

Hopefully they can look at the mail server and/or webserver logs to see what's happening. It could be a security things (like SELinux or mod_security) or the mailserver itself.

jeffmeadows

Finally spoke to the right person at Hostgator support - there was a filter that was blocking messages from the system (but not all messages for some reason). They removed the filter and messages are again going out.

For anyone using Hostgator - if you experience this issue, request that they look into SMTP filters for your domain (they are not visible in cPanel), only and admin can locate and remove them.

ntozier

@jeffmeadows Glad to hear that you got this sorted, and thanks for posting what your solution was. Hopefully someone else with Hostgator who runs into this issue will see this and it will help them.