[RESOLVED] A basic concept question on mail()

kcgame

Hi,

I have been using mail() to test sending emails on my localhost (running on WIN XP). However, i am now going to switch over to my web host which is running on UNIX.

My question is that for the mail() to work on Unix, do i have to set the SMTP in the php.ini file? Can i just activate the mail() function without setting the SMTP, SMTP_from or SMTP_from and sendmail_from parameters?

Any help / comment will be appreciated. Thank you.

wilku

I'm not sure, but I think in Unix you just have to set local path to sendmail (or other mail program). Check in PHP manual under [man]mail[/man].

LoganK

kcgame wrote:
Can i just activate the mail() function without setting the SMTP, SMTP_from or SMTP_from and sendmail_from parameters?

So then where do you think the mail function is going to send mail from? 😃

On *nix, you need to configure the path to your local sendmail client. On Windows, you need to configure the hostname of your SMTP server, and the e-mail address to send mail from (usually "me@localhost" is fine; you can change this through mail headers).

kcgame

LoganK wrote:
On *nix, you need to configure the path to your local sendmail client.

:o thanks for the replies. So is it correct to say if the sendmail path is configured in the php.ini inside the Unix server, i can just use mail(). If its not pre-configured, i will have to use ini_set() before mail()..(Please correct my concept if its wrong 🙂 )

Thank you.

Drakla

If you're running on a server that somebody has already set it up it's probably ready to go. Just write a test script to email yourself.

Are you planning on mass mailing or something smaller, like notification emails to yourself?

LoganK

True, but if it's on your own server, it's easier in the long run to configure it instead of using ini_set on every script which needs to use mail.

kcgame

Are you planning on mass mailing or something smaller, like notification emails to yourself?

Just a single Email to a user that sign-up as a member on my website. 🙂

True, but if it's on your own server, it's easier in the long run to configure it instead of using ini_set on every script which needs to use mail.

Too bad i don't have my own server...hope my web host has pre-configured it..

Thanks for the replies, guys

LoganK

Allright, you're welcome.

As always, mark the thread resolved if you feel it is!

Drakla

Don't forget to use the 5th parameter to mail to set the envelope of the email with something like '-finfo@yourdomain.com' the domain being the same as where you've set your email from, as this helps it not get junked by spam filters. But I do mean 'helps' and not guarantees it'll get pipe and slippers at the door.

kcgame

hmm.....how do i set to Resolved??

I changed the topic by adding Resolved in front but it didn't show on the front...

LoganK

In the "Thread Tools" menu on the top of the thread, click "Mark Thread Resolved"