[RESOLVED] php.ini and restarting apache and mail() issues

[ATS16805]

I'm running win XP Pro sp2 w/ apache 1.3.33 and php 4.3.10

if i make changes to php.ini, must i restart apache for the changes to take effect? that's my main inquiry.

i'm also trying, like so many other newbies here i've noticed, to resolve the Warning: mail(): "sendmail_from" not set in php.ini or custom "From:" header missing in c:... when trying to use mail() . i realize that there are so many variables to cause so many unique situations, that no one answer is correct. i've read several threads here, and checked on php.net/function.mail when i searched for "php.ini mail", but i didn't see anything regarding how to check for proper settings in my own php.ini

i've entered what i think are the correct values in lines 596 and 600 of my php.ini
(SMTP = mymaildomain.com
smtp_port = 25

; For Win32 only.
;sendmail_from = [e-mail])

and verified my ServerAdmin in httpd.conf (line 275 in my httpd.conf)

i'm unsure of what i'm really supposed to add in PHP.ini for smtp = mymaildomain.com because, although i have a broadband cable account, i don't use the included e-mail account-- in fact, i don't use anything on that account except the connection. i don't have IIS installed, which i assume is why i don't see SMTP in the Windows Services. i own a few domains which have mail accounts. i've used the smtp from one of those domains to successfully send mail via Perl script from one of my websites. not sure if it's useful, but the smtp line from my Perl script is as follows:
$smtp = Net::SMTP->new('mail.MyDomainOnHostingServer.com');

how can i tell what i'm really supposed to use for the aforementioned settings in php.ini and httpd.conf? do you know of a specific resource (maybe a specific page at php.net or elsewhere) which will answer these questoins?

[jonno946]

ATS16805 wrote:

if i make changes to php.ini, must i restart apache for the changes to take effect? that's my main inquiry.

certainly do 🙂

as for your email issue, if you are on windows all you need to do is uncomment and change this line and restart your apache server.

[mail function]
; For Win32 only.
SMTP = mail.myisp.com
smtp_port = 25

[ATS16805]

i'm replying just to show my progress so far w/ the settings i've changed.

okay, the part to which you refer in php.ini was already un-commented, but did have to uncomment the sendmail_from line.

i did get a different warning this time. my smtp line, as cited in the reply above this, i have SMTP = mail.mydomain.com . one of the 4 e-mail addresses in my database is [e-mail] , but the others are my free accounts like gmail, hotmail, etc.

i received no warning for the mail send to [e-mail], and i did in fact receive the mail, so i know that is working now, but the mail to my 3 free accounts shows this error (different for each free domain):
Warning: mail(): SMTP server response: 550 not local host hotmail.com, not a gateway in c:\

i'll do some searching here and see if i can find the solution

Edit:
i searched for "Warning: mail(): SMTP server response: 550" , and all that comes up is this very thread. i thought i needed to be that specific w/ the keywords in order to find the proper solution.

hmm... suggestions? in the meantime, i'll try reducing my keywords.

Edit2:

oops! no wonder, i was searching THIS thread!

[ATS16805]

okay, i have achieved complete success in sending mail via PHP mail() , although the successful settings are not what i prefer, and i think my findings are remarkable, so i'd like to post them for comment, or maybe it will help someone else somehow.

only one of my domains are hosted on a different server. i'll call it myFirstServer.com. he uses BSDI (unix) and apache. i know that some things are different there, like where i can execute Perl scripts for example, and how to address the smtp (i've had to use different settings in my Perl mail scripts for myFirstServer.com than i do for mySecondServer.com).

in both http.conf and php.ini i have the entered the same e-mail address: ServerAdmin [e-mail], and sendmail_from = [e-mail], respectively.

i want to use mySecondServer.com for all of these settings because i eventually will likely move my domain from myFirstServer.com to mySecondServer.com.
if i set in php.ini SMTP = myFirstServer.com (and leave sendmail_from and ServerAdmin to [e-mail]), my PHP mail() script sends to every e-mail address in the MySQL db which that script accesses, including of course my free e-mail accounts. so, as far as i can tell, it works with that setting.

however, if i change that one setting in php.ini to SMTP = mySecondServer.com or mail.mySecondServer.com, my PHP mail() function only sends to [e-mail] and i get Warning errors for all other accounts (including [e-mail]), as i mentioned in my post directly above this one.

so, taking into consideration the behaviors ive cited here, do you have any idea why i get the errors for mySecondServer.com, why it DOES work w/ SMTP = myFirstServer.com, and what i might do to work around this "problem"?

for now, of course i can still use SMTP = myFirstServer.com , but preparing for impending change, i will ultimately need for SMTP = mySecondServer.com to work properly.

in the meantime, i'm going to contact Admin at mySecondServer.com to see what they have to say about this.

[ATS16805]

i wanted to make one more comment on this issue, and then i'll mark the thread resolved.

I hadn't ever set up an e-mail account, or any other services from my ISP. I use a broadband, cable internet service, which i might add, from what i've heard and comments i've read in P2P forums for example, is extremely fast and reliable for its ilk. in the meantime from my previous post on this thread, i requested smtp info from my ISP, and they provided me the info, but i had to register an e-mail and web hosting account with them (which is included in my plan, at no additional charge). previous to this, i didn't have an e-mail or other services... i simply never thought to activate it.

now i've entered the SMTP info provided by my ISP into php.ini and everything works perfectly. it did not however work prior to my account activation-- i have used this ISP for several years and never had that part activated, although i DID know the smtp info, so even though i entered the correct SMTP info in php.ini, it didn't work until after i recently activated the aforementioned services. i had always used MyFirstServer.com for all settings such as those required in php.ini or httpd.conf, and it has always worked. now i am that much the wiser.

blah, blah. i hope this info might help someone some day.

should i enter the info on my ISP? i've left it out purposefully, as i do not want to sound like a solicitation. if anyone would like to know, i'll gladly tell you in a PM.