Connecting to Gmail through IMAP with PHP - SSL context failed

Question

I'm trying to connect to Gmail through IMAP with PHP running in Apache. This is on an Ubuntu 9.04 system. I've got some sort of PHP configuration issue that is keeping this from working. First, here's what I did to setup IMAP for PHP:

sudo apt-get install libc-client2007b libc-client2007b-dev
sudo apt-get install php5-imap
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 start

When I run phpinfo(), I get the following imap values:

IMAP c-Client Version: 2004
SSL Support: enabled
Kerberos Support: enabled

Here's my sample code:

<?php
$connect_to = '{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX';
$user = 'my gmail address';
$password = 'my gmail password';

$connection = imap_open($connect_to, $user, $password)
  or die("Can't connect to '$connect_to': " . imap_last_error());

imap_close($connection);
?>

When I execute this code, I get the following output:

Warning: imap_open() [function.imap-open]: Couldn't open stream {imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX in /var/www/clint/gmail/gmail.php on line 10
Can't connect to '{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX': TLS/SSL failure for imap.gmail.com: SSL context failed

Note that I can telnet to imap.gmail.com:993 from this computer. I can also hookup Evolution (mail reader) to Gmail through IMAP and fetch mail without problems. So, I don't think this is a firewall issue. I'm pretty sure I've got something in PHP not setup correctly.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

One more additional thing you need enabled in PHP, is the OpenSSL extension. It appears that the IMAP Client library (with SSL) depends on this.

It doesn't matter if Apache has the OpenSSL module enabled as this is processed/handled before the request is handed off to PHP.

The following discussion thread may help shed some light:

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.php/browse_thread/thread/241e619bc70a8bf4/bd3ae0c6a82409bc?lnk=raot&pli=1

Answer 2

This has worked for me after a long effort:

$ServerName = "{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl/novalidate-cert/norsh}Inbox";

Answer 3

I was facing same problem. I am using windows and wamp and my wamp "openSSl" extension is enabled.

I removed this issue by using following steps.I hope this will work for you too.

1) Logged in via browser to gmail account.

2) Open this url "https://www.google.com/settings/security/lesssecureapps"

3) Click at "turn on"

4) try following code

<?php

set_time_limit(4000);


// Connect to gmail
//$imapPath = '{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl}INBOX';
$imapPath = '{imap.gmail.com:993/imap/ssl/novalidate-cert}INBOX';
$username = '[email protected]';
$password = 'Your-password';

// try to connect
$inbox = imap_open($imapPath,$username,$password) or die('Cannot connect to Gmail: ' . imap_last_error());
   /* ALL - return all messages matching the rest of the criteria
    ANSWERED - match messages with the \\ANSWERED flag set
    BCC "string" - match messages with "string" in the Bcc: field
    BEFORE "date" - match messages with Date: before "date"
    BODY "string" - match messages with "string" in the body of the message
    CC "string" - match messages with "string" in the Cc: field
    DELETED - match deleted messages
    FLAGGED - match messages with the \\FLAGGED (sometimes referred to as Important or Urgent) flag set
    FROM "string" - match messages with "string" in the From: field
    KEYWORD "string" - match messages with "string" as a keyword
    NEW - match new messages
    OLD - match old messages
    ON "date" - match messages with Date: matching "date"
    RECENT - match messages with the \\RECENT flag set
    SEEN - match messages that have been read (the \\SEEN flag is set)
    SINCE "date" - match messages with Date: after "date"
    SUBJECT "string" - match messages with "string" in the Subject:
    TEXT "string" - match messages with text "string"
    TO "string" - match messages with "string" in the To:
    UNANSWERED - match messages that have not been answered
    UNDELETED - match messages that are not deleted
    UNFLAGGED - match messages that are not flagged
    UNKEYWORD "string" - match messages that do not have the keyword "string"
    UNSEEN - match messages which have not been read yet*/

// search and get unseen emails, function will return email ids
$emails = imap_search($inbox,'UNSEEN');

$output = '';

foreach($emails as $mail) {

    $headerInfo = imap_headerinfo($inbox,$mail);

    $output .= $headerInfo->subject.'<br/>';
    $output .= $headerInfo->toaddress.'<br/>';
    $output .= $headerInfo->date.'<br/>';
    $output .= $headerInfo->fromaddress.'<br/>';
    $output .= $headerInfo->reply_toaddress.'<br/>';

    $emailStructure = imap_fetchstructure($inbox,$mail);
    //var_dump($emailStructure->parts);
    if(isset($emailStructure->parts)) {
         $output .= imap_body($inbox, $mail, FT_PEEK);
    } else {
        //    
    }
   echo $output;
   $output = '';
}

// colse the connection
imap_expunge($inbox);
imap_close($inbox);


?>

BEST OF LUCK. :)