Failed to authenticate on SMTP server error using gmail

Question

I'm trying to set up email for my first laravel project, and was thrilled that there's a laracast for it: https://laracasts.com/lessons/mailers

I've followed the simple steps, chose gmail in mail.php (x's added for anonymity):

'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'smtp'), 'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', 'smtp.gmail.com'), 'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 587), 'from' => ['address' => '[email protected]', 'name' => 'Diane Kaplan'], 'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'tls'), 'username' => '[email protected]', 'password' => 'xxxxx', 'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs', 'pretend' => false, 

.env has (x's added for anonymity)- the laracast doesn't have us use MAIL_USERNAME and MAIL_PASSWORD, but they're updated for good measure assuming I'll pull from there later:

MAIL_DRIVER=smtp MAIL_HOST=mailtrap.io MAIL_PORT=2525 [email protected] MAIL_PASSWORD=xxxxxx MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null 

But in the first little moment of truth trying to send a mail (3:30 mark), I get an authentication error: Swift_TransportException in AuthHandler.php line 181: Failed to authenticate on SMTP server with username "[email protected]" using 3 possible authenticators

Based on a little stackoverflow reading, I tried turning on 'access to less secure apps' in my gmail settings, but no change in the error. (And the other posts about this issue had other factors that made a fancier problem than mine).

Nothing jumps out at me from laravel.log (below)- any ideas?

[2015-11-26 12:25:55] local.ERROR: exception 'Swift_TransportException' with message 'Failed to authenticate on SMTP server with username "[email protected]" using 3 possible authenticators' in /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/Esmtp/AuthHandler.php:181 Stack trace:     #0 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/EsmtpTransport.php(307): Swift_Transport_Esmtp_AuthHandler->afterEhlo(Object(Swift_SmtpTransport))     #1 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Transport/AbstractSmtpTransport.php(118): Swift_Transport_EsmtpTransport->_doHeloCommand()     #2 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/swiftmailer/swiftmailer/lib/classes/Swift/Mailer.php(79): Swift_Transport_AbstractSmtpTransport->start()     #3 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Mail/Mailer.php(395): Swift_Mailer->send(Object(Swift_Message), Array)     #4 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Mail/Mailer.php(181): Illuminate\Mail\Mailer->sendSwiftMessage(Object(Swift_Message))     #5 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Support/Facades/Facade.php(220): Illuminate\Mail\Mailer->send('emails.welcome', Array, Object(Closure))     #6 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/app/Http/routes.php(59): Illuminate\Support\Facades\Facade::__callStatic('send', Array)     #7 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/app/Http/routes.php(59): Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail::send('emails.welcome', Array, Object(Closure))     #8 [internal function]: App\Providers\RouteServiceProvider->{closure}()     #9 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php(155): call_user_func_array(Object(Closure), Array)     #10 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Route.php(130): Illuminate\Routing\Route->runCallable(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #11 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(704): Illuminate\Routing\Route->run(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #12 [internal function]: Illuminate\Routing\Router->Illuminate\Routing\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #13 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(139): call_user_func(Object(Closure), Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #14 [internal function]: Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #15 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(103): call_user_func(Object(Closure), Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #16 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(706): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->then(Object(Closure))     #17 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(671): Illuminate\Routing\Router->runRouteWithinStack(Object(Illuminate\Routing\Route), Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #18 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Routing/Router.php(631): Illuminate\Routing\Router->dispatchToRoute(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #19 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Kernel.php(236): Illuminate\Routing\Router->dispatch(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #20 [internal function]: Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Kernel->Illuminate\Foundation\Http\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #21 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(139): call_user_func(Object(Closure), Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #22 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/VerifyCsrfToken.php(50): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #23 [internal function]: Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #24 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #25 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/View/Middleware/ShareErrorsFromSession.php(49): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #26 [internal function]: Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #27 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #28 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Session/Middleware/StartSession.php(62): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #29 [internal function]: Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #30 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #31 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cookie/Middleware/AddQueuedCookiesToResponse.php(37): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #32 [internal function]: Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\AddQueuedCookiesToResponse->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #33 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #34 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Cookie/Middleware/EncryptCookies.php(59): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #35 [internal function]: Illuminate\Cookie\Middleware\EncryptCookies->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #36 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #37 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Middleware/CheckForMaintenanceMode.php(42): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #38 [internal function]: Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\CheckForMaintenanceMode->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))     #39 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(124): call_user_func_array(Array, Array)     #40 [internal function]: Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #41 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Pipeline/Pipeline.php(103): call_user_func(Object(Closure), Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #42 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Kernel.php(122): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->then(Object(Closure))     #43 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/vendor/laravel/framework/src/Illuminate/Foundation/Http/Kernel.php(87): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Kernel->sendRequestThroughRouter(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #44 /home/vagrant/Code/Family-laravel/public/index.php(54): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Kernel->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))     #45 {main}   

Answer 1

Did you turn on the "Allow less secure apps" on? go to this link

https://myaccount.google.com/security#connectedapps

Take a look at the Sign-in & security -> Apps with account access menu.

You must turn the option "Allow less secure apps" ON.

If is still doesn't work try one of these:

• Go to https://accounts.google.com/UnlockCaptcha , and click continue and unlock your account for access through other media/sites.

• Use double quote in your password: "your password"

And change your .env file

MAIL_DRIVER=smtp MAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com MAIL_PORT=587 [email protected] MAIL_PASSWORD=xxxxxx MAIL_ENCRYPTION=tls 

because the one's you have specified in the mail.php will only be used if the value is not available in the .env file.