I've set up Amazon SES on my EC2 instance with cPanel/WHM to host my websites, but I'm having trouble sending emails from my sites. I know that EC2 blocks port 25 by default, which means the PHP mail function won't work. I thought using WP Mail SMTP with SES would be the solution, but it hasn't worked either. I can send test emails from Amazon, but emails sent directly from my website aren't going through. I'm really frustrated since I've tried everything I can think of. Has anyone else managed to successfully use SES with Amazon Lightsail or EC2?
4 Answers
You'll need to make sure that WHM's Exim is configured properly. I've got a few sites running just fine. If you're unsure, you can reset your Exim config and start fresh. Sometimes, it might just be a simple setting that's off. In my case, it was as simple as turning off the restrict outgoing SMTP option in WHM's Mail settings, which was on by default for some reason.
That's a good point! I've had similar issues before, and it ended up being a configuration error.
I've successfully used WP Mail SMTP with SES before. Make sure you've followed their setup guide closely. What kind of errors are you getting? Here’s the link to their guide if you need it: wpmailsmtp.com/docs/how-to-set-up-the-amazon-ses-mailer-in-wp-mail-smtp.
Are you certain your SES is out of sandbox mode? If it is, you should be able to send emails from your verified domain to other verified emails. Check what error messages you're seeing. Also, keep in mind that WP Mail SMTP isn't part of SES's free tier, so you'll need to sort that out if it's the issue. If you're still stuck, their support might be worth reaching out to.
I'm currently in sandbox mode. I thought I could send emails to verified addresses, but I'm getting errors when trying to send from my site. I've tried editing the configuration files, but it's still not working. Super frustrating! Also, I'm using the free version of WP Mail SMTP and haven't found much help in their docs.
Thanks for the tip! I'll check that out.