Mailer Error: SMTP Error: Could not connect to SMTP host - laravel

Question

How to resolve this error? I do all possible things to resolve this issue but it cannot resolve. Here is my .env file code
MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=fluorine.cloudhosting.co.uk
MAIL_PORT=465
MAIL_USERNAME=contacts#cleansafeltd.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=Hggjgjgghv123
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=ssl
Here is the code of mail.php.
<?php
return [
'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'smtp'),
'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', 'fluorine.cloudhosting.co.uk'),
'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 465),
'from' => [
'address' => env('MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS', 'contacts#cleansafeltd.com'),
'name' => env('MAIL_FROM_NAME', 'Contact'),
],
'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'ssl'),
'username' => env('MAIL_USERNAME'),
'password' => env('MAIL_PASSWORD'),
'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs',
'markdown' => [
'theme' => 'default',
'paths' => [
resource_path('views/vendor/mail'),
],
],
];
Here is the mailController
public function sendMail($to_email, $template_id, $users_insertId = 0) {
set_time_limit(0);
$mail = new PHPMailer(true);
$mail->IsSendmail();
$mail->IsSMTP(true);
$mail->Host = "fluorine.cloudhosting.co.uk";
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
$mail->SMTPSecure = "ssl";
$mail->Username = "website#cleansafeltd.com";
$mail->Password = "Star9000!";
$mail->Port = "465";
$mail->IsHTML(true);
}
I do all thin with tls or port 587 also but not solved.

Answer 1

Using your credentials (by the way, you shouldn't post your password in public places, you better change it), I was able to send myself a mail using the following code
Mail::to('mymail#domain')->send(new \App\Mail\TestMail);
\App\Mail\TestMail is a Mailable class, defined as follows
<?php
namespace App\Mail;
use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Mail\Mailable;
use Illuminate\Queue\SerializesModels;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
class TestMail extends Mailable
{
use Queueable, SerializesModels;
/**
* Create a new message instance.
*
* #return void
*/
public function __construct()
{
//
}
/**
* Build the message.
*
* #return $this
*/
// Optional params are commented out.
// replyTo changes the address one gets when clicking the reply button
public function build()
{
return $this->from(env('MAIL_USERNAME'), 'An alias name')
// ->to('mail#domain', 'alias name for recipient')
// ->cc('mail2#domain', 'alias name for cc')
// ->bcc('mail3#domain', 'alias name for bcc')
// ->replyTo('mail4#domain', 'alias for replyTo')
->subject('This is a test')
->view('mails.sample_mail'); // This is a laravel view.
}
}

Answer 2

Try this one:
Setup your gmail account
Go to settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP
- Check -> POP download: Enable POP for all mail (even mail that's already been downloaded)
- Check -> IMAP access: Enable IMAP
- Save
Go to Google Account -> security -> Less secure app access
Set to on instead of off
Set this to your .env file
MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.googlemail.com
MAIL_PORT=465
MAIL_USERNAME=your email username
MAIL_PASSWORD=your email password
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=ssl
MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS=your email address
MAIL_FROM_NAME=Your email name
Now you can send email with your smtp gmail account