Could be this? https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting#could-not-instantiate-mail-function

Probably, but does that mean that J3.5 no longer supports direct sending via SMTP like earlier Joomla versions?
Isn't this a step back securitywise? I've got rid of the problem with rogue scripts injected in my Joomla installations sending thousands of spam emails, by removing the local mail server software from my servers...
In your link I read about isSMTP(), is this something I can install / configure server-wide, or do I have to alter the PHPMailer script in all new Joomla installations?

Probably, but does that mean that J3.5 no longer supports direct sending via SMTP like earlier Joomla versions?

Of course it supports. I have a SMTP working fine in my joomla test server with 3.5.0 RC.

Isn't this a step back securitywise? I've got rid of the problem with rogue scripts injected in my Joomla installations sending thousands of spam emails, by removing the local mail server software from my servers...

I'm not telling to use sendmail. the link i posted is the oficial phpmailer troubleshoot so you can check what's is going on with your smtp mail server.
the only thing you should need is an smtp mail server that works fine.

In your link I read about isSMTP(), is this something I can install / configure server-wide, or do I have to alter the PHPMailer script in all new Joomla installations?

isSMTP is a PHPMailer function the link i posted is the oficial phpmailer troubleshoot.
Please never change joomla core files... when you update they will be replaced...

In conclusion, you seem to be hitting a phpmailer error because of your smtp server config, i guess.

also, don't forget that from 3.4.8 to 3.5.0 RC the version of phpmailer lib changed so there can be additional checks.

• 3.4.8: 5.2.9 (https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/blob/3.4.x/libraries/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php#L34)
• 3.5.0 RC: 5.2.14 https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/blob/staging/libraries/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php#L34

Changelog: https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/blob/master/changelog.md

hey sorry about that, I made a module that was to send an email notification from the super user to the person who has contacted them.
if your are sending the mail while on localhost your get that error, please modify these mail settings under the system menu -> select global configurations, then under the server tab modify the contents of your mail settings
turn on send mail
*mailer * set it to SMTP
then the from email set it to your email address from either, gmail, live, etc
from name : add a name username
turn on SMTP Authentication
set SMTP security to TLS
SMTP port 25, or 2525
SMTP username : your email address
SMTP password the password you user for the provided email address
then for the host. user smtp.gmail.com for gmail, smtp.live.com for live.com etc
hope this will help your
thanks and regards enjoy being at joomla.

please also show your system information for your configuration file

Another report of this on the forum http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=706&t=913705

Hi,
I know that this is a RC issue tracker, but I've experienced the same issue after updating to 3.5 stable.
Database Version: 5.6.21, PHP Version: 5.6.3, Web Server: Apache/2.4.10 (Win32) PHP/5.6.3

My mail server is working fine and is updated.
I had to roll back to 3.4.8..

@krogias Can you give some more information please. How and where are you sending mail. Is it a core component or an extension. What were the results of using the test email button in global configuration

It was the core component (contact form). Sending as a guest to a contact.
I have some automated messages to admins from Akeeba Admin Tools, which didn't work either.
I Don't have any other info because I rolled back.
My settings:
Send Mail -> Yes
Mailer -> SMTP
Disable Mass Mail -> No
SMTP Authentication -> Yes
SMTP Security -> None
SMTP Port -> 25
SMTP Host -> My SMTP server
Everything works fine now in 3.4.8.

What hosting provider are you using? SMTP mails are definitely working for some people - so it must be some sort of server specific bug :/

As stated above SMTP Host-> My SMTP server, which means that I use my own mail server. I don't think it is a mail server issue, because it's one of the best commercial mail servers.
I Know that Joomla! 3.5 updated the PHPMailer library and I don't think it's right to change our mail server settings whenever Joomla updates it's libraries.

https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/releases PHP Mailer released a "important security update" as you can see from the changelog. I'm not in a place where I can roll back the PHPMailer upgrade. That's why we need to figure out what the issue is - we have a class in Joomla that we can apply fixes if it comes down to that - but without being able to reliably reproduce the issue we can't fix the issue.

That's very bad.

Hello, I was making a module that adds the contact us functionality to a website or blog. U configured my settings to those and it worked.
Sent from my ASUS

-------- Original Message --------
From:Brian Teeman notifications@github.com
Sent:Tue, 22 Mar 2016 11:56:23 +0300
To:joomla/joomla-cms joomla-cms@noreply.github.com
Cc:Katende Ivan kigh143@gmail.com
Subject:Re: [joomla-cms] SMTP mail not functioning in 3.5.0-rc (#9373)

@krogias Can you give some more information please. How and where are you sending mail. Is it a core component or an extension. What were the results of using the test email button in global configuration

This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/joomla-cms/9373.

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@kigh143 Sorry, but I cannot set SMTP Authentication to "No"

@krogias What it boils down to is without being able to debug or reproduce your issue in any way I can't help you :( If you're not willing to give me any more information I literally can't do anything until i can find someone who has the same issue who can give me that information. I'm sorry....

What more info do you need? A log file?

Form my Android
Στις 22 Μαρ 2016 12:09 μ.μ., ο χρήστης "George Wilson" <
notifications@github.com> έγραψε:

@krogias https://github.com/krogias What it boils down to is without
being able to debug or reproduce your issue in any way I can't help you :(
If you're not willing to give me any more information I literally can't do
anything until i can find someone who has the same issue who can give me
that information. I'm sorry....

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#9373 (comment)

Sorry set it to yes
And make sure your using your email address and correct password

Sent from my ASUS

-------- Original Message --------
From:krogias notifications@github.com
Sent:Tue, 22 Mar 2016 13:05:06 +0300
To:joomla/joomla-cms joomla-cms@noreply.github.com
Cc:Katende Ivan kigh143@gmail.com
Subject:Re: [joomla-cms] SMTP mail not functioning in 3.5.0-rc (#9373)

@kigh143 Sorry, but I cannot set SMTP Authentication to "No"

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@kigh143 @krogias says he is not using a password to authenticate but he is being verified based on his IP address.

Unfortunately the error "Could not instantiate mail function" is very generic. So we will need to do some testing to see where it fails. I am going to look at where we can do some debugging to get this resolved.

Please see https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting#smtp-error-could-not-connect-to-smtp-host

You can enable phpmailer debugging which should help. This does sound like a server config issue but without the debug its hard to know

You can change this file: https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/blob/staging/libraries/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php#L326

for setting the debug mode.

The error is triggered at the moment that PHPMailer calls the PHP mail function. Interesting enough nothing has changed in this part of the PHPMailer code between the versions used in 3.4.8 and 3.5.0. If the debug mode doesn't show anything useful, you can try to remove the @ symbol before mail and see what error PHP throws at these lines:

https://github.com/joomla/joomla-cms/blob/staging/libraries/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/class.phpmailer.php#L675-L675

@krogias Are you using an SSL connection? If so, this may be happening in your case:

https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting#opportunistic-tls

Let me know what you find.

@roland-d No, I don't use ssl connection.

The NOTICE (not error) that I got was: "SMTP connect() failed. https://github.com/PHPMailer/PHPMailer/wiki/Troubleshooting"
I posted it here: http://forum.joomla.org/viewtopic.php?f=706&t=913705
I was a notice, but smtp stopped working.

@brianteeman Unfortunately I cannot reproduce the issue because I rolled back to 2.4.8. I cannot leave my live site without mailer.

@krogias Would it be possible for you to set up just an empty test Joomla 3.5 site on your system for testing purposes? Without a system to test this on, it will be nearly impossible to trace the issue.

@roland-d I could do that. Thanks for the idea!

@krogias Super, thanks. Let me know if you can find some more info.

@krogias any updates on this? Would be useful to find out whether it's that SSL issue as soon as possible so we can plan a course of attack on the bug here :)

Hi. I don't have access know. I will, tomorrow, from my office.
But I said that I don't and didn't use SSL.

@umaha Do you have access to your system now to do some testing?

@roland-d
Yes, I have access now. WHat should I do?

@umaha Please see my post #9373 (comment)

I have put in some test instructions there. Thanks.

@roland-d
referenced this issue 2 hours ago - Closed - send test email not working #9517

I used SMTP. I am not sure if that still uses the class.phpMailer.php.

The emails from sites' contact form or some customhtml work fine, ONLY the Send Test Email in Mail Settings does not.

I have only access and knowledge to work via the web interfaces.

@umaha If possible can you email me Joomla and FTP access for that site so I can take a look to see what is happening? You can email me at roland.dalmulder@community.joomla.org

@roland-d
OK , I can do that. I may need a few hours before I can start though.

@roland I have installed a test site. I could give you access if you like.

@krogias, Yes please, if you can send me the details via email that would be appreciated.

Thanks everybody, I am going to close this issue because we have a pull request #9528

@krogias Thank you very much for the test server. It has been valuable.