Laravel 5.4 SMTP error "send AUTH command first" - php

Question

I'm getting the following error trying to send mail from localhost using smtp:
Expected response code 250 but got code "503", with message "503 5.5.4
Error: send AUTH command first. "
.env
MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.yandex.com
MAIL_PORT=465
MAIL_USERNAME=robot#domain.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=11111111
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=ssl
MAIL_FROM=robot#domain.com
MAIL_NAME=MY.NAME
config/mail.php
<?php
return [
'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'smtp'),
'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', 'smtp.yandex.com'),
'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 465),
'from' => [
'address' => 'robot#domain.com',
'name' => 'MY.NAME',
],
'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'ssl'),
'username' => env('robot#domain.com'),
'password' => env('11111111'),
'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs',
];
Tried: changing ports, encryption, clearing cache, restarting server in all possible combinations. :)
As I see it there's one more parameter I need to pass to the mailer library. Some thing like
auth_mode=login_first
Can this be done through laravel settings?

Answer 1

I'm posting my working settings. You've got to check how laravel env helper function is used in your config file. Also when using smtp.yandex.com auth email and form email must match.
Laravel Docs for env()
The env function gets the value of an environment variable or returns a default value:
$env = env('APP_ENV');
// Return a default value if the variable doesn't exist...
$env = env('APP_ENV', 'production');
.env
MAIL_DRIVER=smtp
MAIL_HOST=smtp.yandex.com
MAIL_PORT=465
MAIL_USERNAME=robot#mydomain.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=123123123
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=ssl
MAIL_FROM=robot#mydomain.com
MAIL_NAME=MY.NAME
config/mail.php
<?php
return [
'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'smtp'),
'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', 'smtp.yandex.com'),
'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 465),
'from' => [
'address' => env('MAIL_FROM','robot#mydomain.com'),
'name' => env('MAIL_NAME','MY.NAME'),
],
'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'ssl'),
'username' => env('MAIL_USERNAME','robot#mydomain.com'),
'password' => env('MAIL_PASSWORD','123123123'),
'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs',
'pretend' => false,
];
Controller function
public function testmail()
{
$user = Auth::user();
$pathToLogo = config('app.url').'/images/logo/logo_250.png';
Mail::send('emails.testmail', array('user' => $user, 'pathToLogo' => $pathToLogo), function($message) use ($user)
{
$message->to($user->email);
$message->subject('Test message');
});
return redirect()->route('home')->with('message','Test message sent.');
}