Can't send email with php using gmail - Authorising error - php

Question

I'm new to PHP and trying to build a website with registration form. Users should receive an email with a confirmation link (since I have a free hosting server I am trying to use gmail server). The thing is I'm struggling with the email php code. I am trying to use PHPMailer functions as follows:
<?php
/**
* This example shows settings to use when sending via Google's Gmail servers.
*/
//SMTP needs accurate times, and the PHP time zone MUST be set
//This should be done in your php.ini, but this is how to do it if you don't have access to that
date_default_timezone_set('Etc/UTC');
require 'PHPMailer/PHPMailerAutoload.php';
//Create a new PHPMailer instance
$mail = new PHPMailer;
//Tell PHPMailer to use SMTP
$mail->isSMTP();
//Enable SMTP debugging
// 0 = off (for production use)
// 1 = client messages
// 2 = client and server messages
$mail->SMTPDebug = 2;
//Ask for HTML-friendly debug output
$mail->Debugoutput = 'html';
//Set the hostname of the mail server
$mail->Host = 'smtp.gmail.com';
// use
// $mail->Host = gethostbyname('smtp.gmail.com');
// if your network does not support SMTP over IPv6
//Set the SMTP port number - 587 for authenticated TLS, a.k.a. RFC4409 SMTP submission
$mail->Port = 587;
//Set the encryption system to use - ssl (deprecated) or tls
$mail->SMTPSecure = 'tls';
//Whether to use SMTP authentication
$mail->SMTPAuth = true;
//Username to use for SMTP authentication - use full email address for gmail
$mail->Username = "MYEMAIL#gmail.com";
//Password to use for SMTP authentication
$mail->Password = "MYPASSWORD";
//Set who the message is to be sent from
$mail->setFrom('example#example.com', 'Name S');
//Set an alternative reply-to address
$mail->addReplyTo('example#example.com', 'Name S');
//Set who the message is to be sent to
$mail->addAddress('email#gmail.com', 'John Doe');
//Set the subject line
$mail->Subject = 'PHPMailer GMail SMTP test';
//Read an HTML message body from an external file, convert referenced images to embedded,
//convert HTML into a basic plain-text alternative body
$mail->msgHTML("HELLo");
//Replace the plain text body with one created manually
//$mail->AltBody = 'This is a plain-text message body';
//send the message, check for errors
if (!$mail->send()) {
echo "Mailer Error: " . $mail->ErrorInfo;
} else {
echo "Message sent!";
}
?>
I tried both ports 587 and 465. Also tried both ssl and tls. Every time I try to run the code I get the following error:
SERVER -> CLIENT: 220 smtp.gmail.com ESMTP gw4sm17090153wjc.45 - gsmtp
CLIENT -> SERVER: EHLO spec.dr-manny.co.uk SERVER -> CLIENT:
250-smtp.gmail.com at your service, [185.27.134.36]250-SIZE
35882577250-8BITMIME250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XOAUTH2 PLAIN-CLIENTTOKEN
OAUTHBEARER XOAUTH250-ENHANCEDSTATUSCODES250-PIPELINING250-CHUNKING250
SMTPUTF8 CLIENT -> SERVER: AUTH LOGIN SERVER -> CLIENT: 334
VXNlcm5hbWU6 CLIENT -> SERVER: bWFubnlzYWVkaUBnbWFpbC5jb20= SERVER ->
CLIENT: 334 UGFzc3dvcmQ6 CLIENT -> SERVER: a2luZ29uZW1vaDk5 SERVER ->
CLIENT: 534-5.7.14
Please log in via your web browser
and534-5.7.14 then try again.534-5.7.14 Learn more at534 5.7.14
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754 gw4sm17090153wjc.45 -
gsmtp SMTP ERROR: Password command failed: 534-5.7.14
Please log in via your web browser
and534-5.7.14 then try again.534-5.7.14 Learn more at534 5.7.14
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/78754 gw4sm17090153wjc.45 -
gsmtp SMTP Error: Could not authenticate. CLIENT -> SERVER: QUIT
SERVER -> CLIENT: 221 2.0.0 closing connection gw4sm17090153wjc.45 -
gsmtp SMTP connect() failed.
Error: SMTP connect() failed.
Also, I got an email from Gmail with the subject "Someone has your password". I opened the email and found this "
Hi Manny,
Someone just used your password to try to sign in to your Google Account MYEMAIL#gmail.com, using an application such as an email client or mobile device."
I received this email about 15 mins after I ran the php page.
I turned off "2-step verification" and turned off "allow less secure apps". Nothing seems to help. Anyone please could help me?

Answer 1

I had the same issue last year: the code (VB.Net) was OK, so where the credentials. The problem was that gmail didn't like that some app in a web server far away (my hosting) where trying o use your same username.
I fixed it (in two different occasions) by:
Logging in gmail once from that server (using remote desktop).
Logging in here https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha from my pc to "unlock" remote connections.
After that test your code again.