Question

PHP email from app platform

Posted on February 21, 2021
DigitalOcean App Platform Email PHP
Asked by wilmc17

Is there any way to use the email function in php on app platform? As far as I can tell there is no way to access root priveleges to install ssmtp or sendmail. Is it possible to do that with build & run commands?

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Bobby Iliev

Site Moderator

• February 21, 2021

Accepted Answer

Hi there,

I don’t believe that you can get root access, but if you are using a Dockerfile you could specify the install commands in there.

However, I would not really recommend sending emails via plain PHP mail.

Instead, you could use SMTP. This will drastically increase the deliverability rate of your emails.

Also, there are many SMTP providers like SendGrid, MailGun and etc which you could use.

Hope that this helps. Regards, Bobby

Dikshith Shetty

DigitalOcean Employee

• February 22, 2021

Hello @wilmc17

Adding to the above answer, please note that you won’t be able to host emails in apps hosted on the App Platform. You can only send emails using third-party services such as SendGrid using port 587 or 465. Please note port 25 is blocked permanently in the App Platform.

Best,

Dikshith