Sending Mail with Sendmail Driver not Working and No Errors Laravel 5.5

Question

I'm trying to send emails with sendmail driver but it isn't working and I got no errors.

My .env file:

MAIL_DRIVER=sendmail
MAIL_HOST=
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null

My mail.php file:

<?php

return [

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Mail Driver
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | Laravel supports both SMTP and PHP's "mail" function as drivers for the
    | sending of e-mail. You may specify which one you're using throughout
    | your application here. By default, Laravel is setup for SMTP mail.
    |
    | Supported: "smtp", "sendmail", "mailgun", "mandrill", "ses",
    |            "sparkpost", "log", "array"
    |
    */

    'driver' => env('MAIL_DRIVER', 'sendmail'),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | SMTP Host Address
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | Here you may provide the host address of the SMTP server used by your
    | applications. A default option is provided that is compatible with
    | the Mailgun mail service which will provide reliable deliveries.
    |
    */

    'host' => env('MAIL_HOST', ''),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | SMTP Host Port
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | This is the SMTP port used by your application to deliver e-mails to
    | users of the application. Like the host we have set this value to
    | stay compatible with the Mailgun e-mail application by default.
    |
    */

    'port' => env('MAIL_PORT', 587),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Global "From" Address
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | You may wish for all e-mails sent by your application to be sent from
    | the same address. Here, you may specify a name and address that is
    | used globally for all e-mails that are sent by your application.
    |
    */

    'from' => [
        'address' => env('MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS', 'no-reply@domainexample.com'),
        'name' => env('MAIL_FROM_NAME', 'INSP Virtual'),
    ],

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | E-Mail Encryption Protocol
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | Here you may specify the encryption protocol that should be used when
    | the application send e-mail messages. A sensible default using the
    | transport layer security protocol should provide great security.
    |
    */

    'encryption' => env('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', 'tls'),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | SMTP Server Username
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | If your SMTP server requires a username for authentication, you should
    | set it here. This will get used to authenticate with your server on
    | connection. You may also set the "password" value below this one.
    |
    */

    'username' => env('MAIL_USERNAME', null),

    'password' => env('MAIL_PASSWORD', null),

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Sendmail System Path
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | When using the "sendmail" driver to send e-mails, we will need to know
    | the path to where Sendmail lives on this server. A default path has
    | been provided here, which will work well on most of your systems.
    |
    */

    'sendmail' => '/usr/sbin/sendmail -bs',

    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Markdown Mail Settings
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    |
    | If you are using Markdown based email rendering, you may configure your
    | theme and component paths here, allowing you to customize the design
    | of the emails. Or, you may simply stick with the Laravel defaults!
    |
    */

    'markdown' => [
        'theme' => 'default',

        'paths' => [
            resource_path('views/vendor/mail'),
        ],
    ],

];

Since I got no errors, even in laravel.log file I don't know even where to start checking, I have checked for the correct sendmail path though, and it was correct, what am I missing?

I also read that you have to change some things in /etc/hosts I changed it a bit adding "domainexample.com":

127.0.0.1   domainexample.com localhost localhost.localdomain localhost4 localhost4.localdomain4
::1         localhost localhost.localdomain localhost6 localhost6.localdomain6

Is this last thing correct?

Answer 1

The MAIL_USERNAME and MAIL_PASSWORD values in your .env file should be set to your sendmail authentication details as laravel required authentication from the mail client to send the mails.

MAIL_USERNAME=email@sendmail.com
MAIL_PASSWORD=XXXXXXXXXX

Answer 2

MAIL_DRIVER=sendmail
MAIL_HOST=
MAIL_PORT=587
MAIL_USERNAME=null
MAIL_PASSWORD=null
MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null

Fill all the details as provided by the mailing services. if not have you tried using mailtrap and see if you can send a message. Mailtrap can be useful for development.
Documentation of Laravel for mail gives a clear view of what you should be doing.