Mail error: Could not instantiate mail function

Software Support
1

Hello there!
I’ve been for quite some time without any issues on OJS, but today, suddenly, my OJS stopped sending mails.
Checking the error log I got the following:

[24-Apr-2023 23:22:03 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Fatal error: Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function PHPMailer\PHPMailer\mail() in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php:868
Stack trace:
#0 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php(1827): PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer->mailPassthru()
#1 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php(1611): PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer->mailSend()
#2 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php(1442): PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer->postSend()
#3 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/mail/Mail.inc.php(592): PHPMailer\PHPMailer\PHPMailer->send()
#4 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/mail/MailTemplate.inc.php(212): Mail->send()
#5 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/mail/SubmissionMailTemplate.inc.php(68): MailTemplate->send()
#6 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/controllers/modals/editorDecision/form/EditorDecisionWithEmailForm.inc.php(325): SubmissionMailTemplate->send()
#7 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/controllers/modals/editorDecision/form/SendReviewsForm.inc.php(146): EditorDecisionWithEmailForm->_sendReviewMailToAuthor()
#8 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/controllers/modals/editorDecision/PKPEditorDecisionHandler.inc.php(467): SendReviewsForm->execute()
#9 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/controllers/modals/editorDecision/PKPEditorDecisionHandler.inc.php(144): PKPEditorDecisionHandler->_saveEditorDecision()
#10 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/core/PKPRouter.inc.php(395): PKPEditorDecisionHandler->saveSendReviewsInReview()
#11 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/core/PKPComponentRouter.inc.php(257): PKPRouter->_authorizeInitializeAndCallRequest()
#12 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/core/Dispatcher.inc.php(144): PKPComponentRouter->route()
#13 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/classes/core/PKPApplication.inc.php(362): Dispatcher->dispatch()
#14 /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/index.php(68): PKPApplication->execute()
#15 {main}
thrown in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/phpmailer/phpmailer/src/PHPMailer.php on line 868
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: htmlspecialchars(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($string) of type string is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.escape.php on line 39
[24-Apr-2023 23:22:16 America/Sao_Paulo] PHP Deprecated: Function strftime() is deprecated in /home/dpgpsifp/psicodebate/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/smarty/smarty/libs/plugins/modifier.date_format.php on line 81
[24-Apr-2023 23:23:11 America/Sao_Paulo] Could not instantiate mail function.
[24-Apr-2023 23:47:03 America/Sao_Paulo] Could not instantiate mail function.

I use the 3.3.0.11 version. Any help would be welcome.
Thanks

2

Hi @Hugo_Melo

The PHPMailer library that OJS includes tries to use the default PHP mail() function to send mail in that part of the code. Could it be that your server has disabled the mail function? You may need to reach out to the system admin who maintains the server to find out for sure.

Best
Jason

3

I will reach them and check. Thanks!

4

Indeed @jnugent ! My server disabled the php mail and are only supporting the smtp mail from now on. I leave here the source of the problem for other people with the same problem.

Greetings