Resolved php_mail issue after deleting and recreating subscription

[Illyrer]

Server operating system version

Debian 11.0

Plesk version and microupdate number

psa v18.0.65_build1800241122.08

Hello dear community,

I have a problem and hope someone can help me:

Short version:
I am a Plesk reseller. I had deleted and later recreated several Plesk subscriptions, each with just a primary domain and a WordPress instance. The WordPress instances were reinstalled correctly, but the contact forms (Contact Form 7) no longer work. Cloning the instances to another (previously not deleted) subscription resolves the issue. However, cloning them back to the previously deleted and newly created subscriptions causes the issue again.

Long version:
I have been a Plesk reseller with the provider Netcup since 2020. In 2023, I booked a second Plesk reseller package with a different provider. After a test phase, I moved 5 customer subscriptions there, each with a primary domain and a WordPress instance. I deleted the subscriptions in my Netcup Plesk.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that the server performance with the other provider was getting worse. So, I wanted to host the customers again with my Netcup Plesk. I recreated the subscriptions with the primary domains in Netcup Plesk and migrated the WordPress instances back. Everything worked, except the Contact Form 7 contact form always returned the error: "An error occurred while trying to send your message. Please try again later."

I restored a backup, but it didn’t help. Then I cloned the instance to one of my own subscriptions. This resolved the error immediately. However, when I clone the instance back to the customer subscription, the issue returns.

After further tests, I realized that only those 5 customer subscriptions / customer domains that I had deleted and recreated are affected by this problem. Every time I clone one of the WordPress instances to another subscription, the contact forms work again.

I would be very grateful if someone here could help me.

Best regards

 

[Sebahat.hadzhi]

Hello, @Illyrer . Can you please confirm what's the current mail configuration of the subscriptions (Subscriptions > example.com > Mail > Mail Settings) you are having troubles with? Do you see any relevant warnings/errors in the WordPress log? Can you try temporarily enabling the Plesk debug mode, reproduce the issue with the Contact Form and check what is logged into the panel.log?

 

[Illyrer]

Thanks for your reply, @Sebahat.hadzhi. Since the affected customers do not use the plesk mail service / server, I have deactivated the email service. But even if i activate it, the issue persists. In the WordPress log I do not see any relevant errors.

Enabling the Plesk debug mode is not possible, since I just have a reseller account and the administration is done by the provider Netcup.

Would it help to submit you the URLs of the productive websites (with issue) and the cloned staging ones (without issue)?

 

[Sebahat.hadzhi]

Thank you for the update. If enabling the mail service doesn't make any difference, and the form is not configured with external SMTP, could you please double-check if sendmail is enabled for the subscription:

• https://support.plesk.com/hc/en-us/...t-You-are-not-allowed-to-use-sendmail-utility

 

[Illyrer]

Thank you for your hint, Sebahat. This took me to the solution.

All settings for outgoing messages were set to "Custom value for the subscription" with the setting "0 messages". I don't know why this setting was set by default after deleting and recreating the subscriptions.

Thanks a lot.

Best regards from Germany