Sending Emails in Laravel with Mailgun

By Lucid Softech IT Solutions | Laravel,  02 Dec 2024

Sending emails is an essential feature for many web applications, and Laravel makes it convenient to integrate with various email services, including Mailgun. Mailgun is a popular service known for its reliable email delivery, analytics, and scalability. Here’s a guide on how to configure and send emails in Laravel using Mailgun, without diving into code.

Step 1: Set Up a Mailgun Account

1. Create a Mailgun Account: Go to Mailgun’s website and sign up for an account. After registration, you’ll need to verify your email address to access your account.
2. Create a Domain: In the Mailgun dashboard, navigate to the “Domains” section and set up a new domain for sending emails. Mailgun will provide you with DNS records (SPF, DKIM) that you need to add to your domain registrar’s settings to verify the domain and improve email deliverability.

Step 2: Obtain Mailgun Credentials

After setting up your domain in Mailgun, you will be provided with an API key, a domain name, and an endpoint. Note down the following credentials:

• API Key: This is a secret key used to authenticate your application with Mailgun.
• Domain Name: The verified domain you created for sending emails.
• Endpoint: This is usually api.mailgun.net.

Step 3: Configure Mailgun in Laravel

1. Access the Environment File: In your Laravel project directory, open the .env file. This file stores environment-specific configurations, including mail settings.
2. Add Mailgun Details to .env: You will need to provide your Mailgun credentials here, such as the domain name, API key, and endpoint.

Step 4: Laravel Mail Configuration

• Mail Driver: Laravel uses a “driver” system to send emails through different services. You need to set the MAIL_MAILER to mailgun to indicate that you’ll be using Mailgun for sending emails.
• From Address: It’s essential to configure the MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS in the .env file to define the sender’s email address. This should align with the domain you have verified with Mailgun to avoid any delivery issues.

Step 5: Create a Mailable

• Mailables: Laravel uses Mailables to send emails. A Mailable is a class that defines the content and structure of your emails. You can customize Mailables to suit various use cases like welcome emails, password resets, newsletters, etc.
• Email Template: Mailables can also include email templates, which are built using Laravel’s Blade templating engine. These templates help define the layout and content of the emails you want to send.

Step 6: Testing Email Delivery

Once your Mailgun configuration and Mailable classes are set up, you can test sending an email. Usually, you would trigger the email sending process either through specific user actions (like registration or order confirmation) or by using Laravel’s command line (Artisan) to call the Mailable.

Step 7: Handling Errors and Logging

Laravel logs any errors or issues with email delivery, so if you encounter problems, you can check the log files (storage/logs/laravel.log) for more details. Common issues include incorrect Mailgun API keys, domain misconfigurations, or network-related problems.

Conclusion

Integrating Mailgun with Laravel allows you to efficiently send various types of emails, such as transactional emails, notifications, and newsletters. The process involves setting up a Mailgun account, configuring Laravel’s mail settings, and creating customizable Mailables to structure your emails.

By leveraging Laravel’s built-in mail system and Mailgun’s powerful delivery capabilities, you can ensure reliable email communication with your users.