# Testmail fails, no clear reason given **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [3 February 2026 16:44 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286 "2026-02-03T16:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/user_avatar/community.vikunja.io/nacho_nacho/32/2592_2.png) [@Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/u/Nacho_Nacho)\ **Post date:** [3 February 2026 16:44 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286/1 "2026-02-03T16:44:31Z")
Hello. I’m trying to get Vikunja emails working, but testmail fails. ```auto $ docker-compose exec vikunja /app/vikunja/vikunja testmail my-email@example.com 2026/02/03 16:05:37 failed to create modcache index dir: mkdir /.cache: permission denied time=2026-02-03T16:05:37.758Z level=INFO msg="No config file found, using default or config from environment variables." time=2026-02-03T16:05:37.761Z level=DEBUG msg="Redis initialized" time=2026-02-03T16:05:37.761Z level=INFO msg="Sending testmail..." time=2026-02-03T16:05:37.764Z level=ERROR msg="Error sending test mail: send failed: checking SMTP connection: not connected to SMTP server" ``` I set the log level to debug and the email log as stdout, but that’s all I’m getting. I’m running Vikunja inside a Docker container. My SMTP server is a different Docker container in the same network. This is my related configuration: ```auto VIKUNJA_MAILER_ENABLED=true VIKUNJA_MAILER_HOST=smtp-relay VIKUNJA_MAILER_PORT=2500 VIKUNJA_MAILER_AUTHTYPE=plain VIKUNJA_MAILER_USERNAME="" VIKUNJA_MAILER_FROMEMAIL=vikunja-email@example.com VIKUNJA_MAILER_SKIPTLSVERIFY=true ``` What I’ve tried so far: - Original config had auth type, username and skiptlsverify not specified. I added them trying to debug the issue, but it made no difference. - The Vikunja docker image doesn’t seem to provide a basic shell to ping the smtp container and test connectivity. However, pinging the vikunja container from within the smtp container works. Any idea of what I might be doing wrong? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kolaente](https://community.vikunja.io/user_avatar/community.vikunja.io/kolaente/32/5_2.png) [@kolaente](https://community.vikunja.io/u/kolaente)\ **Post date:** [3 February 2026 18:24 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286/2 "2026-02-03T18:24:24Z")
Anything in the logs of the SMTP server? ---
**Author:** ![Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/user_avatar/community.vikunja.io/nacho_nacho/32/2592_2.png) [@Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/u/Nacho_Nacho)\ **Post date:** [3 February 2026 18:47 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286/3 "2026-02-03T18:47:40Z")
No, nothing, but I’ll check if I can set it in debug logging mode or something. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/user_avatar/community.vikunja.io/nacho_nacho/32/2592_2.png) [@Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/u/Nacho_Nacho)\ **Post date:** [3 February 2026 19:02 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286/4 "2026-02-03T19:02:42Z")
I captured the network traffic and I saw this: ```auto 220 localhost ESMTP msmtpd EHLO 5559deda3649 250 localhost NOOP 500 Expected MAIL FROM: or QUIT QUIT ``` It seems like Vikunja is sending a `NOOP` command, and `msmtpd` does not support it. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/user_avatar/community.vikunja.io/nacho_nacho/32/2592_2.png) [@Nacho\_Nacho](https://community.vikunja.io/u/Nacho_Nacho)\ **Post date:** [3 February 2026 19:14 UTC](https://community.vikunja.io/t/testmail-fails-no-clear-reason-given/4286/5 "2026-02-03T19:14:17Z")
Ok, this seems to be a bug on the part of my smtp server, I already reported it. Thanks!